Law 4957, passed in July 2022, aims to reform and modernize higher education in line with Western European and North American standards. FOREVER.

One of the most important provisions of the new law is the institutionalization of a visiting professor. In accordance with the law (No. 171, paragraph 1), a visiting professor is considered to be “a Greek or foreign scientist who holds the position of professor or researcher in a foreign organization or possesses the qualifications necessary for election to the position of assistant.” University professor. Despite rumors of introducing the institute through established scientists/researchers (The Daily opens the way for visiting professors), such a prospect is fraught with practical difficulties, such as the permits that scientists must obtain from their institutions abroad in order to teach at Greek universities, the time they would have to spend away from their research groups in order to end up in Greece, etc. We propose that this pioneering institution become the main vehicle for repatriating the hitherto untapped pool of Greek doctoral students who live and thrive in foreign universities.

A researcher with a doctoral degree at the international level is defined as a researcher who has completed his doctoral studies and continues to develop his skills (research, teaching, writing research proposals) along with a professor. These young researchers, early in their careers, often face difficulties in moving from postdoctoral to professorial positions. Many Greek researchers abroad are in this transitional phase of their career that lasts for years. These very postdoctoral researchers who live and thrive abroad represent a group of people with exceptional potential in research and innovation that Greece can reach out to through the new visiting professorship institution.

Based on the provisions of the new law (No. 171, paragraphs 2 and 3), university departments can hire full-time or part-time visiting professors for a period of one academic semester with the possibility of extending up to three academic years. and an extension for another three years, after taking into account the results of their work. In this context, the new visiting professors will not only have enough time to bring to the Greek university expertise in their field and best practices in research and teaching, but also through them the Greek academic community will be able to establish further contacts. with a global academic network enhancing his extroversion.

Public, European or private funding for visiting professors provided for by the new law (No. 171, paragraph 4) can be used to provide funding in the form of academic start-up funds in Anglo-Saxon standards and is necessary for the initial one to be able to develop their own research program ( No. 171, paragraph 5).

Another suggestion, which is not expressly provided for by law, but which would be useful for the Ministry of Education to consider, is that the recruitment of new visiting professors can be done individually or in a group of 3-5 professors/researchers in the same or related fields. research areas (cluster recruitment) with the prospect of interdisciplinary cooperation. The idea of ​​being able to recruit new visiting professors in groups could create a strong center of excellence at local universities and introduce a new academic culture that would change the country’s academic landscape in a short period of time.

The Institute of Visiting Professors, if implemented properly, will not only serve as an alternative for postdoctoral students compared to the chronic stagnation they experience during the transitional stages of their careers, but will also give Greek universities the opportunity to select young scientists to staff them. . Thus, the possible expansion of the institution may lead to the end of the program to a permanent position of a teacher or research assistant, depending on the performance of the participants. Of course, such an expansion requires a new legal framework with strict criteria and the passage of some time to study the function of an institution within the Greek academic system.

Unlike established professors who already hold a permanent academic position and thrive at a university or research center abroad with permanent family or other ties to their place of residence, Greek universities find it easier to approach postdoctoral students who are in the early stages of their careers. and exploit their untapped potential. These young researchers, who were forced to leave the country during the financial crisis, can return home now that Greece is recovering and be the driving force behind domestic growth and innovation.

* Dr. N. Tsopulidis is a biologist. He received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and is currently a Research Associate at the Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and co-founder of the newly established Desmos Policy Institute.

Dr. G. Laskaris is a nuclear physicist. He received his Ph.D. from Duke University and later studied at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Today he works as a business consultant and co-founder of the newly created Desmos Policy Institute.