EMN study on policies and practices for attracting and retaining researchers from outside the EU. How do EU Member States address this? The study examines the application of the EU Directive for international students and researchers.
EMN Inform | Researchers from outside the EU
Study: Attracting and retaining international researchers
26 April 2022
EMN Study: 'Attracting and retaining international researchers'
Research period - 2021
Participating countries - Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Greece (EL), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Croatia (HR), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), The Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Spain (ES), Czech Republic (CZ), Sweden (SE)
Study background
- The EU Students and Researchers Directive (Directive 2016/801) aims to bring skills and knowledge to Europe, as well as solve issues such as growing labor shortages. The directive aims to improve and harmonise minimum legal standards for attracting and retaining international students and researchers, making the EU more attractive for these groups. EMN research focuses on researchers from outside the EU.
- The Directive allows researchers to stay in an EU Member State for at least 9 months after completing their research, in order to seek employment or start a business.
- The EMN examined the challenges and ´best practices´ for attracting and retaining international researchers, with analyses of the application of the Directive in Member States and other relevant national legislation and policies.
Research questions
- Is attracting and retaining international researchers a policy priority in the EU Member State?
- Which research sectors and research topics have priority for attracting and retaining international researchers in the Member State?
- Are international researchers also admitted to the Member State on grounds other than the Directive?
- What are the policies regarding the right of international researchers to seek employment/start an enterprise once they have completed their research?
- After completing their research, how many international researchers have been granted residence permits to seek employment or start a business on the basis of the Directive (Article 25)?
- How many international researchers have used 'intra EU mobility' (both short and long-term) based on the Directive (Articles 28 and 29) between 2018-2020?
- What support measures does the Member State have in place to attract international researchers?
Publications EMN Study 'Attracting and retaining international researchers'
- EMN Inform (EMN Study) ´Attracting and retaining international researchers´, 25 April 2022
- EMN press release ´Attracting and retaining international researchers´, 25 April 2022
Publications EMN Netherlands 'Attracting and retaining international researchers'
- News item (with summary): 'EU Member States prioritise attracting and retaining international researchers', 26 April 2022
