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212 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COOPERATION 



INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY OF YOUNG 

 SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS 



This discussion has touched on trends and concerns pertaining to 

 some of the most important programs that provide young American 

 scientists with opportunities to profit from advanced research and 

 training experiences abroad. The value and need of such experience is 

 largely supported by anecdotal evidence — we are all familiar with a 

 number of "Rabi" examples of perhaps more modest yet significant 

 contributions to science and world affairs. There are convincing argu- 

 ments to support increased international interactions as essential ele- 

 ments in the career development of the coming generations of Ameri- 

 can science and engineering leaders. 



Professor Kurt Fleischhauer of the Anatomisches Inst, der Rheinis- 

 chen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat noted most aptly at the June 1981 

 Lisbon Workshops on International Mobility of Scientists and Engi- 

 neers that 



the most important form of establishing effective international collaboration is to 

 provide opportunities for young scientists, preferably still in their twenties or 

 early thirties, to work in a foreign institute of high scientific standard for a period 

 of not less than one year and preferably two years. Any experience gained at this 

 stage of the career is of utmost importance and long-lasting influence because at 

 this stage the scientist still has an open mind and is not only able to gain enor- 

 mously with respect to his actual scientific achievements but also to form interna- 

 tional links that are based on personal understanding and friendship. And since, 

 after all, science is an undertaking of persons with all their likings and dislikings 

 and with all the prejudices every one of us has, links based on personal trust are of 

 particular importance for international exchange. ^^ 



The Lisbon Workshop dealt with a number of issues relevant to 

 the interests of young researchers. A Working Group on Mobility and 

 the Career Paths of Individuals identified three problems of over- 

 whelming importance: 



• the reentry and job security problem 



• the dual-career family problem 



• lack of obvious reward for taking the adventurous step^^ 



The Working Group on Research Systems and International Mobil- 

 ity devoted major attention to the problems of transatlantic mobility, 

 noting the greatly changed environment and two-way movement of 

 young scientists through the 1950s to now when one workshop parti- 

 cipant spoke of the "missing partner"— the United States. The group 

 suggested that: 



