International mobility of scientists

Summary: International mobility is an important aspect of scientific knowledge production, and in recent decades has become a key focus of both academic research and policy concern. However surprisingly little consensus exists as regards how best to conceptualize scientific mobility, and the evidence base consists of a series of partial snapshots. International mobility can play an important role in the transfer of knowledge, the development of human capital, and the careers of the scientists concerned but mobility is often driven by dysfunctions in some national systems and this enforced mobility and its impacts and costs deserve more scholarly and policy attention.