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Salary policy at institutes of the Max Planck Society (MPG)
With the ongoing collapse of the political systems in Eastern Europe during the '80s and '90s, the recruitment of foreign academics in (West) Germany was being continuously intensified. In order to keep the additional personnel costs low, however, special low-paid research grant programs without social benefits were set up. But contrary to the eligibility requirements of those programs, the low-paid employments were also given to foreign academics who had been living in Germany for many years.

Effect on a scientist's career and social security
Fostiropoulos had completed his full education from elementary school to university in Germany and began his PhD in February 1989 at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg. As it turned out months later, his gross salary was only 40% of the salary of his German fellow PhD students. When he brought this up with his supervisor, he was immediately given a standard PhD student contract. A few weeks after the contract was signed, however, it was exchanged for an special MPG grant for foreign scientists, which corresponded to only 60% of a standard PhD student salary. Due to this circumstance, his later postdoc positions within the MPG were also financed by fellowship programs without social benefits. In the case of Fostiropoulos, that cost-saving practice by German public employers will lead to an pension reduction of 20% compared to that of German scientists.