Presidency conference calls for creation of centre for EU researcher mobility
President of the Research Council François-Xavier de Donnea and Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin have announced their backing for new plans to create a Commission-funded advice and representational body for researcher mobility in the EU. Plans for the new body, for which the Commission has said it will provide funding, emerged from an EU Research Council event organised by the Belgian Presidency on 17 and 18 September, 'Excellence, mobility and exchanges: opening up European research to the world.' The organisation would have three main functions - to provide advice and support to mobile researchers in the EU, act as a centre for study on researcher issues, and as a pressure group to lobby for measures in favour of mobility. It is hoped that the centre will come into operation by the end of 2002. M. de Donnea, who is also Minister President of the Brussels-Capital region, announced his intention to create a centre for researcher mobility in the area as a preliminary step towards the creation of an EU wide network of similar co-ordination centres for researcher issues. The idea is part of moves to reverse the EU 'brain drain' to the USA and to attract talented European researchers working in the US back to the EU. M. de Donnea explained that under the current system, 'it's often easier for a political refugee to come to Europe than for a researcher with a diploma.' He also spoke of the individual value of international scientific careers: 'Mobility is an essential experience. It opens researchers' minds to change.' He added that the Presidency wanted to see the creation of a homogenous, Europe-wide PhD programme to encourage mobility, explaining; 'Mobility as a personal and a career choice should be encouraged. Mobility and stability go hand in hand.' He also highlighted the need for a network of European infrastructures and equipment to optimise the transfer of knowledge within the EU. He said that moves to strengthen multidisciplinary and multinational research teams are also needed to encourage this process of exchange and opening up. He said: 'We have to create a real culture of mobility. This will mean profound changes in the mentality of the European research.' He called for Europe to learn from the United States, where researchers work in an 'atmosphere of openness and global mobility,' and where venture capital, research funding and equipment are all readily available. M. de Donnea also explained the reasons for the Belgian Presidency's choice of researcher mobility as a theme for the conference, saying: 'I am personally convinced that the future of research is closely and unavoidably linked to the scientific community's ability to open itself up to the outside world and encourage international exchanges.' He said it was one of the aims of the Belgian Presidency to ensure that the issue was taken up at all levels, including with Member State heads of government. He added: 'As politicians, it's up to us to make a real contribution to the removal of obstacles, to create the conditions for a constructive opening up [of scientific research].' European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin also highlighted the importance of mobility, describing the issue as 'a major priority for the Commission as well as the [Belgian] Presidency.' He said action was needed to create a 'culture of mobility' and make exchanges and travel an integral part of research careers. He also echoed the concerns of M. de Donnea by calling for moves to ensure the scientific and personal value of research work abroad was fully recognised. Commissioner Busquin said that human resources were key to the realisation of the next RTD framework programme, under which a doubling of human resource funding, from 900 million to 1.8 billion euro, has been proposed. He said more needed to be done, including financially, to encourage the formation of specialised, international teams of scientists and to include a wider variety of researchers in Commission programmes. He also said more needed to be done to open up EU research activity to third country researchers. Asked by CORDIS News why EU institutions seems to have had more success with educational and student exchanges than with researcher mobility, M. Busquin said it was primarily a question of finance. He explained - 'A researcher is a worker, a professional...we have to finance [them], whereas with students it's a simple case of transferral - the cost is not the Commission's responsibility, the system is already set up.' M. Busquin said the EU has organised over 3,000 mobile researchers under the current framework programme, equivalent to 900 million euro of funding. He also emphasised the need for 'a whole system of internal mobility in Europe' to allow easier integration of visiting researchers into Member State research centres and universities.