This document summarizes a discussion at the Winter Gathering 2013 in Stockholm about where professionals choose to live and work. Key factors in the decision include quality of life, quality of work, personal and family connections, and professional opportunities. Staying abroad provides advantages like adventure, world perspectives, and wider career opportunities. Returning home provides advantages like being closer to family and friends and having a sense of cultural belonging and national contribution. Contributing factors in the choice include a country's cultural values, defined professional roles, research infrastructure, legal regulations, and funding availability. In today's globalized world, professionals have more choices but must consider personal goals and priorities.

1. Discussion at Winter Gathering 2013
PPI Sweden
26 January 2013
WennerGren Center, Stockholm

2. SD, SMP, SMA: Bogor, 1966-77

4. BSc: IPB, Dept Statistika 1978-1982

5. IBM Jakarta, June-Dec 1982

6. MSc-PhD: Univ California Davis
1983-1987 (Statistics)

7. Career path
• Assistant Prof: Univ Washington 1987-1991
• Lecturer: National Univ Ireland 1991-2001
• Prof: Karolinska Institutet 2001-present
– Statistical genetics, bioinformatics, mol-biology (cancer)

8. Where to live/work?
• Globalized world, ’global village’
– internet & social media have shrunk the world
– manufacturing can be anywhere
– Homogenization?
• Can we live/work anywhere and achieve the
same ’things’?
• Key factors:
– quality of life and quality of work
– Personal and professional

9. Going home: advantages
(=disadvantages of staying away)
• Personal
– family and friends
– cultural attachment and values, incl language,
religion, sense of belonging, etc
– community-national contribution, idealism
• Professional
– competitive advantage (big fish in smaller pond)

10. Staying away: advantages
• Personal
– adventure, challenges
– world perspectives
– (in academia) income(?)
• Professional
– wider opportunities
– (in academia) research environment, what
contributing factors?

11. Contributing factors
• Cultural:
– Democratic, egalitarian, open, progressive, change-oriented
– Feudalistic, hierarchical, conservative
– Tradition in reseach and higher education
• Structural, functional
– Well-defined roles: Researcher, lecturer, administrator
• Infrastructural
– Facilities: Labs, IT
• Legal
– Clear rules and regulation
• Financial
– Research funding
• Question: how fast can these change even in a connected
globalized world?

12. Conclusions
• More choices in an open & connected world.
• Personal responsibility: set goals: what to
achieve in life.
• Choice is connected to personal goals.
• Not simple: e.g. age dependent.