International Migration of Researchers: Impact of Professional Drivers

The purpose of the study is to determine the professional drivers which have the greatest influence on the international mobility of research scientists and to assess the level of attractiveness of EU Member States for researchers from other countries on the noted basis. The research paper used the case study of the European Union countries and derived the latest data on first employment permits issued to migrants, intellectual migrants and researchers from the Eurostat database, as well as sub-indices of the Global Innovation Index regarding research and development (R&D), knowledge creation, absorption, impact and diffusion. The author combined the methods of structural and dynamic analysis, correlation analysis and taxonomic analysis in the research process. The results obtained from the structural and dynamic analysis revealed that in recent years, on average every fourth migrant has come to EU countries aiming to find a job. In 2021, Poland topped the list among all EU Member States: every sixth permit was issued to migrants in this country.