Encouraging research by improving researcher mobility
The EU is dedicated to achieving the Innovation Union’s commitments and working towards their overall goal of developing a smart and sustainable economy. One crucial component is the continued promotion and growth of research and innovation. The TANDEM (Talent and extended mobility in the European Innovation Union) project focused specifically on improving support for researchers and their families, enabling them to pursue multiple research paths, work with multiple institutions, and happily remain within their home countries. TANDEM analysed the successes and issues of the Dual Career and Integration Services (DCIS) and other services provided by EURAXESS (an EU commission platform and tool for researchers) currently offered to mobile researchers. The results were concluded in national summary reports, relaying the obstacles that mobile, international researchers must overcome when moving and integrating families. The results from such analysis of individual researcher, institutional, and national needs were then used in the creation of a modular system. This system will improve efficiency and effectiveness by adapting DCIS measures and EURAXESS services according to individual characteristics. Particular focus throughout the project was given to Member States that deal with the challenges of “brain drain” and the emigration of their skilled labour force. Hopefully, these nationally tailored reports and increasingly adaptable systems have provided a more accurate depiction of current obstacles and will more successfully prevent or minimise them. Through TANDEM important key stakeholders were brought together (national research institutions, national science and research foundations, policy-makers, mobile researchers) and given a platform for discussion. Workshops and consortium meetings were conducted, and seminars were held in Zurich, Thessaloniki and Bratislava to review findings and work together to meet one another's needs. The results have been shared and are available to the public and all relevant stakeholders via multiple events and publications, some of which can be found on the project website. TANDEM has provided a clarified understanding of the difficulties mobile researchers and those who host them face on a regional, national, and international level. Increased attention to individual characteristics, improved means of integration tool adaptability and a more solidified network of stakeholders will hopefully mitigate issues of brain drain and greatly increase research prospects and researcher contentment within the EU.
Keywords
Researcher mobility, brain drain, researcher contentment
