BRAIN DRAIN
Germany is losing its best young biologists, reports The Scientist:
Like elsewhere in Europe, many of Germany's brightest science graduates in all disciplines seek their fortunes abroad—but the stream flows fastest in the life sciences. Biotechnology companies badly need these well qualified researchers, Christoph Anz from the Confederation of German Employers'; Associations told The Scientist.
"The trouble is that we are losing our highest achievers," Anz said. "We have reached the point where we will no longer be able to compete in the booming biotechnology sector."
Every seventh person with a doctorate in science leaves Germany for the United States. And three of the four Germans who have won a Nobel Prize are currently working in the United States, noted Markus Albers in Die Welt am Sonntag.
"The top scientists know their own value, and they rightly insist on excellent working conditions and an appropriate level of pay. These two together can hardly ever be found in Germany," said Helmut Schwarz, vice president of the German Research Foundation, a body that promotes research at universities and other publicly financed research institutions in Germany.
"We don't have proper career paths, people are paid according to set bands and not according to their performance. In America, scientists can earn three times as much," Schwarz said. He added that money was not the only problem; young German researchers are hampered by government regulations.
"A passion for science and a stimulating international campus atmosphere" are also missing in Germany, he said.
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