The international mobility of human capital in general and researchers in particular has received increasing attention in the last years from a scientific and political point of view. Although it is not a new phenomenon the magnitude has increased substantially. Urban areas are the main destination of scientists. As a result of the positive effects emanating from a brain gain of highly skilled individuals, cities compete for mobile talent. This paper analyses the mobility of university researchers and associated policy actions and strategies for the case of Vienna. Vienna is the largest city in Austria with nine public universities and about 180,000 students. About one third of the professors have a foreign nationality. Based on secondary data and on collected CV data, we found that incoming and outgoing mobility is increasing in Vienna. From a geographical point of view, Vienna is an established hub between Eastern and Western Europe for mobile scientists. Diversity measures show that ethnic diversity of young researchers and professors is increasing. However, the international research community is dominated by Germans. Although mobility flows attract the attention of urban policy makers, they can be hardly influenced by them.

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Funded by: Sekretariat for Universities and Research of the city of Vienna
Duration: 09/2011-02/2012

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