Intellectual Emigration of Ukrainian Researchers at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a unique project "The Scientific Emigration in Ukraine at the Beginning of the 21st Century" implemented in 1999-2001. This study has remained known for a small group of specialists and not reached the main goal, namely, the development of government policy on intellectual migration. This project is unique due to the complete coverage of problem as the sociological representativeness of research is about 3,000 people engaged in the opinion poll, including senior students of universities, young researchers, chiefs of departments of academic institutions, experts, and representatives of Ukrainian scientific diaspora. The main reasons for scientific emigration, as pointed out by the young generation, are will for improvement of qualifications, gain of experience in the international teams and for securing of family welfare. The main conditions for stopping the intellectual emigration in Ukraine are the creation of innovative research infrastructure, the enhancement of prestige of researcher, the possibility to publish research results in high impact journals, and realization of personal potential in profession and career. The authors have discussed ways to address this problem in the recipient and in the donor countries of scientific migration and offered a strategy for retrieval of young researchers to Ukraine. The results of the present project are assumed to be a starting point for a new sociological study to understand the position of students and young researchers in new political and socio-humanistic reality of Ukraine.