Portuguese on the Top

On the last 8/30 it was released by the ERC Starting Grants the 2011 results and one of the projects contemplate with a grant it was the “Positive Scalar Curvature and Lagrangian Mean Curvature Flow” of the Portuguese André Neves of the Imperial College of Science (UK, London). It is the first time that a Portuguese scientist wins a grant of more than 1 million Euros.

This is the perfect example of one brilliant Portuguese scientist who needs to go to other country to have the opportunity and conditions to show his value because in Portugal it is the personal and party relations that matters as a selection criteria and not merit. Unfortunately this is also the reality on the universities and on the investigation labs; it’s not the best minds that are recruited but the ones who have some kind of relation with who have influence over the hiring.

This is the real reason for the actual Portuguese economical situation, the cultural disdain for the intelligence and quality in detriment of the corruption and the “smart asses” of this country is what makes it cultural accepted as more important to be successful to be a “smart ass” than as to be an intelligent and educate professional.

That’s the problem with the economical rescue plan. Only a rescue plan that obligates the implementation of educational policies based on the merit and the work and the implementation of policies of criminal responsabilisation of those thousands public servers and politicians that parasite the public budget being corrupt and incompetence can look forward to achieve success on the economical development. Only this way we can expect a cultural change and an increase of the education level of the next generations that will allow the country to aspirate to a better standard on living and a sustainable economical growth.

But as none of this seems to be even close to happen on the near future, the only way that those of us who fight for the quality, the merit and intelligence have to create a life for us is to, one by one, to give up of our country and move to another country that welcome us for our competencies and not for our personal relations.

The question is, when we are all gone who’s gone provide for all those “smart asses” that will stay and are incapable do be competent on any work because all their lives their success was based on relations and not in competence?

Congratulations André Neves, you deserve a medal on Portugal days celebrations for your work but the most likely is that your medal will be, once more, delivered to a soccer player.