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GLOBE EDITORIAL
Visas for scienceAFTER 9/11, it made sense to lay down new rules for foreigners seeking to come to the United States to study a range of biological and physical sciences with potentially dangerous applications. Unfortunately, the screening of graduate students seeking visas is such a slow and cumbersome process that many are choosing to work in other countries. Congress should ensure that the State Department, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security devote enough resources to speed up the process without raising the risk that terrorists learn the techniques of mass killing in US labs.
In March, a Florida laboratory of the Scripps Research Institute learned that the Swiss-born specialist in mad cow disease selected to be its director would be delayed up to six weeks. Molecular biologist Charles Weissmann will still take the job, but because he was required to give up his passport to get his visa, he couldn't attend an important meeting at Scripps's San Diego headquarters. In other cases, scientists are simply looking elsewhere even though the United States has long been a center for researchers. The Association of American Universities found that 19 of the top 25 US research institutions have reported a decline of more than 10 percent among international graduate applications. In February the General Accounting Office found that it took foreign students in the sciences an average of 67 days to receive a visa after applying. The GAO said some of the slowness is due to the fact that the State Department, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security have incompatible data systems. Also, the GAO found it takes two weeks for the State Department to notify consular officers abroad when it clears a candidate for a visa. In addition to the delays, foreign scientists object to restrictions on their ability once admitted on a visa to travel outside the United States for conferences in their specialties or for family emergencies. The repercussions for basic science in the United States could be serious if the problems are not quickly corrected. According to the National Science Foundation, 57 percent of postdoctorate research fellows in the United States are foreigners with temporary visas. At Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard School of Dental Medicine the share is 53 percent.
Harvard's president, Larry Summers, has written to both Secretary of State Colin Powell and Homeland Security Secretary Thomas Ridge expressing his concern that Harvard and other institutions "are at risk of losing some of our most promising scholars to universities in other parts of the world." His letters included proposals for speeding procedures without sacrificing security. US preeminence in the sciences should not be another 9/11 victim. |
