European Economy Strikes at Rising Stars

Establishing oneself as an independent investigator is not easy, and this is especially true for young scientists in Europe. The good news is that in many European countries, substantial reforms and improvements have begun to reverse the brain drain. The bad news is that because of the economic slowdown, science funding is often being squeezed, and this always affects people at the junior end. Germany's Max Planck Society (MPG), for example, recently announced dramatic cuts to cope with a decreased annual budget. Not only will the society close several research departments and an entire institute; members also decided to cancel 15 (almost one-third) of their independent junior research groups at the end of their five-year grants. When spending must be reduced drastically, it is certainly easiest to cut the lowest members of the hierarchy. But becoming a group leader at a Max Planck Institute (MPI) is one of the most attractive positions for young scientists in Germany, and by canceling these posts, the MPG may be sending the wrong message. "If you don't keep young scientists at this stage of their careers in Germany, they will leave," warns junior group leader Harald Hutter at the MPI for Medical Research in Heidelberg. "And it will be more expensive to woo scientists back to Germany at a later stage than to offer them a good career perspective in Germany from the start." Cuts in science funding not only make it more difficult for people to find positions as group leaders, but also increase the competition for grants. And remember, young scientists must compete both among themselves and with senior scientists who have established track records. "I know many good researchers who are trying to set up their own group, but who cannot find enough funding or laboratory space," says Didier Trouche, a young investigator at France's Molecular Laboratory of Biology of Eukaryotes. RISING STARS To give a head start to talented scientists who have just established their own research groups, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is running the Young Investigator Programme. YIP is not a typical funding program in which money is poured into promising research projects and the investigators simply spend it. Importantly, YIP puts scientists in touch with other people who have the same kind of fellowship. Francis Barr, a researcher with MPI of Biochemistry near Munich, attended the annual YIP meeting in May. "I talked to quite a few people, which I think will be useful in the future. Both experimentally and lab-wise, people have similar problems or experiences, and it is interesting to see how people deal with things." But the main benefit of the program may be that, through recognition by the EMBO, the organization's reputation will benefit YIP members. "It helps me to get other grants," Trouche says. To increase the international exposure of the YIP, EMBO recently published a booklet that lists the 103 current YIP members, an illustration that, despite funding and other difficulties, some stars are still rising in Europe. Martina Habeck (m.habeck@gmx.net) is a freelance writer in London. 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

European Economy Strikes at Rising Stars

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