Why I moved my research to China from Germany: a biologist's experience

"My colleagues and I had a big European Research Council grant for work on neurotoxic aggregates inside cells. But we have mandatory retirement in Germany. My contract was extended beyond the normal retirement age, and my colleagues in China knew that and said, 'Why not come to China and you can continue?' I also had offers from the United States to continue my research there, but they would have requested that I move there permanently."

"There are things I had to get used to. For instance, human resources departments at universities are more powerful here. In my role as managing director of the institute in Munich, I always tried to make sure that administration serves the scientists and does not command them. In Germany, when we bought an instrument, I was used to making that decision myself. What happens here is that the university wants the responsibility"

China has sought to attract leading scientists, prompting several established researchers to move there in recent years. Wolfgang Baumeister relocated to ShanghaiTech University in 2019 after nearly three decades at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. Baumeister pioneered cryogenic-electron tomography, which produces 3D images of large molecules and cell interiors, and won Hong Kong's Shaw Prize for life science and medicine. He now studies molecular machinery involved in type 2 diabetes at the iHuman Institute. Mandatory retirement in Germany and flexible visiting arrangements at ShanghaiTech influenced his decision. University administration and procurement practices in China differ from those in Germany.

Read at Nature