I left Guatemala to study at one of Asia’s top universities, National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. I then secured a postdoctoral stipend to work at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute on cancer metastasis. However, my prospects for returning home to continue my research are grim: no suitable host institution exists.
My story has many protagonists, all facing similar challenges. So far, none of the highest institutions in Latin America has reached the top 50 of the world’s best universities. Even those with research facilities and healthy publication outputs rely on collaborations and funding from high-income countries. And although the number of scholarships and stipends awarded to scientists from developing countries is increasing year after year, those countries will benefit only if such professionals are able to return to work there.