Dr. V.N. Constantinescu, president of the Romanian Academy in Romania, spoke to a small group in the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences yesterday about the condition of scientific research in Romania and Eastern Europe.
Constantinescu said the Romanian government does not give scientific research the amount of money it needs and he said he is taking steps to change this.
The amount of money set aside for research is so low, Constantinescu said, researchers often have to pay for their own faxes and phone calls and they even occasionally pay for their plane tickets when traveling abroad to present published papers.
With a researcher's monthly salary of only $150, one plane ticket costs more than a month's salary, Constantinescu said.
But, he explained, a bill is currently being presented to the Romanian parliament that would allow more money for spending on science and research.
Constantinescu added that it is not just the lack of funds that is stunting Romanian science and research, it is also the lack of good researchers.
"If half of the young people, in five or 10 years, return to Romania, it's a gain for Romania," he said.
Young Romanian scientists who study abroad and earn doctoral degrees do not want to return to Romania because the country has little to offer in terms of science fields, Constantinescu explained.
Constantinescu said Romania is losing great science minds to academies and universities around the world because the Romanian Academy cannot offer them what the foreign institutions can.
Even if Romania can't offer these young scientists more money, Constantinescu said "We should at least provide good working conditions. Let's hope we can do this in a number of years."
Constantinescu began a grant system to support the Romanian Academy's sciences, in which two-thirds of the academy's students are currently enrolled. He said priorities include obtaining money for basic instruments of research and encouraging special and new interdisciplinary fields.
Constantinescu's research in aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, and lubrication have led to more than 200 published papers and 18 books.
