Quantum researcher mobility: the wonderful wizard of Oz who paid for Dorothy's Visa fees

TL;DR

This paper examines the challenges faced by quantum researchers in mobility due to strict immigration policies and COVID-19, highlighting key problems and proposing practices to improve global researcher mobility.

Contribution

It identifies specific barriers to quantum researcher mobility and discusses effective practices at various levels to overcome these obstacles.

Findings

Visa fees and immigration hurdles severely limit researcher mobility.

Good practices can facilitate quantum scientists' international movement.

Adopting supportive policies worldwide can maximize quantum research potential.

Abstract

Historically, science has benefited greatly through the mobility of researchers, whether it has been due to large-scale conflict, the search for new opportunities or a lack thereof. Today's world of strict global immigration policies, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, places inordinate hurdles on the mobility of all researchers, let alone quantum ones. Exorbitant visa fees, the difficulty of navigating a foreign immigration system, lack of support for researchers' families, and explicit government policy targeting selected groups of immigrants are all examples of things that have severely impacted the ability of quantum researchers to cross both physical and scientific borders. Here we clearly identify some key problems affecting quantum researcher mobility and discuss examples of good practice on the governmental, institutional, and societal level that have helped, or might help, overcome these hurdles. The adoption of such practices worldwide can ensure that quantum scientists can reach their fullest potential, irrespective of where they were born.