Brussels, 06/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - At an international conference in Brussels on 2 April on "Increasing human resources for science and technologies in Europe", the high-level expert group chaired by former Portuguese Science and Technology Minister José Mariano Gago transferred its recommendations on increasing human resources in Europe for these two sectors to Commissioner Philippe Busquin.
The group, created in May 2003 by Mr Busquin as an integral part of the Commission strategy to meet the Lisbon and Barcelona objectives, identified obstacles hindering the growth in number of scientists in Europe. In a press release, the group highlights problems in the public sector, which receives less funding than in the US and suffers from a lack of resources, low salaries and poor career prospects. It also underlines the need for universities to attract a large range of aptitudes needed for the multitude of scientific careers, instead of solely concentrating on preparing university careers.
The group considers that Europe must step up efforts to promote scientific careers in the private sector and should encourage a new partnership between universities and businesses to develop careers and better mutual understanding. The group also proposes to raise awareness amongst university students of the possibility of opting for a scientific career. The experts consider that the system of teaching science in Europe is out of touch with the 'real scientific world' and focuses too much on out-dated notions. The Commission is considering the possibility of launching an awareness campaign based on the gaps highlighted in the expert group report (Report available at http: //europa.eu.int/comm/research/conferences/2004/sciprof/index_en.html).