The science circulatory system that sends so many European researchers to the United States flows in two directions, as most European governments run programs to attract US researchers as well. As science has become truly international, and projects exceedingly expensive, cross-border flow of scientists has become vital to research progress. While European leaders of science are anxious to build one Europe by sponsoring partnerships with former Soviet Union satellites, they also encourage collaboration with the Americas and Asia.
Some programs are administered by multinational institutions such as the European Commission and NATO, and individual states offer their own incentives to attract foreigners. "International exchange and circulation of brains is as essential to us as it is for a science superpower like the United States," says Flavia Schlegel of the Office of Science and Technology at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, DC. To keep those brains circulating, many European nations now ...
