Biomedical research in Australia is characterized by poor job security, low salaries and a gloomy outlook, a new survey has found. The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Workplace Survey, which attracted 266 responses, including 32 from Australians based overseas, revealed concern over lack of research funds and poor career prospects.

The study showed that more than one-third of Australia's biomedical researchers were planning to change positions in the next year, at home or abroad, in quest of more stable employment and funding.

Most Australian researchers seeking overseas work said they wanted to broaden their scientific experience, find a career path and learn new research techniques—priorities ahead of boosting their pay packet. But once a position overseas has been secured, the higher foreign salaries make it difficult to leave, according to the convenor of the annual ASMR conference, Jason Smythe: that is why one-quarter of those overseas have been away from home for five years or more.

Most overseas researchers are based in either the UK or the US, with a small number in Canada and Germany. The survey revealed that nearly half the researchers within Australia had an annual salary range of A$40,000–60,000 (US$25,000–40,000) and only 28% exceeded A$60,000. The opposite is true of those overseas: 53% are earning A$60,000 or more.

Not only is the money better overseas, but also there is a better prospect of its continuing to flow. According to Smythe, security in research is diminishing in Australia, with tenured positions becoming hard to come by as universities switch to agreements that require ratification every few years.

Most researchers in Australia are on government-funded grants of three or fewer years, with no guarantee of renewal, compared with the more commonplace five-year grants in the US and UK. The ASMR hopes that the Australian Government's promise to double medical research spending over the next five years will stop the ‘brain drain’.