Transcript Young researchers and risk: a diverging reality

the European Council of Doctoral Candidates
and Junior Researchers
NEST-PROMISE Regional Workshop
Risky and Visionary Research: Challenges and Opportunities
Pisa, September 18th 2006
Young researchers and risk:
a diverging reality?
Renzo Rubele
ADI, Past President of EURODOC
Representing young researchers
eurodoc is the federation of the national associations
of Ph.D. candidates and junior researchers in Europe
Young researchers
and risky research
«RCUK says scientists are deterred from
running with more adventurous ideas
because to get on in their careers they need
a portfolio of successful projects. And those
deciding which projects are awarded
funding may err on the side of caution
because of pressures to ensure a return on
public funds.»
Natasha Gilbert
in High-risk research, The Guardian, June 20, 2006
Doing research is a hard job 
 Science as endless frontier
 Frontiers of research are more and more far
away from common perception and knowledge
 (many) Experimental efforts are in need of
larger facilities, or to access larger resources
 Theoretical and conceptual research implies
mastering all the previous work done on the
issues at stake
 Research environment and constraints
 Management of research activities: facing
increasing pressure, standardization
 attractiveness of a researcher’s career
Research Training
 A renewed attention
 Wider debate in Europe after 2000 due to
the Lisbon targets and the Bologna Process
 Increasing number of youngsters enrolled in
research degree programmes
 But there is tension between
- Generic skills, wide employability
- Specialist training, advanced and in-depth
studies, and conduction of specific research
 Individual (economic) conditions
 Everlasting discussions on the nature of
research (in particular: doctoral) training
Germany
23.043
UK
14.935
France
8.420
Spain
7.479
Italy
6.351
Poland
5.450
Portugal
3.723
Sweden
3.558
Netherlands
2.584
Austria
1.790
Finland
1.759
Czech Rep.
1.546
Belgium
1.432
Hungary
1.067
Denmark
993
Norway
714
Ireland
668
Ph.D. graduates
(figures of 2003)
Year
2003
2000
EU 25
88.115
79.247
USA
45.994
44.904
Japan
14.512
12.192
Israel
n.a.
859
2.685
2.745
Switzerland
Source: reported from
She Figures 2006, EC
Career development after the Ph.D.
 Some key features of the early stages
 Employment on short-term contracts
 External funding of projects
 Question of the independence of the
researcher (in a group/institution/society)
 Assessment criteria, recruitment conditions
 Research environment, "systemic variables"
 But there is tension between
- project-based activities
- curiosity-driven research
[despite efforts to format the second into the
first]
Career development and risk
 Elements affecting choices
 A researcher’s career – always a pathway
within the unknown: but how much
uncertainty is sustainable?
 Personal attractiveness for a discipline, a
field, a theme, an inquiry
 Matching aspirations and actual possibilities
 Researchers’ labour market
 Risky research: a risk on the top of a risk?
 How to strike a balance between certainties
and uncertainties?
 «Multi-dimensional space of risks»
Mobility and risk (1)
 Geographical mobility
 Obstacles/risks related to mobility:
 Family-related issues
 Financial issues
 Loss of reintegration prospects in the country of
origin
 Bureaucratic/Administrative obstacles
 Language problems
 Social and Cultural problems
 Lack of information
 Difficult transfer of social benefits
 Lack of international networking
 Opposition by the supervisor
Mobility and risk (2)
 Inter-disciplinary mobility
 Changing your field or subject may be a
risk
 Inter-sectorial mobility
 Academia-industry relationships




Problematic in some countries and fields
Different appraisal systems
Difficult mixed career paths
Business not interested in risky research
 Public Administration
 Uneasy valorization of competencies
Research environment and risk
 Institutional traditions and practices
 Depend on countries and available
resources
 Intertwined with wider social customs
 Affect choices of career and of research
 Academic localism
 culture and practice of inbreeding
 Reseach organisation
 disciplinary/inter(trans)-disciplinary
structures (from degree courses to doctoral
programmes to research activities)
 research strategies, decisions
Funding schemes and risk
 Assesment of risky research
 Question of potential vs. record of results
«For science and engineering, if what you want is roughly
the same distribution as you get with the RAE then you may
as well use a metric-based system […]. "But if you want is a
system that supports the kind of risky research that the
funding council grant is supposed to be for then you need
something different.»
P. Cotgreave reported by S. Pincock in
UK plans research funding overhaul, The Scientist, 20/06/06
 Risky research badly formatted inside
existing project management?
Research track and risk
 Unequal chances around Europe
 Different opportunities and policies as what
regards young researchers
 Career structure, appraisal system
 Question of solutions by way of long-term
Fellowships, tenure-track
 European Research Council
 «Starting Independent Researcher» Grant
Scheme: a strong signal of change
 Hopeful dissemination of ideas and practice
at the national and local level
Conclusions:
risky research and risk
 Need to cope with multi-facet types of risk
 Young researchers are more subject than
others to risks, not (necessarily) overcome by
enthusiasms
 Build a better framework for a researcher’s
career
 «Risky researchers» are to be protected
unless we risk a diverging reality
 The «Renaissance Man» left to the past,
and future competition on knowledge and
economic growth based on other factors
«Although welcome, more
money won't in itself encourage
researchers to take more risks.
Career structures and the
framework in which science is
funded act as a deterrent. If a
culture change within the system
leads the way, researchers will
follow.»
Natasha Gilbert
in High-risk research, The Guardian, June 20, 2006