Scientists who go to study from one country to another and some choose Argentina

Two Mexicans laugh. A young man from France has just lost at table tennis with an Irish girl and now he must buy chocolates for everyone.

A few meters away, a Korean explains a programming code to a Pakistani who has not slept for several days because of his exams.

In an armchair, a Peruvian girl comforts her roommate from Nigeria who cries every night because misses his family.

Shortly before midnight, an Austrian in pajamas asks those present not to make so much noise because classes start very early the next day.

The scenes take place in a student residence in a town in Canadawhere dozens of young people live together in search of a university degree or achieving a specialization.

The presence of international students and researchers is one of the most important factors to evaluate the reputation of universities and also that of the students.

That is why, every year, “academic migratory movements” occur. Here, stories of those who left Argentina and those who came to the country with that objective.

“I always knew that part of my scientific career would be in another country,” says Gina Pontes, associate researcher at Conicet. She also knew she would pursue biology as a teenager when she saw the movie Epidemic in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, his hometown.

At that moment She told herself that one day she would work at a great science institute.

He began his studies at the Federal University of Ouro Preto, Brazil, and received a degree in Biology specializing in the nervous system of the vinchuca, the vector of Chagas disease.

“I started my doctorate when I was 25 years old. At that time I had a director who was from Argentina, so I spent 6 months here and 6 months there,” he says.

She defended her thesis while pregnant with her first child and later requested a postdoctoral fellowship from Conicet. When she was granted it, He finally settled in Buenos Aires. After 4 years, citizenship through, he entered the career of Conicet Researcher.

He started a family and continued researching. And it had its fruits. “Post-pandemic I obtained a scholarship to carry out a research stay at the University of California at Berkeley, which is the best public university in the United States” she smiles, proud of having fulfilled her teenage dream.

Always working on research on the topic “Insect sensory system”, joined an international group without major difficulties and he assures that the practice he obtained at Conicet was fundamental to achieving that goal.

“He always takes great pride in belonging to that institution,” he remarks.

Today, at 43 years old and permanently settled in Argentina, consolidate your work in the Insect Ecophysiology Laboratory of the University of Buenos Aires and hopes to have his own laboratory in the coming years.

Another who came to science through a film is Alberto Boscaini. “I am from the generation Jurassic Park”says this Italian born in Verona, smiling.

Today he is an assistant researcher at Conicet, but Even as a child I knew that one day I would be a paleontologist..

He took his first steps at the University of Pavia, where he graduated as a naturalist. Then, he decided to take a gap year and traveled to South America for 3 months. The love for the region was immediate.

He returned to Europe and completed a Master’s degree in Paleontology at the University of Barcelona.

In two years he had several options to continue his career. Between everyone, He chose to return to the land that had captivated him and requested a scholarship from Conicet to obtain a doctorate at the University of Cuyo, in Mendoza, under the orders of the Frenchman François Pujos, another expatriate in Argentina who fell in love with these lands.

“I had to choose between studying European carnivores or giant sloths but the possibility of working with South American mammals captivated me. They are impressive,” adds who today is part of the Integral Biology of Evolutionary Systems group at the University of Buenos Aires.

“The Conicet system is unique in the world. While it is terribly competitive, it is also allows continuity in your research and a certain stability at a human level,” he comments, referring to one of the problems that young researchers in Europe suffer from.

Months ago, the specialized magazine Nature pointed out that the constant migration of young people Following postdoctoral fellowships significantly affects the quality of life of professionals in training.

Job instability, the impossibility of forming a home or planning a family are the main reasons for disenchantment and subsequent abandonment of the scientific career. In this sense, Conicet is shown as an international model since it offers a stable, although markedly meritocratic, scientific career, which positions it as an international reference.

”In Paleontology, it is the third best institution in the world,” he says, adding that that information and his new family These are some of the reasons to stay in the country.

Another is more emotional: “For an Italian, being in Buenos Aires is like being at home,” he concludes happily.

Federico Wenger takes a dunk that has the emblem of the Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata club engraved on it. 10,800 kilometers from the field of his beloved Lobo, this graduate in Geology from the National University of La Plata finishes the latest presentations to obtain your Master’s Degree in Geological Sciences from the University of Saskatchewan, in Canada.

“The truth is I wasn’t very sure about coming, especially because it implied a change in the work topic,” he says. In 2022, he joined the team led by María Gabriela Mangano and Luis Buatois, two Argentinians who have lived in Saskatoon, Canada, for 20 years.

at that time He taught for the first time “In a language that is not mine,” he recalls, “it was quite a challenge.”

He shared the first days with Débora Mical Campetella, a geologist graduated from the National University of Río Negro who at that time was finishing writing his doctoral thesis while working as a visiting researcher at the same Canadian university.

“They were exhausting days, but enriching,” she recalls with a smile.

Both were perfected in the analysis of sedimentary environments, a discipline with economic impact linked to the exploitation of natural resources. Débora returned to Río Negro after completing her four months as a researcher and today, with a postdoctoral fellowship from Conicet, she applies everything she learned abroad at the Research Institute in Paleobiology and Geology (Conicet-UNRN) in General Roca.

Federico, on the other hand, continued with the master’s plan for two years and although He is satisfied with the experience in the north and hopes to return to Argentina soon.. Despite the budget cut, she obtained a doctoral scholarship from Conicet.

“Mom, they gave me the Scholarship! -she shouted in a video call, whose recording went viral on networks- I’m going back to La Plata! Today, between emotional tears, now He counts the days to reunite with his city, his team and his motherwho is anxiously awaiting him.

“Getting to know other cultures and ways of working is important,” says Brenda Dorsch from Belgium. He always wanted to live a different experience. Before obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, she explored the private sector. His career is considered a priority for the development of the country so it didn’t take long for him to get a job.

But after living his experience in the private sphere, he decided to return to academia and fulfill the dream of doing a doctorate abroad. “We had projects in common with the Royal Observatory of Belgium and I obtained a doctoral position after many evaluations,” he says.

His work focuses on studying solar physics. “He is very linked to the Space Weather (Space Meteorology), a growing science that studies the space conditions and phenomena that affect the Earthlike solar storms,” he explains.

At 28 years old and halfway through his doctoral contract, he made no plans for the future but He has no intention of returning to Argentina. “Here you work and live differently, there is also a lot of cultural diversity and I love that,” she reflects.

Your discipline is growing and she is successfully passing all the evaluation stages that allow her to continue living her dream.

“I wanted to stay in my country,” says Vanesa Puente with an air of melancholy. In 2022 she defended her doctoral thesis on Trypanosoma cruzithe parasite that causes Chagas disease, and for its merits obtained a postdoctoral fellowship from Conicet to work at the Milstein Institute.

Due to his career and background I had received proposals to work abroadbut it was political uncertainty that ended up defining it.

“After the primary elections I accepted the proposal from the Czech Republic (the other option was the United States) to work at an institute of the Czech National Academy of Sciences.”

A few days after settling in the city of České Budějovice, he began his research in the Biological Center and already feel recognition from colleaguesthe weight of representing the University of Buenos Aires and the prestige of having been part of Conicet.

International students increase year by year and destinations are diversifying.

Argentina, due to its excellence and accessibility, can be projected as an interesting destination for students from different geographies while Argentines make their way abroad defending the education received.

“Yes, they treat me very well here,” Vanesa Puente blushes. They value and respect me a lot. But I want to do science in my country and for my country,” she closes with a hopeful smile.