Our reputation is tarnished by scandal of lost scientist

It is common practice to see leading scientists moving from one research centre or university to another to take up funding offers or better laboratory facilities. Ireland’s research ecosystem has benefitted significantly by attracting leading scientists to our shores.

It is a scandal, however, to lose such a researcher when a person’s decision to go relates to what they perceive as unsatisfactory pay and conditions. It suggests a carelessness that does nothing to improve our reputation for good science, and reputation is a powerful bargaining chip that enables us to win researchers to Ireland’s cause.

Leading materials scientist Jean Pierre Colinge left the Tyndall National Institute last year to take up a position with the Taiwan Semiconductor Corporation. Last week he confirmed in a telephone conversation with Louise Holden that he had left over a "pay issue".

Prof Colinge represents a serious loss to the country given his development of the world's first "junctionless transistor", a technology that may become central to the next generation of computers. This work helped him to be named Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year in 2010.

He was one of a number of outstanding researchers working at Tyndall. Collectively they helped raise Ireland’s profile in materials science, identified by the government as a key research area for Ireland. The departure of such a high profile researcher has the reverse effect, tarnishing our reputation abroad.

Researchers of such calibre are always in demand and there is an ongoing battle waged between governments, universities and research institutes to attract the best people. And, as in so many other walks of life, money talks. Good researchers are not passive players in this, they are always aware of what is on offer.

In 2000 the then government agreed to invest €1 billion in research, offering leading scientists an opportunity to win up to €5 million to pursue advanced research. Just as importantly the government threw open the doors and allowed access to all comers from around the world provided they conducted the work within Ireland.

The government was not alone in making such an offer; this was already common practice in the US and other research-intensive economies. It was noteworthy, however, that we offered funding at the going rate, matching the best in the world.

It worked and dozens of researchers answered the call. Home-grown scientists also of course benefitted and our international ranking for research jumped over the next few years from 38th to 20th on the basis of citations.

Money helped put this together but a lack of it could help unwind it just as well.

You win some and you lose some in this game and finances are tight, but efforts must be made to keep the losses to an absolute minimum.