The brain drain problem from Israel to the US is up to 17 times more severe than from Europe to the US,a study presented at the Sderot Conference Wednesday revealed.

According to Dan Ben-David of Tel Aviv University, who conducted the study, many Israeli academics prefer to work abroad due to the increasingly higher salaries, better working conditions and difficulties in obtaining secure positions in Israeli institutions.

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According to the study, some 25% of Israeli academics work in the US, while only 1.5 to 4 percent of European academics have made the move to American institutions.

Nobel laureate Prof Israel Aumann said during the conference, which was held at the Sapir College in Sderot, that the higher education system must be "freed".

"For instance, the universities must be allowed to determine their own criteria for admission and set the tuition rate as they see fit," he said.