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“A Magnet for Talent: How Slovakia Chose to Tackle Its Brain-Drain Problem”
by Iva Kleinová
Director of Strategy,
Research and Innovation Authority (VAIA),
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia
Slovakia has the second largest brain-drain problem in the EU. One-fifth of university students choose to study abroad, mostly in the Czech Republic, and only 50% return to live in their home
country. At the same time, Slovakia is not on the radar of international talent. The cost of this brain drain is enormous: for each university-educated professional who chooses to spend his or her career abroad, the economy loses 2.8 million euros in value
added. How do we break the vicious circle and help the economy?
 Iva
Kleinová is the Director of Strategy (currently on sabbatical) at VAIA, the Slovak Research and Innovation Authority. She led the team that wrote, and is implementing, the most recent version of the National Strategy for Research and Innovation, and also
wrote a white paper called “Magnet for Talent that Tackles Slovakia’s Brain Drain Problem.” Ms. Kleinová has international experience in the private, nonprofit, and academic sectors. She holds degrees from Princeton and Columbia.
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