Sir

Your News story “Wave of protest strikes Europe's universities” (Nature 428, 108; 200410.1038/428108a) gave the impression that the problems in Italy with the draft “Moratti” law were the increase in minimum teaching loads and the withdrawal of autonomy from universities. These are important, but by no means the only issues of concern. As noted in the News story, a problem shared by many countries is the brain drain of talented young scientists from Europe — a problem that is guaranteed to accelerate in Italy if this law is passed.

I give two examples. Italian professors have the option of forfeiting 40% of their academic salary in return for the right to spend some of their time in private practice, earning far more than they've given up. The new law will allow these part-time professors to go on plying their trade without any significant extra commitment to their university (minimal teaching levels are easily side-stepped) — but on full pay. At a time when universities are struggling with drastic cost-cutting measures, such as the two-year suspension of all recruitment and promotion, many academics find this generosity hard to digest. It can be financed only by further cuts in recruitment, already dangerously low.

Another dangerous proposal is to abolish the junior academic position of ricercatore (equivalent to assistant professor), without offering a serious substitute, such as a tenure-track programme. Not only does this leave junior scientists with little job security, in a country where almost all employees are permanent; it could also lead to a backlash by generating a large and unregulated body of casual workers, who could gain enough political power to force future governments to hire them all. This actually occurred in the 1980s, blocking recruitment for more than a decade.

Fortunately, science training in Italy is so good, and the raw material is of such fine quality, that its young people are rapidly snatched up by prestigious foreign universities. But it is regrettable that Italy itself has chosen not to profit from its most valuable resource.