EU offers cash to entice young scientists

Real money to reverse Europe's brain drain has arrived in the form of the European Young Investigator Awards (EURYI Awards), which offer 25 outstanding young scientists up to €1.25 million (about $1.4 million) over 5 years to set up labs in Europe.

This opportunity for young investigators in any field is a joint initiative of the European Union Research Organisations Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs) and the European Science Foundation (ESF) and was announced on September 15.

"We want these to be elite awards," Dominique Martin-Rovet, ESF science policy advisor, told The Scientist. "We want to find the best people in the world and attract them to Europe, wherever they come from."

"One of the principles from the very beginning has been not to look at the nationality of applicants, only the quality," added Lea Ryynänen-Karjalainen, scientific secretary of EUROHORCs. Young scientists from existing member states of the European Union ...