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"Brain drain", the number of doctoral degrees fell by 73% by 2024

2025-08-18 11:12:00, Sociale CNA

The number of doctoral degrees has been rapidly shrinking in recent years, but in 2024 only 31 were awarded, or 73 percent less than in 2023 and much less than in 2017, where 890 doctorates were awarded.

Education experts attribute the decline to a drastic reduction in admissions to doctoral programs and high emigration of young academics. Albania is facing a "hemorrhage" of talent loss to other countries that offer better conditions for doctoral students and researchers. Previous surveys have shown that Albania has the highest levels of brain drain globally in the last decade.

In Albania, doctoral programs have undergone a transition in recent years. In 2014, the Albanian government decided to close all third-cycle programs (doctorates) in public and private universities, due to concerns about quality and procedural violations. This interruption lasted for about five years, causing negative consequences for scientific research and academic development in the country.

After this period, some universities have resumed doctoral programs with stricter criteria. The European University of Tirana (UET) resumed its doctoral program in 2022, while the Agricultural University of Tirana has opened calls for applications in several fields for the academic year 2024-2025.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Sports has planned to launch new programs to support and finance doctoral degrees in early 2025.

These developments negatively affect scientific research in the country, precisely at a time when science and innovation are at the center of global competition. Albania risks remaining on the periphery of technological and scientific development, without internal capacities to develop important projects.

On the other hand, the academic body of universities is aging, while there is a shortage of the younger generation with doctorates. This will affect the quality of higher education and the ability to compete at the regional and European level.

Doctoral students are needed not only in universities, but also in public institutions, development agencies, and the private sector to analyze, design, and implement evidence-based policies.

The EU requires from aspiring countries like Albania sustainable development of scientific research, as part of the negotiation chapters in chapters 25 and 26. Without doctoral students and without sustainable scientific development, Albania will find it more difficult to meet these standards.

The decline in doctorates is an alarm signal for a structural gap that is being created in the country's academic, scientific and development system./ Monitor