Greek MIT Professor: Why Almost None of Greece’s Best Researchers Ever Come Back
Greece loses some of its best scientific minds every year to PhD programs in the United States, and according to MIT professor Konstantinos Daskalakis, almost none of them ever come back.
Daskalakis, who teaches Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, told Kathimerini that of the many Greek researchers he has mentored over the years, only one has returned to Greece. His explanation is blunt: "A decade abroad and you're a completely different person. You won't go back to an environment that no longer feels familiar."
"Without that density, everything evaporates" — Daskalakis said. "The inspiration, the collaborations, the corridor conversations that produce discoveries."
The pattern starts in the mid-20s, when a Greek graduate in computer science or engineering gets accepted to a US doctoral program. What looks like a temporary move becomes permanent by the time they hit 30. By then they've built careers, families, and a work culture forged outside Greece, and the country they left has changed too.
What Greece lacks, Daskalakis says, is not talent but what he calls "critical mass." Boston alone has one of the densest academic ecosystems on earth, where a random coffee can spark a collaboration. Greece has pockets of excellent researchers but no concentrated network to sustain momentum. "Without that density, everything evaporates," he said. "The inspiration, the collaborations, the corridor conversations that produce discoveries."
Four Greek researchers currently at US universities shared similar accounts. Thodoris Tsilivís, a PhD candidate at Boston University who came from the National Technical University of Athens, found that Greek universities train students extremely well technically but operate in relative isolation from each other. Chrisítos Zárkos, a PhD candidate at MIT from the University of Crete, noted that Greek students bring strong foundations and cultural adaptability, but go abroad because the research ecosystem at home cannot match what US institutions offer collectively.
One Athens-based effort is trying to change that. The Archimedes Research Center for AI, Data Science and Algorithms has around 100 people, including 50 PhD students whose dissertations are co-supervised by professors from Greek universities and institutions like MIT. Students stay in Athens but connect with international collaborators through joint supervision and research exchanges. Daskalakis described it as tackling "the brain drain that happens in your twenties."
Researcher Iasonas Nikolaou, another BU PhD candidate, was direct about the limits. Returning to Greece would be realistic "only for family reasons," he said, and that view reflects the majority of Greek researchers abroad. Without more systematic investment in research from both public and private sectors, the flow continues in one direction.
