A return of Romanian brains? Students propose measures to bring back country's smartest

Romanian students who went abroad to study would like to return home and contribute to the future of the country and the League of Romanian Students Abroad has come up with a strategy to bring Romania's best brains back. The league, which recently awarded the best Romanian students studying abroad, came up with a strategy called Smart Diaspora, which features, among others, the idea of online recruitment for candidates currently living abroad, but who are interested in public administration jobs back home. Students also propose fiscal deductions for a determined period for those who choose to come back to Romania, as well as scholarships and internships, similar to the White House Fellows program in the US. “Every year we have launched the proposal to the authorities to give us a chance to contribute to the future of this country. We regretfully noticed that every time the enthusiasm and the promises lasted, just like every miracle, for three days. Then the sad reality of Romania settled in and the wall of cynicism and skepticism appeared,” said Sebastian Burduja (in picture), founder of the league, Stanford and Harvard graduate and currently consultant with the World Bank. The League of Students awarded 19 Romanian students, among whom Sergiu Pasca, a Stanford graduate, got the award for the Best Romanian Student Abroad, Gruia Badescu, who is currently doing a doctorate at Cambridge and who got the Student of the Year in Europe award – for his post-doctoral studies. Badescu is currently working on a paper on reconstruction within the Conflict in Cities research group at Cambridge. He was also one of the few to receive awards who attended the ceremony in Bucharest earlier this week. Gruia Badescu returned to Romania in 2009 “wanting to participate in real change.” He worked on the integrated plan for urban development in downtown Bucharest and created an NGO focusing on local development. “I believe in our role, the new generation's, to re-think Romania and I strongly believe in the bond between the academic world and social changes,” said Gruia. Alexandra Olteanu received the Student of the Year in Europe for university studies awarded. She is currently studying for a Master's degree at the Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland, and was recently accepted to continue her degree at the University in Singapore. More about the awards, here (in Romanian). editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: League of Romanian Students Abroad)