AT RISK: qualified cardiac research in Germany
At this year’s Congress of the German Cardiac Society (DGK) in March, its President Professor Gerd Heusch spoke of the increasingly unfavourable conditions for scientific work at German university departments, which is jeopardising the reputation of cardiac research in this country.
Professor Gerd Heusch
Research constitutes an additional burden, which is not rewarded with more income. In fact, with the introduction of the W salary scheme, salaries for professors were cut to 80%. The remaining 20% are voluntary, performance-related payments awarded by the 16 Bundesländer (federal states). However, individual states tend to see this as an opportunity to save money, rather than to promote scientific research. ‘The result is that a Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine often ends up with the same salary as a teacher,’ Prof. Heusch explained. A strike by research assistants at the university hospitals did nothing to change this situation: Although nurses were awarded better pay, remuneration of scientific activities carried out by doctors and scientists was not increased.
Add to this, the fact that German law dictates an upper limit for fixed-term contracts and you have a situation where many experienced scientists who have not quite made it to professor end up leaving universities to seek a future away from research.
Prof. Heusch concluded: ‘It is almost as if the entire system were designed now to destroy the enthusiasm for someone considering entering a scientific career in cardiology as opposed to a purely clinical one.’
This article was published on 06/03/2008
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