Wealthy societies share one major characteristic—developed science. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, investments made by competent ministries in science and research are relatively low. An increasing number of young and capable researchers leave their alma mater to work at universities abroad or choose to conduct research for different NGOs.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s television station, BHT1, has tried to unveil the reasons behind this trend in a documentary entitled POTENCIJAL.
University professors, teaching assistants and researchers from various universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including experts from the RRPP network were asked to address some key questions on this matter:

1) Are university scientists able to spend enough time on conducting viable research despite the growing number of teaching hours?

2) Does current university system encourage extensive research work or participation in international research projects?

3) How much money is invested in science through different programmes and ministries in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

4) Do the research results in social science have any tangible impact on social and economic policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

The speakers discuss most urgent domestic problems related to financing social science research, investing in research capacities at universities and possibilities of effective combining research and teaching. Given that only 0.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is invested in science in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it comes as no surprise, that most of the research done so far has been financed by international donors. Social science researchers prefer more and more frequently to work for NGOs at home or at universities abroad, mainly because of the exorbitant amount of time they would have to devote to teaching at state universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Source: RRPP Western Balkans