Homeward Bound?

In recent years, the EU has taken steps to promote European researcher mobility (European Commission, 2001a European commission (2001a) Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: A Mobility Strategy for the European Research Area , COM(2001) 331 final of 20.06.2001, Commission of the European Communities , Brussels . [Google Scholar] b European commission (2001b) High-level Expert Group on Improving Mobility of Researchers: Final Report , European Commission (DG Research) , Brussels . [Google Scholar]). Despite increased attention to highly skilled mobility in research and policy circles, its corollary—return mobility—has been relatively sidelined. However, return mobility is essential for the promotion of balanced growth in an enlarging Europe since 'the personal networks of the returned researcher are conduits for other student and researcher flows as well as new research and finance' (Casey et al., 2001 Casey , T. , Mahroum , S. , Ducatel , K. & Barrè , R. (eds) (2001) The Mobility of Academic Researchers: Academic Careers and Recruitment in ICT and Biotechnology , Commission of the European Communities , Brussels . [Google Scholar], p. 6). Nonetheless, it has been acknowledged that after a period abroad mobile researchers can potentially become 'locked out' of their home country or 'locked into' the host country. Using empirical data from the MOBEX1 1. MOBEX—Mobility and Excellence in the European Research Area—was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council's Science in Society Programme (Ref: L144250042). A UK Socio-legal Studies Small Grant was awarded to the author to undertake research into return moves. study, this article attempts to explain some of the complex processes involved in scientific return mobility. It details the kinds of barriers that exist to returnees and contemplates the consequences of non-return for science communities. The article also reports on the Italian scientists' call for their national system to change: in the interviews they appealed for a more international environment, for greater opportunities for researchers, for experience abroad to be valued and for more meritocratic progression channels to stimulate return.