Brussels, 14/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - A study on the salaries of researchers, which was carried out by the European Commission and published on 30 November, reveals that the average salary of EU researchers is almost €23,000 lower than that of researchers in the United States; even more surprisingly, the average salary of the European researcher is also lower than the average salary of researchers in Australia, India and Japan. The study also reveals strong disparities within the European research area itself (from €9800 in Bulgaria to €46,500 in Switzerland) and between men and women, with a difference of up to 35% in certain countries. The way of improving the experience and starting salary levels also differs widely within the EU: a researcher in the United Kingdom can hope for a major salary increase
over the course of his or her career (up to 335%), whereas Danish researchers will see their salary rise by just 90 %.
“If Europe is to be able to face the challenges of the future, then we need knowledge to move freely to where it can best be used, and that includes our researchers”, said Janez Potoènik in a press release. The European commissioner for science and research believes that the “huge disparity of salaries within the EU certainly distorts free movement, and also contributes to our top people seeing better opportunities elsewhere in the world”. He concludes: “While it is not simple to isolate all the factors that lead to these differences, I would say that in some member states, more attention needs to be given to the value society places on the people carrying out work vital to our future”.
Mr Potoènik's spokesperson also told the press on Tuesday that the Commission was concerned by the lack of mobility of researchers within the EU itself. “The flows of researchers have not exceeded 3%”, she said, adding that the Commission would make proposals in 2008 to remedy the situation. Antonia Mochan explained that it was impossible for the Union to act on salaries, “which are determined by the markets”, but that solutions could be found from the Cohesion Fund or the framework research programme. She added that the Commission was also looking into ways of “attracting researchers (from third countries) to the EU”.
The online investigation into “Remunerations of Researchers in the Public and Private Commercial Sectors” describes as a researcher anybody who spends at least 50% of his or her time on research activities. Nearly 10,000 responses were gathered, from researchers in different stages of their careers, in the public and private commercial sectors, in the EU25 and the associated countries. The information provided relates to net salary (the amount of salary “in their pocket”) and gross salary (net salary plus the social charges of the employee and employer). The data has been validated and analysed and the results compared with those of two different groups: other professions in Europe and researchers in Australia, China, India, Japan and the United States.
Unsurprisingly, the analysis shows major variations from country to country. Around half of the countries registered an average net salary of around €20,000 - €30,000 (weighted on the basis of purchasing power).
The difference between the remuneration of female researchers and male researchers is marked in most countries of Europe. Although it is particularly notable (more than 35%) in Estonia, the Czech Republic, Israel and Portugal, it is considerably less so (less than 15%) in Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Malta and Norway.
Putting the EU on a global scale, it can be observed just how badly paid its researchers are. In 2006, the average gross salary of researchers in the EU25 was almost €23,000 EUR less than that of researchers working in the United States: around €40,000 compared to €63,000. Only Austria, the Netherlands and Luxembourg offer salaries which are comparable to those of the United States, as do Israel and Switzerland. Austria, India and Japan all came out with an average salary higher than that of the EU25, whilst only China, of the countries used to establish the comparison, was below the EU average.
The report can be consulted in full at: http: //ec.europa.eu/eracareers/pdf/final_report.pdf . (O.L.)