Singing from his supper

positions allocated. It is thus his choice whether to fill the institute with PhD students and post-docs, who will work for him, or with independent scientists. The latter will naturally be in a better position to secure additional funding but are often viewed by directors as a threat to their power. Schroeder believes that, " Too many mediocre professors currently have too much power. They are frightened of novel ideas and prefer to ensure that their institutes continue to operate along well-tested paths. " The British and US systems, with a much less rigid hierarchy, are far more conducive to innovative research. That they can be applied successfully in Austria is shown by the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna and by several institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The recent reform of the Austrian universities could have been used to address some of these issues but, as Schroeder says, " it unfortunately goes in the other direction. " Reforms may also be due also in other parts of the Austrian education system. For example, the science syllabus used in schools, in contrast to the way Schroeder was taught in Brazil, tends to reward repetition and discourage creativity. " Children are naturally inquisitive but this side of their nature is drilled out of them in school, " Schroeder says. She believes that it is important to let children know that science can be both fun and stimulating; doing so would both encourage them to pursue a career in science and increase the receptiveness of future generations to science. Given the variety of Schroeder's other commitments it is a wonder that she is still able to supervise closely a research group that consists largely of PhD students and it is a tribute to her that her group is so successful. She herself feels that comparing university research with that performed in independent research institutions is like, " organizing a grand prix race where some of the drivers are in Ferraris and others are in Volkswagens. " In view of this, an obvious question is why she has not sought a position in a non-university institution. Her answer is that, " what matters to me is not only performing good research but also training students, which is the main function of a university. And I am in a much better position to work for change in the system if I remain …