Deutsche Nachwuchswissenschaftler in den USA

Transcription

1 Deutsche Nachwuchswissenschaftler in den USA Perspektiven der Hochschul- und Wissenschaftspolitik Science Policy and Expatriate Scientists and Engineers: The Case of Switzerland Christian Simm Swiss Science & Technology Office San Francisco Kapitel IV.2 der bmb+f Veröffentlichung Deutsche Nachwuchswissenschaftler in den USA: Perspektiven der Hochschul- und Wissenschaftspolitik, Berlin: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Mai 2001, S

2 Science Policy and Expatriate Scientists and Engineers: The Case of Switzerland Christian Simm Swiss Science & Technology Office, San Francisco 1. DEFINITIONS BRAINS - how do we define them? are they undergraduate students? or only graduate students (PhD students)? or only postgraduate students (postdocs)... and for how long can one be a postdoc? is there a discrimination between fields (e.g. is computer science more important than philology)? what about highly skilled people without a university degree, i.e. specialists trained on the job? aren t other professions (e.g. artists) as important as engineers for a nation? DRAIN - how do we define it? what if the person moved away with his/her parents? is it only if leaving was a pro-active decision? or also if expatriation was a professional obligation? after how long is an expatriate drained, i.e. lost for his/her country? couldn t an expatriate, a drained brain, be very useful for his/her country by being abroad (role as ambassador, networking, etc.)? 175

3 1. DEFINITIONS (cont.) WASTE Brain drain is often associated with the idea of loss, of wasted taxpayers money in the people s education, but... what is the unit used to measure the loss, is it the number of people (but their value is not uniform), or the cost of their education, or...? in the economical balance sheet view, aren t non-working specialists (like unemployed mothers with a higher education) as much a loss as expatriates? and what about all those who, for a reason or another, are not happy with their current job and therefore not optimally productive? CIRCULATION Brain drain is a very unilateral way of looking at flows... there are very important flows from abroad TO Switzerland (about 1/3 of students and faculty in universities are foreign)? what in-flow is better : returning of mediocre Swiss vs. arrival of talented foreigners? does it still make sense to use a territorial model in a global economy? 176

4 2. SOME DATA Switzerland the number of expats is precisely known, but there is a lack of information on their education, competences, profession, experience, etc. if the Swiss National Science Foundation knows how many grants it awards and where people are going, there is no career follow-up after the end of the grant as in most developing countries, there is a lack of (IT-) specialists U.S.A the annual quota of H1-B visas for highly skilled foreigners was increased from 65,000 in 1998 to 115,000 in 1999, and then again to 200,000 in 2000 the proposal for a T-visa (Zoe Lofgren, H.R. 2687) is still pending. It would give an automatic work permit to foreigners graduating in American universities 1998 statistics of the National Science Foundation show that 29% of all PhD holders working in U.S. R&D are foreigners 177

5 3. FACTS There are different types of facts to consider... HARD FACTS ABOUT THE U.S. (cannot be copied) U.S. is world s largest homogeneous market for high tech products & services (50-70% in some sectors) products accepted in the U.S. become de facto standards some of the world s best universities & research labs are in the U.S. SOFT FACTS ABOUT THE U.S. (may be inspiring for a change) risk taking attitude acceptance of failure as part of learning mobility of workers entrepreneur-friendly environment do-it mentality, also in the academic environment etc. 178

6 3. FACTS (cont.) PERSONAL FACTS (play a crucial role in the decision about returning/staying) age stage in career spouse / partner (their career and/or wishes...) kids education (e.g. start of primary school) parents getting older (and/or their health problems) comparison of quality of life (is often a very personal definition) etc. PERCEIVED FACTS (may bias decisions) most people don t know that Switzerland has the highest number of Nobel laureates and patents per capita expats don t see very well how things may change in their country (e.g. emergence of an entrepreneurial culture, availability of venture money, comparison of living and working conditions/costs, etc.) many believe that everything is gold in Silicon Valley 179

7 4. GENERAL ACTIONS CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT create favorable rules for VC (tax, pension funds, etc.) lower nominal value for stock taxation of stock options create tenure-track in universities tech-transfer & spin-offs encourage entrepreneur-friendly environment ACCESS TO JOB OFFERS now faster access possible through the Web examples : and job forum at l Agefi (Swiss financial newspaper) INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS rebrain study and grant by Gebert-Rüf Foundation return grant by NSF? LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE CONCERNED encourage regional networking meeting with Swiss State Secretary C. Kleiber match-making with journalists and decision-takers write about the subjects: articles, studies, etc. networking events 180

8 5. SPECIFIC ACTIONS KNOWLEDGE escience / ejobs Network of Competences Organized Data Mine Information Flows 181

9 6. ABOUT SCIENCE LINK: MISSION The Swiss Science & Technology Office in San Francisco (SSTO), established in December 1997, was given the following mission by the Swiss Science Agency, on the basis of an annual performance contract: ANALYZE Observe, analyze and interpret trends in American and Canadian science, technology, higher education and innovation. The results are published in research reports, via Electronic Newsletters, and in Web sites, etc. They may also form the core of study tours, boot camps, conferences and other events organized by the SSTO. CONNECT Create networks and encourage exchanges and collaborative ventures among Swiss, Americans and Canadians in the areas of science, technology, higher education and innovation. Contribute to cross-fertilization between entrepreneurial spirit, innovative environments, good engineering practices, positive risk-taking, high quality education, etc. To facilitate these links and exchanges, the SSTO takes advantage of its extensive network of contacts in all three countries and has developed a specific tool : SwissTalents, the worldwide "Knowledge Network" of highly skilled people living outside Switzerland, whether they are Swiss nationals or friends of Switzerland. ACT Help promote Switzerland's science, technology and higher education, its know-how and expertise, and its high-tech ventures in North America. Provide information to American and Canadian partners. Initiatives include organizing scientific networking events, fostering partnerships among institutions and individuals, launching thoughts and discussions, and incubating ideas. 182

10 7. SwissTalents - The Knowledge Network SwissTalents - The Knowledge Network, is the network of highly skilled people living outside Switzerland, whether they are Swiss nationals or friends of Switzerland.» This searchable database contains the personal profiles of talented people who: - work or have worked outside of Switzerland - hold a university degree or equivalent - have an interest in Swiss science, technology, higher education and innovation. SwissTalents is first of all a database with often very detailed profiles of highly skilled specialists willing to share their professional experience and skills with others. The database can be accessed through the Web ( and can be queried with a search engine. But SwissTalents is especially a networking tool for talent and information exchange. It was developed by the Swiss Science Counselor in San Francisco with the support of various partners. At the beginning of 2001, SwissTalents had about 1,750 members. In March 2000, a first statistical analysis was performed on 1,250 members distributed among 41 countries. The full analysis is available as PDF-file at A summary is presented here. It should be noted that the strong North American predominance does not necessarily reflect the global distribution of potential members. It is instead the result of a long-standing relationship between the Science Counselors and Swiss talent living in the United States and Canada. Within the United States, the regions preferred by SwissTalents members are clearly the Silicon Coast from San Francisco to Seattle, followed by New York and New England in the East. On the average, only 11% of the members are women, a percentage which increases significantly only in the Southwest (Los Angeles and San Diego) --possibly because of the importance of its biotechnology center-- and in the greater Washington, D.C. area. The average age of the members is the highest in Canada. It is the lowest in the Northwest, where the Silicon Valley and the Seattle region, in particular, attract a great number of young information technology and biotechnology specialists. The young age of these members completely corresponds with that of the local population, in a region of pioneers without ties often devoted body and soul to their mission. While there are many Swiss physicists, chemists and teachers in Germany, the other centers which stand out are : - Washington, D.C. for lawyers, business and the life sciences (probably because of the National Institutes of Health and other institutions of that type) - The Northwest for information technologies, engineering and basic sciences - The Southwest and the Northeast for life sciences. 183