Katastrofa edukacji

[Gość: Poznaniak]

"But money is only part of the problem. Poland, like many of its neighbours,
has too many scientists who aren't internationally competitive, and who cling
to the certainties of the socialist era. Unfortunately, many of them sit in
senior positions and intend to stay there, which sends genuine achievers to
seek opportunities abroad."

"The old guard is bound to fight efforts to concentrate funding into groups
that can compete on the European stage, and to close labs that just aren't
good enough."

Te słowa cały świat przeczytał w "Nature"...

[Gość: Poznaniak]

/Tlumaczenie powyzszego tekstu angielskiego/

Europa hoduje talenty naukowe dla Zachodu

Szanowny Panie,
Jako naukowiec ze Słowacji, jednego z krajów wschodnioeuropejskich
przygotowujących się do przyłączenia się do Unii Europejskiej, miło mi było
ujrzeć pańską opinię w artykule: „Zbyt spokojnie na wschodnim froncie”
omawiającym stan nauki we wschodniej Europie. („Nature” 421, 459, 2003)
Spędziwszy pięć lat nad moją pracą doktorską w Austrii i dwa lata ponadto na
studiach podoktoranckich w Anglii, zajęłam się powrotem do Słowacji, by tam
kontynuować moją karierę naukową. Zaoferowano mi grzecznie posadę uniwersytecką
z możliwością założenia wlasnej grupy - ale honorarium wynosiło zaledwie SKK
100.000-200.000 ($2.500-5.100) rocznie. Ponieważ mam dwoje dzieci, musiałam
szukać innej alternatywy.

Dowiedziałam się, niestety, że nie ma stypendiów, które by umożliwiły mi powrót
do Słowacji. Podobna sytuacja jest w wielu wschodnieuropejskich krajach:
uniwersytety wykształcają talenty dla krajów zachodnich.
Juraj Gregan
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS,
UK

[Gość: Poznaniak]

Nature 421, 459 (2003); doi:10.1038/421459b

Too quiet on the Eastern front
Change is needed before the nations poised to join the European Union can reap
the full scientific benefits of membership.

In May next year, the European Union (EU) will gain 75 million citizens at a
single stroke, with the accession of ten new member countries, most of them in
Central and Eastern Europe. Among those brought into Brussels' embrace will be
some 250,000 researchers — a 15% rise in the EU's scientific workforce. But
they won't come with bulging wallets: the eastwards expansion will increase the
union's total spending on research by only 3.5%.

Poland, home to more than half of the new EU citizens, provides a prominent
example of the scientific weaknesses of the unions' budding members (see page
471). Although the Polish government is stressing that the country's future
should not be one of cheap labour, it has done little to nurture a knowledge-
based economy. Research spending stagnates at a shameful 0.34% of public
expenditure.

But money is only part of the problem. Poland, like many of its neighbours, has
too many scientists who aren't internationally competitive, and who cling to
the certainties of the socialist era. Unfortunately, many of them sit in senior
positions and intend to stay there, which sends genuine achievers to seek
opportunities abroad.

Streamlining the overstaffed research system, and letting in the fresh air of
competition, is an urgent necessity. The talent exists, and several research
groups are finding niches where Poland can successfully contribute to state-of-
the-art research.

Much now depends on another ray of hope: science minister Micha Kleiber. A
respected physicist and engineer who joined the government last year, Kleiber
has already convinced his colleagues to elevate the State Committee for
Scientific Research to a fully fledged ministry. That should give him more
clout to push through reforms, but the task remains devilishly hard.
The old guard is bound to fight efforts to concentrate funding into groups that
can compete on the European stage, and to close labs that just aren't good
enough. But Kleiber's political peers should back him through any short-term
unpopularity. Poland will change under EU membership, and some of those changes
will hurt. If its research base can be successfully reformed, there is much to
be gained in terms of collaboration with Western European scientists — not to
mention research grants from Brussels.

The same issues face many of other nations queuing up to join the EU. It would
be satisfying to see the largest of the new countries leading the way towards
the promised land of European scientific integration, rather than dragging its
feet.