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Published online 15 October 2008 | Nature 455, 840-841 (2008) | doi:10.1038/455840b
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New law threatens Italian research jobs
Scientists protest over government's cost cutting.
Nearly 2,000 Italian researchers will lose promised permanent positions under a law that is expected to come into force by the end of the year. They may have to leave public research altogether.
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While reading your article published online 15 October 2008 | Nature 455, 840-841 (2008) | doi:10.1038/455840b, I appreciated your reporting the dramatic situation of Italian scientists both with a permanent or a temporary position, as a consequence of lack of governmental funding. I agree that the research and education minister Mariastella Gelmini should have at least made public the motivations for further cutting new positions in science. I was disappointed however by your lack of information on reporting Renato Brunetta', the minister for public administration and innovation, offensive qualification of civil servant as ?fannulloni?, ?capitani di ventura? and so on. Perhaps you have not been informed that permanent civil servants? leave of absence for illness dropped by 45% after Brunetta call for a more productive work. Unfortunately a similar response might be expected also form perhaps a more limited percentage of ?temporary? researches mostly involved in commercial activities. Unless you quote facts as they really are, your articles loose the objectivity one may expect by reading Nature. The real problem in Italy is in a traditional lack of capacity to select scientists on the base of their competence, surely an exclusive and unforgivable responsibility of the older generations of scientists which operate the selections. And this problem involves scientists as well as academic positions and other categories of civil servants, eventually offering the general public with their image of a poor productive people, not deserving greater governmental support thus unfortunately making difficult the merit to emerge.
Dear Pierlorenzo, your claim that researchers with temporary positions were indeed "idlers" is a strong one indeed. Given the request that you make that "facts must be quoted as they really are", I would expect that you can report DATA and NUMBERS about how much the "leave of absence for illness" really dropped when limited to precarious researchers only, instead of the whole of the italian civil servants. I naively expect you might find some significant discrepancies. As it is written now, your comment suffers from the same shortcomings that you claimed were present in the article you criticized.
At the INFN laboratory where I am a member of the permanent research staff (Frascati), the average number of sick days claimed per employee in 2006 was four and a half. Marchiafava---like Brunetta and the other members of Berlusconi's cabinet---does his best to conflate the problems affecting the Italian civil service in general with those affecting the research sector. Many Italian researchers would welcome increased autonomy for research institutes and a move away from a traditional civil-service recruitment model in favor of one which more specifically guarantees excellence in research. But these are not immediate problems, and the recent government initiatives do nothing to address them. Both the article above and the editorial on page 835 are much closer to the point: The recent legislation guarantees that the past six years of permanent hiring freezes in the public research sector will be followed by many more to come, denying a whole generation of energetic young researchers the chance to prove themselves in competitive selection procedures and effectively eliminating their career prospects in Italy. What makes this even more tragic is that this pool of highly specialized talent represents Italy's best hope for innovation and technological development in the future.
Dear Pierlorenzo, not only you should quote data and figures (a scientific approacj, in fact), as Francesco appropriately recommends you - you should also not forget that "precari" are such in every aspect of their professional life and that they are, by mere professional standars, needs, practice and priorities, people of work, who have several exceedance of hours per week that go unpaid simply beacuse they are in their respective labs and offices all the time. That is, all the time that is needed to pursue their endeavors, be it finalizing a report, checking an experiment (nature, in fact, has its own timeline, you see) - irrespective of, oftentimes, sundays, late hours.. The "fannulloni" (idlers) are, by and large, the, if you pardon my rather brash approach, those who have been sitting at their chairs, desks (or elsewhere than doing work, for that matter) for decades, who have entered the public administration when the power that be of the early 80's have allowed so - for political convenience, more often than so, with a flavor of political intelligence in some rare although notable other cases. Having stated this clear and firm, let's bring things back on the bare soil: "idlers" are those who waste time, resources and energies (if any) in spite of the public mission they have been allowed to. Were you to be a "precario" in the research arena, you would have well experienced on your very flesh what it means to have so, immensely so much to do (and the willingness to do this, mind you) that "idling" would have been out of your very vocabulary. Research, international research, excellence, endeavour, efforts, advances, intellectual risktaking and the desire to advance belongs to the people who want this, irrespective of their precariousness employment. It happens that, in Italy so terribly more than elsewhere, public investment in research is spotty, temperamental, inherently incoherent - eventually leading research agencies to fish for any possible financial source, to get the job done, ultimately. A nation that doesn't see the input of high-profile science into society is a lost one. Forget idling and start wondering what a solution might well be.
Here is a number: at least for INFN the value for "leave of absence for illness" is 3 days per year per person; I dont think Brunetta law can reduce this value so much (we cannot became immortal). The assumption that "The real problem in Italy is in a traditional lack of capacity to select scientists on the base of their competence,..." is up to my experience completely false and could sound as a third offense: you are "fannullone", you are "capitano di ventura" and you are "mediocre". The reason why we have so many "precari" is that expressed above by L. Maiani (former President of INFN, former CERN General Director and presently CNR President). My personal experience in almost 40 years of work with INFN in many experiment performed at CERN in the frame of International Collaborations is that I always got compliments from foreign colleagues for the quality of our young researchers; my answer has always been: "It is their merit, not mine".
What is worse is that the present Government has probably the highest consensus in the democratic history of Italy, and Renato Brunetta is the undisputed star of the team, thanks to his recent initiatives. Italians always tended to see civil servants as "fannulloni", and scientists as suspect, non-aligned people. Science itself is seen typically more as dangerous than beneficial, especially these last years. Alas, Churchill was right is saying that every Country has the Government it deserves.
I just want to express my gratitude for everyone that have the will and the chance to freely talk about the dramatic situation of university and research in my country,since in Italy there is no will or way to been informed. The world have to know what's happening.
Dear Pierlorenzo, facts and figures are here; 6 years of hiring freezing, about 10000 subscriptions at the last national contest at CNR for about 100 positions, fundamental services like seismic risk monitoring managed through (and impossible without) temporary staff members. I think this is enough. If my group wants to apply for, say, a european project, and needs the funding to hire 3/4 of the staff, is it really trustworthy? I'm afraid it is unbalanced, and therefore unfit for the project. Every morning, when I wake up, I think this was just a nightmare, and unfortunately, coming to lab, I realize it is real life. Long years of hard work can nothing against ideologies brought up by governments. Citation of Chruchill regarding Italy, like the one made by Walter have always upset me; today I'm starting to agree with Sir Winston.
Dear Pierlorenzo, I think you made a point saying that, in Italy, more effort is needed to encourage and promote competence and excellence. In this respect I would like to express my strong impression that there is an insufficient respect of the meaning of the academic career in our country (with possible exceptions for careers more directly connected to political power, as the ones of lawyers and economists). I would like to clarify my view by mentioning a specific minor thing. The postdoc contract is called in Italian "assegno di ricerca". This means literally "cheque of research" and in my view does not denote much respect toward postdoc fellows. I presume we agree till this point. Instead, I cannot understand if you think that we need to make savings by denying a chance to the great majority of the young Italians who invested 10 years or more for their PhD and postdocs (or assegni di ricerca); in this case, we disagree. Incidentally, I seem to understand that the interpretation of the law is not unambiguous; I hope that the minister will clarify that it can be applied without further damaging the young researchers and the research in Italy.
As mentioned in the article, i would like to underline how many (most) of the protesters are claiming is "promise" of a permanent position or "waiting" for employment. This discussion regards a system (Italy) were people is hired more depending on how long they have waited behind some professor than on their merits. Everyone knows how public competitions ('concorsi') are made: the winner is ALWAYS known even before opening the position (except very exceptional cases), either for researchers either for professors. Moreover, no-one takes under consideration that a contract ended in one institution can be followed by another in another institution: in Italy, people never change university or lab along their career in order not to loose their place in the cue. This system is rotten from inside, since every competition is poisoned by this bargaining among professors, unfortunately. Selection is made mostly on the basis of those who leave the academia looking for something more competitive or affordable: the number of applicants to a competition doesn't imply that the government must employ everyone. The situation is difficult, but why no-one asks some professor why he is continuing renewing short-term contracts to skilled people? Why not to ask 'you made, or approved, that competition FOR xyz?'. This system is wrong and defending it can only worsen the selection procedure. One point is the level of research, another point is the way of dealing with contracts and hiring. Add also that in every department of Europe the teaching duties for permanent staff are much more demanding than in Italy, and the employment rate is mostly based on the departmental needs, not on the number of protesters in the streets.
I am an Non-European PhD student at an Italian university since 3 years. and I am really sorry to confirm what this country is ailing to. I believe the current global economical situation had only the role to lay bare an existing humiliating strategy adopted by the Italian governments against research, which I experienced myself as foreigner since 3 years. Since I came to Italy in the frame on an International research agreement I have my permit of stay renewed yearly with a process of renewal lasting 10-11 months in which i am prohibited to travel outside Italy (I need to do so for conferences and collaborations) because the renewal receipt is only recognized in Italy. I absolutely don't claim myself superior to anybody, however this frustrating situation is a result that international researchers are in the same queue for permits with illegals and all the uncontrolled bursts of immigrants. Let alone that with every government alteration the laws are changing radically taking Italian responsibles to understand the new regulations a period equivalent to the "shelf-life" of the new/old law. I really feel sorry for this country that bears the most helpful and lovable people one can dwell. In my situation, I am the last one who could help.
I completely agree with what Samer commented. Me being a Non-European PhD student in Italy, have faced many dead-locks in the administrative & bureaucratic processes involving stay permit, health insurance, residency, family reunion, and more. From my personal experiences here in Italy, I am made to realize, these policy makers don't want their country to flourish in research and development and don't want to be open to the rest of the world! God is the only one Who can help them!!
Dear All, The best qualification for minister Brunetta is, unfortunately for him, self-given. If you click on the link below, you may find a nice TV interview in which he states he was on the way to winning the Nobel prize and that many Nobel laureates (his friends!) are not that much more intelligent than he is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4TjO-v1siA Andrea Savarino, M.D.
I'm a Italian post doc working in Italy. I love my country but I recognize Mufti mood, since I have progressively realized that Research in Italy is full of disillusions and idle times. Read for istance my post about how to submit a poster in Italy. http://www.reportergene.com/2008/10/disillusion-2-presenting-poster-in.html
As an Italian, as a researcher and as a ?precario?, I believe we Italians deserve more than our current Government which considers Public Research just an un-necessary cost and not a resource for our country. Innumerable professors and students, pupils and teachers, directors, technicians and researchers from Universities and Public Agencies, civil servants are protesting against the Government because they are angry about and ashamed of its short-sighted political views. In Italy only 2.8 out of 1000 workers are researchers. The lack of permanent staff in research is the reason for so many ?precari?. To make things even worse our Government wants to lay off even those researchers whose salaries and research are paid by non-governmental grants! Please give us our dreams and our future back! Carla Palma, PhD