Guntram Bauer
Guntram Bauer holds a Doctoral degree in Biology from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, where he worked in the Department of Plant Ecology until 1997. From 1998 until 2002 he worked as a post-doctoral fellow and later as a research associate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. In 2002 he joined the Max-Planck-Society as scientific coordinator for an ‘International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS)’. He managed this new Ph.D. support program with the topic ‘The molecular basis of plant development and environmental interactions’ at the MPI for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany until 2004. Since February 2004, he is the Director of Fellowships of the Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) in Strasbourg, France.
Guntram Bauer has a profound background in plant physiology and global change biology. During his research he became also engaged in issues related to young researchers, in particular those related to support systems at the Ph.D. and post-doc level. More recently he was managing an Early Stage Training Network (EST) in the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission. As director at HFSP he is responsible for the overall coordination of the HFSP fellowship programs that provide support to appropriately trained young scientists on a global scale. Taken together he has much of the experience many young researchers are about to acquire, and he knows the in’s and out’s at this stage of a scientific career.
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Guntram Bauer
Be aware, be mobile!
Higher education and scientific training abroad
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Mobility of young scientists is a key theme in 21st century science. This is primarily so because science is not restricted to the national realm of academic affairs, but crosses national boundaries due to the global importance of certain research fields and the increased abundance of international support mechanisms. In addition, mobility is also linked to interdisciplinary research. Good examples are the life sciences. In the postgenomics era we came to realize that the overwhelming amount of information needs the involvement of many more disciplines than just genetics or biochemistry. Bridging across disciplines is certainly key to advance our understanding. Therefore young scientists should be able to broaden their skills by working in related fields, while at the same time collecting experience in a different cultural environment.
Young scientists who do work abroad are confronted with several problems, which can be very different for M.Sc. students, Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers or young investigators. Many of these problems are related to receiving adequate mentoring and counselling, securing the salary/fellowship, missing information regarding social security issues and health care, transfer of paid contributions to retirement benefits, tax deductions, child care, insurance on the job etc. Even though globalisation has left its marks on many processes concerning civil life, progress in the field of scientific exchange across borders is only creeping. Even within Europe many tasks in harmonizing the employment situation still remain to be done. But young scientists who decide to make the step should not be afraid. In the recent past many sources of information and support were established, and more importantly the number of international funding resources is on the rise. An updated program list can be found at the end of the text.
Working abroad can be a smooth experience if the homework is done. What everybody can do to ensure adequate information before departure is to contact:
- the host institution (administration) regarding formal issues related to the "employment" before departure,
- other scientists from your country at the host institution to learn from their experience (the administration of your host institution might help you in this regard),
- the agency that sponsors your fellowship if there are resources available
- the central (Ph.D.) student office of your host institution for resources and help. On many if not all university homepages the link to the student office can be found right at the entry portal!
- local WAYS members, who are your contemporaries, and therefore can give the most suited and practical information, and are willing to help you in any issues.
Many internationally known research institutions and universities are well prepared to host foreign Master or Ph.D. students. On the postdoctoral side things are much more in the dark. The list below provides some general information on selected topics. In addition, much of it applies to postdocs who are working in the USA, which still attracts the vast majority of young scientists. However, many of the problems listed below still await a solution.
- Check if your host institution has an official postdoc office that is part of the administration or, at least, if there is a local postdoc association. Another possibility is to contact the international office (if available) of your host institution. Institutions that run postdoc offices usually provide a support system with personal advisors for incoming postdocs.
- Social security/national pension schemes: inquire with your national system in your home country before your departure about the implications of working in another country for some time. There might be bilateral treaties. In many systems you are exempt from contributions to your national pension as soon as you start working in another country. Ask about transfer of paid contributions.
- Salary: You need to get in touch with the administration to find out if your host institution treats all postdocs as a single class regardless of funding source. Ask for their payment scheme and more importantly, ask about the handling of fellowships awarded to individual researchers etc.
- Retirement benefits: Depending on country/institution you may be eligible for all kinds of benefits except retirement benefits. In some cases these will not start until you are two years into your postdoc (i.e. at the time many fellows prepare to repatriate!). If you want to start saving on your own, then it is worth checking whether you are eligible for a tax-sheltered annuity.
- Some institutions do actually provide subsidies to cover health plans, insurances and retirement benefits. In some cases the institutional coverage makes up to 100% for particular insurances (e.g. dental). There are also split solutions where the institution contributes to your personal premium but you have to pay for any dependents yourself. Ask your administration for details.
- Tax deductions: In the US, depending on your nationality you are exempt from paying taxes for the first two years. But if you stay only one day longer, you have to start paying taxes AND you are liable for taxes on your previous 2 years income (therefore, if you have not made up your mind about repatriation you might want to keep a savings account or be really lucky in the lottery!). Many tax treaties are in force; therefore you should verify what kind of regulations apply to your particular circumstances.
In many research institutions there are student and postdoc associations at work. Even if there is no such ‘in house’ network you might be able to extract relevant information or establish contact to help solve your particular problem. Good points to start searching for support programs and general information on working abroad are:
- The ‘Study Abroad’ database of UNESCO, Directorate for Education. An enormous amount of links to scholarships around the world.
- FinAid! - The SmartStudentTM Guide to financial aid. A free search tool for scholarships and everything concerning financial support for education in the USA.
- Eurodoc and the Postgraduates' International Network (PI-Net). These are European and worldwide platforms for postgraduates. If you follow the link to organisations you come to a fine collection of networks all over Europe and the world. Some of them, as is the case with Eurodoc and PI-Net themselves, are still in the build up phase, therefore online resources are limited.
- Science Next Wave Postdoc Network. Probably the most complete source of information. In addition to a job search engine and online articles on specific subjects, the portal provides a huge list with links to Ph.D. and postdoc networks at the institutional level (postdocs should follow the link to Postdoc Organisations and Offices at the bottom of the main page). This is probably the 'mother of all lists' regarding postdoc associations all over the world.
- The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA). This is the all American network for postdocs. On their homepage you can find a lot of interesting information. The NPA also runs a regular newsletter the ‘POSTDOCket’ with valuable resources and announcements.
- The Pan European Mobility Portal of the European Commission. This is a good site to start if you are planning to move to Europe. There are many links to open fellowships and positions in projects of the Framework Program and to national information centres that list country specific information. In terms of employment and issues related to every day life this is the place to search for. All the national information centres are pretty well staffed and maintain special email accounts to general country information. The national contact points of the Commissions Framework program are also a good starting point to search for domestic mobility programs.
- The EMBO Life Science Mobility Portal. Similar to the Commissions site but maybe a bit more down to earth when it comes to practical information. Clear focus on the life science community, and an ever growing number of listed fellowship opportunities and vacancies.
- Scientific societies and professional associations. More and more job and fellowship databases become available at this level. Depending on what your discipline is, it might be worth to start a search on their homepage.
It is interesting and rewarding to work abroad, as long as there is appropriate support. But what used to be a cumbersome procedure in the past can now be done from the home computer with so many online resources available.
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