The Research Landscape in the European Union

While the world watched the European Space Agency place the Philae probe from the Rosetta orbiter on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the new President of the European Union, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, axed the role of Chief Scientific Adviser to the President, a position until then held by the UK’s Professor Anne Glover. The EU is in a complex relationship with science both politically—the removal of Glover in particular is viewed by many as a political move due to her views on GMOs— and among its own scientific community. The flagship Horizon 2020 funding program has come under criticism for the inequality of its distribution of funding, particularly within Eastern Europe. The Human Brain Project, the EU’s program to lead in neuroscience research akin to the U.S. BRAIN Initiative, has been dogged by controversy over its leadership, with Europe’s neuroscientists threatening open rebellion and a recent review concluding that too few people have had too much power in its implementation. New proposals to move some of the Horizon 2020 funding into the European Strategic Investment Fund have also recently come under fire, drawing criticism that yet again long-term research funding is suffering in the pursuit of perceived short-term gains.

Research funding across Europe is complicated by the fact that the EU is a much looser federal system than the U.S. With each individual country in control of its own budget, trying to establish the funding landscape across Europe in general is tricky. Europe also faces its own unique political issues—the crisis in Ukraine is prompting NATO to urge an increase in military spending to 2% of GDP among its members.

Adding to the funding confusion, the effects being observed in the U.S. in biomedical research in particular are by no means unique to the U.S. In the UK, science funding has flat-lined in recent years and calls by the UK government for an expansion of science and innovation have been directly confused by calls within the same government for ever-greater restrictions on immigration, including forcing overseas students to return to their home countries to apply for visas to work in the UK, which will create a clear detriment to retaining talent in science. The contradictory messages from the UK government on the matter, in combination with the upcoming UK election, are leading to increasing uncertainty on the state of scientific funding. A recent report on the culture of science in the UK has also shed light on pressures in scientific research. In Germany, another European research powerhouse, recent increases in funding for junior scientists have been announced and recently reforms have been awarded to early career researchers. This follows last year’s encouraging news for state and federal funding.

Speaking from my own experience as a European, a common path to academia is to undertake graduate study in your home country, and move to the U.S. to do a postdoc, often with the aim of returning to find a faculty position. However, this isn’t always the case. Many scientists follow the funding and, of course, others among us put down roots and want to stay. Having attended sessions on “How to Apply for a Green Card” when I was on a temporary visa, it’s clear that huge numbers of graduate students and postdocs are looking to settle permanently in the U.S.

While it is traditionally less common for Americans to go abroad as part of their career path, there are those who do so and there are many more who are leaving due to the state of the current crisis. Speaking personally, as someone who undertook their PhD in the UK, the idea of going to Europe to do a PhD for a fixed amount of time (most UK PhD programs are funded studentships and cannot go past 3-4 years, determined by both funding agencies and universities) seems much more appealing than spending years and years in the U.S. as a graduate student. Likewise, postdocs are harder to come by in the UK, and so coming to the U.S. is therefore more attractive.

If you’re interested in learning more about Europe, for young researchers there is the European Young Researcher’s platform, “Voice of Researchers.” To check out funding opportunities at all stages of your career, check out Euraxess and look into the Horizon 2020 program for applying for grants (slated to be very much adventurous, blue skies research, and to attract investigators at various different levels) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships.