Law of attraction

At a recent Sejm conference on the role of science in the social and economic development of Poland, the outflow of young scientists who see no prospects for their work in the homeland to foreign laboratories and universities was identified as a major problem facing the country. Much of it has to do with simple economics. The average salary of a university professor in Poland comes to only EUR 800 (zł.3,150) a month while a German professor earns EUR 7,000 (zł.27,600).

Henryk Szymczak from the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) confirmed that doctors' and scientists' low salaries convince young, talented people to emigrate. "If they look at a professor who has worked for 40 years and he looks shabby, they prefer to search for work abroad. Russia has already decided to increase the professors' wages to EUR 1,000 and plan to achieve EUR 2,000 in the following years. So should we," says Szymczak.

Numerous successes of Polish scientists have proven that universities are already preparing students with the necessary skills and abilities to compete in the labor market. But universities and research centers are not an attractive place to work.

"Within the last two years about one million young Poles have left the country and the number is increasing. We should have had instruments that would have prevented that," urges Bogusław Smólski, president of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools.

Michał Seweryński, Minister of Science and Higher Education says that an instant increase of salaries is impossible and that some young and gifted people will continue to head abroad for some time yet.

"That's why we are thinking about grants that would encourage young explorers to continue their work in Poland: They would be provided work conditions comparable to other EU countries for some time, perhaps for five years," says Seweryński.