REVERSING THE BRAIN DRAIN WITH MARIE CURIE

Participating in the meeting organized by Columbia University Turkish Club at Istanbul Conrad Hotel, Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis noted that he was aware of the fact that they had to regain the talented and experienced young people working or educated abroad and therefore they had to reverse the brain drain.

Emphasizing that he wanted to give as an example the steps taken with this aim, Bagis said the following:

"Turkey has been providing support for activities to reverse the brain drain with the Marie Curie International Reintegration Grants within the scope of EU Framework Programs of which it has been a member for almost 8 years. This program aims to attract to Europe those who reside in the developed countries other than Europe and who are university graduates or hold a degree in doctoral studies.

Turkey is the second country which benefited most from the program between the years 2007-2010. Most of the researchers who came within the scope of this program, carried out by a total of 96 researchers, returned from the USA. Furthermore, in the last call held in March 2010, Turkey has been the first among the countries which attracts the maximum number of researchers outside Europe. Turkey, which managed to rise to the top from among competitors within a short period of time, provides for the return of talented Turkish researchers who have left Turkey for various reasons."

Source: AA