The reality of Spanish researchers in the Asian country
The Spain China Council Foundation, Casa Asia and the China-Spain Researchers Network organized a virtual seminar on the possibilities that China offers Spanish researchers.
Culture shock, access procedures to Chinese universities or even the possibility of collecting a retirement pension in Spain: these are some of the topics that focused on the online seminar "Research in China: opportunities and experiences" organized by the Spain China Council Foundation, Casa Asia and the China-Spain Researchers Network (RICE).
The meeting had the collaboration of the Spanish Embassy in China, the Ramón Areces Foundation, the Confucius Institute of Madrid, the Fundació Institut Confuci of Barcelona, the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Confucius Institute of the University of Zaragoza.
Journalist Anna Fuentes, former correspondent in China, moderated the meeting in which four experts who are developing or have developed part of their research career in China participated: Pedro Laborda, graduate in Organic Chemistry and full professor at Nantong University; Nerina Stone, a computational linguist who was a professor of Spanish at Peking University; Carmen Morcelle, a biologist who joined, between 2018 and 2020, as a postdoc at Fudan University in Shanghai; and Carlos Navarrete, a physicist who is currently an associate professor at the Wilczek Quantum Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University.
The seminar, in which almost 200 attendees registered, was aimed mainly at students interested in embarking on a research career in the Asian country.
Pedro Laborda He noted that in China "there is more collaboration between companies and universities," and that his research group is often forced to seek joint funding with companies to carry out collaborations and research. In this regard, he pointed out that "research in China is somewhat more applied compared to what we have in Spain."
For its part, Carlos Navarrete He pointed out that "China follows the American model, with an Ivy League-style university system, of about 10, which are universities that the government especially supports and are the ones that are high in the rankings, so they have more resources and prestige."
Culture shock is, in fact, one of the main concerns of any researcher considering moving to the country, a topic that was recurring in the seminar
According to Carmen Morcelle“The experience can be very different depending on where you go and who your boss is. If you have a foreign boss, probably some of your team will be foreign too. But if you have a Chinese boss, chances are everyone will be Chinese.” Morcelle emphasized the importance of seeking out support networks like RICE: “They can put you in touch with people in your situation, and that can be a huge help. In my case, it made a big difference because I was able to lean on them and learn from other people’s experiences.”
The four participants in the seminar agreed that they valued their stay in China very positively. Nerina Stone He clarified that "people still feel that China is something strange; there's a somewhat outdated mindset. Even if you say you studied at a top university, it's not Harvard or Princeton, and that lingering perception remains." Even so, he emphasized that, during his time in Beijing, he had far greater opportunities than he had encountered elsewhere.
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