• Szewek@lemm.ee
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    19 hours ago

    Very small, but good start. (Just the National Science Foundation in the US had the budget of $9BN last year, compared to €2.3BN of European Research Council, so it is not even close to filling the gap).

    • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      There are benefits though, paid leave, less nazis, better healthcare, less mass shootings. Its about the whole package, not just being on the right side of history.

      • Szewek@lemm.ee
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        4 hours ago

        Yeah, totally. And there are many, many top scientists already in Europe.

        The thing is that to do research, you need money. Not just your (and your staff’s) salary. Experimental research requires actual, material resources. Cutting-edge equipment and reagents. If more top scientists come to Europe, but the resources for research do not increase, it is hard to imagine more top research being done.

        The UE spends around 2.2/2.3% of GDP on research and development:

        https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?oldid=551418 (2021 for fair comparison) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20221129-1

        Meanwhile, in the US, it was almost 3.5% (of the larger total GDP), and in China, more than 2.4%.

        I believe we have a lot of amazing research in Europe. Possibly the best fundamental research in the world, amazing sustainability and climate-related project, growing focus on open access and reproducibility from funding agencies. We all know science pays off in the long term. Let it grow!