Young health researchers consider leaving Canada
Nearly half of all young Canadian health researchers say they are seriously considering leaving the country because of lack of financial support, according to an informal survey that comes as the federal government is signalling more support for basic science and for young scientists.
The survey was conducted by Holly Witteman, a research scientist and assistant professor at Laval University’s faculty of medicine, in response to the increasing scarcity of funding for so-called early-career researchers. The findings, based on surveys from 34 respondents, highlight the desperation facing many young health researchers.
“If I can’t renew my funding, I need to let go of all my staff,” wrote one respondent. “I am keeping my eyes open for alternative careers as I have a family to feed.”
Another wrote: “This is now a lottery … I will be forced to leave beautiful, progressive, moderate Canada to do science.”
The survey’s preliminary findings include:
• 47 per cent of early-career researchers have seriously considered leaving Canada to continue their careers elsewhere;
• 44 per cent have seriously considered leaving academia;
• 38 per cent have seriously considered leaving research;
• 94 per cent have delayed starting “potentially impactful research”;
• 82 per cent have scaled down their research program;
• 56 per cent have put economic considerations of research before quality, such as giving up the best approach to the research in favour of ones that can be done more cheaply.
In her summary, Witteman wrote that the loss of early-career researchers to Canada would be costly in several ways.
“If the respondents who report they’ve been forced to consider leaving Canada ultimately end up doing so, this will represent a total loss of approximately $20 million from Canadian sources and $4 million from non-Canadian sources that were invested in these researchers during their training and start-up years as new faculty.”
After Tuesday’s budget, in which new funding for research granting agencies was announced and a review of research funding was announced, Witteman said she is more optimistic about the direction federal research funding and research policy are moving.
This will represent a total loss of approximately $20 million from Canadian sources and $4 million from non-Canadian sources. HOLLY WITTEMAN RESEARCH SCIENTIST