Germany’s research landscape attracts foreign scientists
Brain drain – that was the buzzword that plagued the German research community only a few years ago. But the picture has changed. Today, the number of scientists from abroad who are looking for research opportunities at German universities and research institutes is on the rise.
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“The brain drain that people talked about a few years ago was in fact not that severe,” says Anjana Buckow from the German Research Foundation (DFG) quoting a DFG study. “For years now we’ve seen that the share of foreigners among doctoral or post-doc researchers in our programs is rising. Right now, it’s at about 30 percent.”
Other research institutes and a recent Financial Times survey confirm that trend. According to Buckow, many researchers have laid an eye on Europe ever since U.S. immigration procedures tightened after the terror attacks in September 2001. But the German research landscape is an attractive one in its own right. With more than 250,000 scientists and investigators working here, Germany is now the world's third-largest "country of researchers”. Research is not only carried out at universities but also at around 700 publicly financed research institutions, plus research and development centers run by industrial corporations.
Its universities and research centers have a very good reputation. And it’s not just engineering,” says Buckow. Indeed, Germany has much more to offer than its traditional strongholds in automotive engineering, chemistry and physics. Its scientists and research institutes are world leaders in future-oriented fields such as environmental research, nanotechnology, optical technologies, microsystems engineering, biotechnology as well as information and communication technology.
Public and private expenditure on research and development rose by 21 percent to €54.3 billion between 1998 and 2003. That equals 2.55 percent of German GDP, a figure that the government aims to raise to at least 3 percent. About two thirds of all R&D investment is financed by the business community.
Public funding improves research conditions
But the German government also contributes its share. It recently adopted new measures to further promote the research landscape in Germany. The “Initiative for Excellence” earmarks €1.9 billion until the year 2011 to support postgraduate education for young scientists, strengthen the research profiles of selected universities and fund outstanding research centers for specific disciplines. With the “Pact for Research and Innovation” both the federal government and state governments have pledged to increase their funding for Germany’s major research associations and institutes by 3 percent each year until 2010. For 2005, the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centers, the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society and the Leibniz Science Association received a total of €3.8 billion from the federal and state governments. In addition, the DFG was funded with €1.3 billion.
These major research institutes not only benefit from stepped-up funding, but also from the greater influx of top researchers. Today, one fourth of Max Planck Institute directors come from abroad and more than half of the 5,700 up-and-coming scientists working at those institutes are top graduates from outside Germany. “Science lives on exchange. That’s why Germany and Europe have an interest in attracting top quality researchers,” says Buckow.
