Young Chinese or Indian scientists are not only
smart, but also highly motivated; it’s only up to them
whether they get a well-paid position in science or return home.
Therefore many of them work twelve hours a day and becoming
the “drought horses” of molecular biology. All of
our top researchers have a collection of experiences in foreign
universities or institutes on their CVs. They obtain professional
experiences, learn how to do top science and also earn quite
a lot. In the U. S., it is known what benefits this international
dimension gives to science. Our scientists understand it too
as well. Molecular parasitologist Julius Lukes from The Institute
of Parasitology of The Czech Academy of Sciences says: “If
anyone from India contacts me, then he probably read one of
my articles and in frame of a Ph.D study would like to work
on our projects. Both sides profit; he will learn a lot and
open the way to West, we will obtain a motivated colleague,
who doesn’t think about leaving for a cottage on Friday.
In addition, he speaks English so that communication with him
is going to substitute for a stay in the U. S. for the students
of mine.”
And what about Czech laboratories?
USA has already simplified the immigration terms for foreign
researchers so that a scientific institute or a university just
picks the interested person, fills-in one form and asks for
a visa. The sentence “We want this person, he is going
to work on our project” is sufficient to obtain almost
immediately a three-years-visa from any of the U. S. embassies,
with an almost automatic possibility of extension. In the Czech
Republic, it is absolutely different. “To obtain a visa
requires a bureaucratic war lasting at least one year. It happens
too often, that in the moment when everything is finally done,
it is already pointless. Skilled and interested people usually
ask at different places at a time and so another country will
accept them more quickly,” notes dr. Michal Zurovec from
the Institute of Entomology and adds: “The state and society
is losing with such an approach, for it means that it is only
a Ukrainian worker who is coming. We surround ourselves with
the Great Wall of the Czech bureaucracy and think that the progress
will come by itself.”
The story
of one researcher
“I really like to have foreign researchers in the lab.
That’s the only reason why I’m still trying,”
explains Dr. Lukes. Last time he felt just like in Kocourkov
(stays for a “mad land”) when Sandesh Regmi, 28
from Nepal, showed an interest to work in his laboratory. “The
unbelievable “hassle” started. Absurd requirements
like that visa application must contain a confirmation that
accommodation will be provided for the foreign scientist or
Ph. D. student. This must be signed by the dean or director
and confirmed by an extract from the land register. Next, we
must add an authorized institute charter, then an extraction
of the Czech criminal record. Everything must be done twice
because we have to apply for both study and work visa,”
Dr. Lukes says. Next, the labor bureau has to give consent.
“The bureaucrat has no idea what is DNA catenation. How
could he know whether any Czech is waiting for this job or not?
The American laboratory’s boss does not need to deal with
anyone,” laments Dr. Lukes. But let’s return to
Sandesh’s story, who wants to study on Leishmania, a parasite
responsible for severe diseases in his country and so approached
the Faculty of Biology of the University of South Bohemia and
the Institute of the Parasitology. A sequence of events reminiscent
of the fairy tale “About the hen and the cock” commences.
Bureaucratic
banquet
When all the necessary documents were put together including
super apostled diplomas – specially approved by expensive
interpreters from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a few
words for 2000,-Czech crowns), Sandesh was accepted for the
Ph.D study on the bows of a recommendation letter from an English
professor. With all these papers, he visited the Czech consulate
in Kathmandu, Nepal. The consulate it self does not process
the visa and passed them to Czech Embassy in New Delhi, India.
From there the consent of Czech Foreign police for issuing a
visa is requested. Four months later, the visa was issued–
but only the study one. The embassy didn’t issue the working
one since copies of some documents were missing. “All
this happened because of misinformation by the consulate employee,
for that of course no one is going to be punished” adds
Lukes. “But even without this error everything would take
almost a year due to official terms. Just a remark! Our officials
know two kinds of visas for Ph.D. students- the study and the
working one. Thanks to several motivated Czech scientist a law
has been passed that allows obtaining both visa at once. It
means that the applicant can get a part-time job at an institute
or an award from a grant together with the state support for
a PhD student ( 5000 Czech crowns/month). One can survive on
that.
Visa
at last!
The battle hasn’t been won yet. Before issuing the study
visa the foreign police asked, whether Sandesh had already been
matriculated for regular study. “I was explaining: You’ve
got a paper signed by the dean that he was accepted. However,
it is illegal to matriculate a student not knowing in which
semester he will be able to start his study! The foreign police
replied, we wouldn’t issue the visa until he is matriculated.
Lukes describes the never-ending story. Finally, the study visa
was generously issued and Sandesh arrived”. But what about
the working visa? “According to our law it’s possible
to ask for it only abroad and only in person at one of the Czech
embassies the one in Bratislava was picked up by us. To get
there, unfortunately, Slovaks has to issue an entry visa to
Sandesh. Thanks to collaboration between the Komenius University,
we made it finally through the hassle. It just took another
few months and a personal visit was again required. Almost after
one year Sandesh finally received also the working visa”
says Lukes. After reading this for, the reader probably won’t
be surprised that the visas are given to foreigners for one
year only and any prolongation means a next series of bureaucratic
steps.
Nobody
is coming
The result is clear: foreigners are not coming. “Or the
third rank at the best, because the first and the second one
are rather going to German or Canada,” complains Libor
Grubhoffer, the vice-rector of University of South Bohemia.
“Well, it’s true that there it’s much worse
in Russia, since a scientist Turkmenistan must pay a special
fee there. Yet, science is on its knees there!.” Does
all these status matter to Czech science? Prague remains attractive
for scientists and a number of international meetings take place
there. Without the bureaucratic obstacles the second grade would
surely be coming and not only to Prague. “We know about
an American colleague who wanted to come but in the end gave
up,” remembers professor Grubhoffer, “the necessity
to apply in person as well as all the bureaucratic requirements
have already killed a number of international collaborations
in the Czech Republic.”
No foreigners, no
problems
“A laboratory that has no one from abroad in the team
has no problems. I want to do good science, I want it to have
as international dimension – besides the fact that the
team should be international – and so we have problems,”
Lukes says and adds: “Here we are trying to bring the
intelligence – and from what else than the brain influx
will the society profit. But here we are facing a machinery
that doesn’t care whether you are smuggling in a Ukrainian
guy for an illegal work or an American professor for a top science!”
How to get
a foreign scientist here?
The lack of foreign scientists is an evergreen issue for Czech
Academy of Sciences chair, she does not deny that. “We
are trying to simplify the rules within the boundaries of our
capabilities,” she says. Multiple discussions with the
foreign police lead to an agreement that one document only instead
of four approved by a notary, suffice. The change of the law
for employment is also being prepared: in collaboration between
the Academy and the Czech government. “We hope to achieve
that the labor bureau issues a permission to employ a foreign
scientists for the Academy regardless of situation on the labor
market. And let’s hope this permission will one day be
for a longer period than a year.” According to professor
Illnerová, the negotiation’s aim is to favor long-term
applicants whose stay is of special interest to the Czech Republic
– foreign scientists being a prominent group among them.
“This practice has already been well established in many
countries,” concludes Illnerová.
Czech Article
Click
here to view the Czech article as it was published
The
following article is a translated from a Czech article published
in a Czech Newspaper about a bureaucratic struggle of a Nepali
PhD student Sandesh Regmi. Mr. Regmi is studying at The University
of South Bohemia and doing research at the laboratory of molecular
parasitology, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences.
