Life Scientist Exodus Continues from Italy

Erica P. Johnson The Italian scientific community welcomes government efforts to halt a longstanding exodus of researchers across all disciplines, but without much optimism that the measures will be successful anytime soon. The underlying problem is not just chronic underfunding, according to a broad consensus among Italian academics, but also a culture of cronyism within Italian academia that militates against merit. "Nothing has changed in Italian academia in the last four years," says Domenico Pacitti, editor of the Italian online journal Just Response. "It is still quite literally impossible to get a tenured teaching post at an Italian university without having what Italians call a raccomandazione. This means a special recommendation from someone in power. It is given on the basis of criteria other than merit." Although some dispute the underlying causes, there is little disagreement over the existence of an Italian brain drain. The most comprehensive survey of the phenomenon, entitled "The 'Brain Drain' from Italy: Anecdotes or Reality?" was published in 2001 by Assogestioni, the association of Italian underwriters, based on data supplied by the Bank of Italy. The survey concluded that the exodus had worsened steadily throughout the 1990s, and was disproportionately concentrated on top scientists with leading-edge expertise. So, while only 3% to 5% of new graduates went to work abroad, the impact on Italian science was greater than what those raw numbers would suggest, according to the survey. "Emigration seems to characterize in particular the people who have studied in the best Italian universities," the survey concluded.1 The problem has been compounded, according to the Rome-based independent social survey foundation, the Censis Group, by a corresponding failure to attract significant numbers of top foreign scientists, leading to a net brain deficit. Indeed, Italy has the second worst record among all European countries in attracting foreign researchers, drawing only 2% of the worldwide available pool, according to Censis. Only Greece fared worse with 0.61%, but without any serious pretensions on the worldwide scientific stage.2 Yet Italy is the world's eighth largest economy measured by gross domestic product (GDP), and despite the brain deficit, it has made significant contributions in all scientific disciplines. Indeed, according to the Thomson ISI science index, based on the number of papers published, Italy ranks 7th in the world. But this is misleading because Italy lags far behind Germany, France, and United Kingdom, its three principal competitors in Europe on this measure, while being virtually on par with them economically. This has led prominent Italian scientists, such as Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia, to conclude that Italy is marginal in the world of science. GOVERNMENT LURE The Italian government seems resigned to the fact that many junior researchers will go abroad, but it now has a program aimed at luring them back after three years. This scheme, called Decreto Rientro Cervelli 2003, a revision of an earlier program pitched at foreign scientists, offers two- to four-year contracts during which salaries match those of other countries, such as the United States. But according to Augusto Palombini, secretary of the Italian Student Association, little thought seems to have been given to retaining these scientists after the contract is over. As a result, says Palombini, editor of the book, Brains on the Run, and its forthcoming sequel, Brains in the Cage, which document this subject, "The people who come back are generally not the best brains who left." Even the revised Decreto Rientro Cervelli 2003 scheme is just a gloss to cover the deep-seated Italian problems of nepotism and corruption, according to Lucia Ballerini, an Italian postdoc at Orebro University in Sweden, and coordinator of the Italian Graduate Association's foreign affairs task group. Researchers applying for posts under this scheme have no choice over where they work, and have to rely on recommendations from a professor at an Italian university. "The situation in the Italian university is that a professor will call only the son of his friends," Ballerini says. He has no intention of applying for a place under the scheme himself. "I'm not considering returning until things really will change in Italy. And I think that will take a long time." Nonetheless, a spirit of cooperation has evolved between some universities in Italy and the United Kingdom. Cambridge University has been spectacularly successful at attracting the best Italian brains, but some of their fruits have indirectly been harvested back home. In the field of protein misfolding, for example, Chris Dobson, a professor at Cambridge University, has made significant progress with the help of various Italian-based collaborators. Andrea Ferrari, an Italian postdoctoral researcher in nanotechnology at Cambridge University, attributes the new cooperation to funding for more successful projects in both countries. Until recently, Italian research has been in the doldrums, according to Ferrari, partly because funding has been issued in numerous small doses. This was dubbed "shower funding," because everyone got some money but few received the full financial soaking needed for serious sustained research. And while prospects for research were poor, Italian graduates tended to be well qualified and appealing to foreign institutions, because degree courses were more comprehensive, lasting five years rather than three as in most other countries. Ferrari says he would like to return to Italy, but is deterred for the present by the low salaries there for junior professors. "As in the United States, we have three grades of professor," says Ferrari. "But the first position is much more junior and poorly paid. So I'd rather wait three or four years and come back as an associate professor (middle ranking)." CONTRACTING THE FUTURE It is against this background that the Ministry for Education, University, and Research (MIUR), responsible for higher education and immediate postdoctoral contracts, is attempting to reform the entire Italian academic system. In a recent speech, Italian education minister Letizia Moratti claimed that a forerunner of Decreto Rientro Cervelli 2003 was successful in attracting 160 international researchers to the country in 2002. MIUR spokesperson Andrea Lombardinilo pointed out that these contracts were funded from a greatly enlarged university research budget, which rose 80% from ¤1.25 billion in 2001 to ¤2.23 billion in 2002. But this was undermined when the country's other major funding body for public sector research, the National Research Council, had its funding cut by 2.5% for the year 2003. This led to the mass resignation in protest by 70 Italian university rectors.3 Ferrari says that in Italy threats of resignation should not be taken as seriously as they would be taken elsewhere, because they are almost invariably withdrawn after some token gesture has been made. "If only [the professors] had resigned," says Ferrari. "These guys are 70 or 80 years old, and come from the old system. The problems are as much their fault as the government's." The prevailing view among Italian scientists working abroad is one of sympathy and hope of improvement, but with a continuing weariness about a culture that tends to retard talent. While the government is at last making some changes, it still seems to be taking away with one hand what it issues with the other. The bottom line is that, according to Censis, total state funding is still running at just over 1% of GDP, which is half or less that of comparable European countries, and only just over a third the US level of 2.84%. The only real hope lies in a change of culture, and here foreign institutions and scientists could play a crucial role, according to Pacitti. "Let me make an appeal to bona fide foreign academics throughout the world," he says, "to introduce real and effective measures against Italian universities in order to put the necessary pressure on them to reform their corrupt system and give truth and honest merit a chance." Philip Hunter (phunter@philiphunter.com) is a freelance writer in London. References 1. S.O. Becker et al., "The 'brain drain' from Italy: anecdotes or reality?" Assogestioni (Associazione del Risparmio Gestito), 2001; available online at www.sobecker.de/braindrain4.pdf 2. "Un capitale intellettuale da valorizzare: indagine conoscitiva sul fenomeno della fuga dei cervelli all'estero," Censis, February 2002; available online at www.censis.it/censis/ricerche/2002/cervelli 3. A. Hellemans, "Scientists, government clash over reforms in Italy," The Scientist, 16[20]:30-1, Oct. 14, 2002. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[2].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[3].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[4].checked) result = true; if (!result) alert("Please select") return result; } .myradio{background-color : #94bee5} Please indicate on a 1 - 5 scale how strongly you would recommend this article to your colleagues? Not recommended 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommended Please register your vote

Life Scientist Exodus Continues from Italy

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