A disaster for research

In December 2023, the Greek Ministry of Education issued a telephone for proposals under the “Trust Your Stars” probe program. The purpose of the telephone was supposedly “to make the due conditions for the utilization of existing technological potential, the enactment of caller perspectives successful their technological and nonrecreational careers, and the implementation of probe projects with a precocious interaction connected the system and society by producing high-level research.” The telephone besides contained different grandiose promises astir hubs of “Excellence and Innovation.”

If you work the related articles successful Kathimerini, you will already cognize however this inaugural ended – successful disaster. But this catastrophe had galore victims. Not lone excellence and science, but hundreds of young scientists who made the mistake of believing that the Greek state was reliable, giving up positions, missing opportunities, and taking risks to enactment successful this program. After 2.5 years, the Ministry of Education ended the programme successful an unacceptable manner, successful a story unprecedented adjacent for Greek standards.

In a nutshell: A total of 1,241 proposals were submitted and successful July 2025 the results were announced. These were followed by reactions, arsenic is the lawsuit successful immoderate competitory process. This time, the complaints were peculiarly aggravated for two reasons: due to the fact that this was the largest backing programme ever announced successful Greece, but besides due to the fact that there were superior indications that AI was used successful writing the evaluations of the proposals. More than 200 objections were yet submitted, which, however, were ne'er assessed, due to the fact that the authorities chose soundlessness until the contented went away. And what happened to those candidates who were informed that their connection had been approved? Silence again. No authoritative information, lone rumors, leaks, and implicit indifference.

I was 1 of those whose connection was approved, adjacent receiving a precocious ranking. So, let maine to picture to you the harm that this story caused, not so overmuch to me, but to my younger colleagues. The crushed I decided to picture my acquisition is simple: Those who determine connected probe argumentation usually person nary thought what they are regulating, and however they impact the lives of young people, from whose work our society will determination guardant – due to the fact that probe argumentation is the important lever of economical development.

Hundreds of young scientists made the mistake of believing that the Greek state was reliable, giving up positions, missing opportunities, and taking risks to enactment successful this probe program

Countries with precocious investments successful probe amusement greater productivity, and make prime jobs with higher salaries, strengthening planetary competitiveness and innovation. Greece, however, is simply a typical lawsuit of probe argumentation failure, due to the fact that contempt its precocious technological potential, it has underinvested successful probe implicit time. You cognize the result: a monolithic outflow of scientists abroad, which is simply a nationalist disaster.

I submitted the probe connection together with my workfellow Katerina Galani (a prof astatine the University of Piraeus with a PhD from Oxford). We were fortunate to see successful our team starring Greek scientists working successful the state and abroad, arsenic well arsenic a strictly selected radical of younger scientists. We worked connected our connection for months and then waited for implicit a year to larn the results, warring tooth and nail to support the team intact. the clip came when we were informed that the connection had been approved! We celebrated for a infinitesimal and then got to work. We recruited 30 scientists from six countries and committed them to our project.

Considering the Greek state trustworthy, we went connected probe trips astatine our ain expense, gathering an invaluable treasure trove of grounds connected Greek history, a treasure that will present stay untapped. But that is the slightest of it. The worst is the despair, the disappointment, and the choler of these young radical who trusted us.

As I implicit 25 years astatine a Greek nationalist university, you will let maine to reason with what I person learned implicit the years. This state not lone does not support probe – it undermines it. Not lone does it not support excellence, it persecutes it. Not lone does it not value concern successful quality capital, it systematically devalues it.

If you still person doubts, wait to spot the absorption to this outcry of despair. It will beryllium soundlessness again.

Aristides Hatzis is prof of doctrine of instrumentality and theory of institutions, and manager of the Laboratory of Political & Institutional Theory and the History of Ideas astatine the University of Athens.