‘Beyond Brain Drain’ - Mobility, Competitiveness & Scientific Excellence

What is the national capacity to supply the high-calibre scientists, engineers and technologists needed to fuel our knowledge –based industries?   

This was one of the key questions addressed at a high-level workshop held earlier this year at the Queensland Bioscience Precinct.  The workshop was convened by WISENET member Dr Fiona Wood of the Centre for Higher Education and Management Policy of the University of New England and held jointly with the Australasian Research Management Society.  The patron for the meeting was Professor Peter Doherty, AC FAA FRS and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Medicine.

The 200 page report resulting from the workshop was launched by FASTS in September at Parliament House. 

A copy of the report can be downloaded from: http://www.une.edu.au/sat/chemp/arms/

What was clear from a number of the workshop presentations was that Australia was not alone regarding the challenges faced in recruiting, managing and retaining highly skilled Scientists, Engineers and Technologists (SET) personnel. Many countries continue to lose some of their best and brightest talent – particularly to the US.  The policies and strategies set in place by the Canadian government to re-dress its ‘brain drain’ were the focus of the presentation by Dr David Strangway, (President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation).

The EU Barcelona Declaration which has set a target of increasing private sector R&D to 3% of GDP by 2010 has forced a radical re-think of human resource management issues and strategies both in the context of the need for increased numbers of SET people and also with the continued loss of EU SET  personnel to the US.  The policy responses needed to meet this human resource challenge were addressed by Professor Luke Georghiou (the University of Manchester) in his presentation.

Dr Magda Lola of the Marie Curie Fellowship Association (MCFA) identified a number of problems faced by fellows in career development and mobility.   She specifically identified and discussed those problems faced by women and which need to be addressed in a contemporary perpective.   Magda discussed a range of initiatives and recommendations that the MCFA had set in place to help offset these. Her presentation also overviewed the recent establishment of the European Commission’s European Researchers’ Mobility Portal. 

The situation of Australia regarding the adequacy of its pool of SET personnel was interpreted by Queensland’s Chief Scientist, Professor Peter Andrews, as needing  75000 more scientists by the end of the decade if it is to build the Biotech business and other knowledge based industries needed to be internationally competitive.  Of particular concern to Professor Andrews was the insufficiency of graduates in the enabling sciences that were essential for these knowledge based industries. 

Professor Peter Doherty drew attention to the need to reconsider migration policies in view of the world demand for highly skilled SET personnel.  In this regard he referred to the key role scientists from India and China had historically played in supporting the US science enterprise. 

The poor image science has in Australia compared with, for example sporting celebrities, was commented on by a number of presenters/delegates.

A range of presenters drew attention to the importance of addressing career opportunities in Australia and the need for having flexible salary packages and ensuring that work conditions were comparable with competitor countries.  Professor Alan Pettigrew of the National Health & Medical Research Council also drew attention to the importance of creating an appropriate environment for researchers that would act as an incentive for them to return to Australia.

Demographer, Professor Graeme Hugo, examined the issue of international mobility in the context of the Australian Diaspora.  This Diaspora constitutes approximately 4.3% of the Australian population.  According to Professor Hugo we need better strategies for linking with the Diaspora and also national policies that support mobility. Although Australia has had a net gain in immigration the key question still remains as to whether those departing are being replaced by people with similar skills’ sets.

The workshop outcomes were discussed at a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering & Innovation Council.  It is also expected that the report will make a key contribution to the recently announced government audit of scientific skills.  Fiona Wood also made a presentation about the workshop issues to the European Science Open Forum held in Stockholm in June.  Plans for further collaborative research with colleagues in both Australia and overseas have also been set in train.