Category Archives: Science

Science Researchers: Need for Future Employees

Scientists and engineers: Crisis, what crisis? by Mario Cervantes. More data on the question of a shortage of skilled workers, this time, researchers from January 2004:

The number of researchers in OECD countries rose from 2.4 million in 1990 to 3.4 million in 2000, a 42% increase, and demand is still expanding – the EU estimates it will need 700,000 new researchers to meet its commitment to increase investment in R&D to 3% of GDP by 2010. The US National Science Foundation projects that some 2.2 million new jobs in science and engineering will be created over 2000-2010, especially in computer-related occupations. In Japan the University Council predicted in 1998 that demand for masters students would exceed supply by 2010.
In other words, while few scientists are out of work, a significant proportion of them are not finding jobs in occupations that are closely related to their studies. This would weaken the claim of a widespread shortage of science and engineering graduates, but may signal another problem: “mismatches” between what the market (industry or academia) needs and is willing to pay in terms of research, and the skill sets, interests and salary aspirations that graduates have.

Well, if they are employed then there is a match between workers and jobs. The whole idea of the market working to match up the workers to jobs is based on the idea that workers and employers will react to shortages and surpluses by paying more and offering inducements to change career paths (employers facing a shortage) and some workers will decide to take them up on these offers.

I don’t doubt the market has and will continue to be dynamic. Knowledge workers should expect continuing education and learning throughout their careers. And I think most do expect that.

The strong case that the system was failing to match workers to jobs would be high unemployment rates and open jobs that employers couldn’t fill because people did not have the right skills. Taking actions to align higher education with the needs of the economy for science and engineering knowledge is wise. However, I think there will always be slight adjustments needed once students graduate. The key is that they are prepared to quickly learn the specific needs of the current marketplace. That I think is achievable and should be one of the goals of institutions of higher education.

Our Single-Celled Ancestors

choanoflagellates in water (photo by Melissa Mott)

Our Single-Celled Ancestors by David Pescovitz, ScienceMatters@Berkeley. Photo: propelled by their flagella, choanoflagellates move through water collecting bacteria on a collar of tentacles at the base of the cell body. (photo by Melissa Mott)

Six-hundred million years ago, a pivotal turning point in the history of life occurred. In the ancient sea, multicellular organisms evolved that are now recognized as the world’s first animals. But what was the biology of the single-celled organism that made the transition? And how did it become the common progenitor of all animals?

As always this issue of ScienceMatters@Berkeley includes excellent articles. Other articles from this issue: Extreme Biomaterials and Machines That Learn.

Science and Engineering Innovation Legislation

Ensign, Lieberman Introduce Major Bipartisan Innovation Legislation – the press release from Senator Lieberman’s office indicates Science and Engineering Fellowships Legislation we mentioned previously, has been introduced:

Our legislation will significantly increase federal support for graduate fellowship and traineeship programs in science, math, and engineering fields in order to attract more students to these fields and to create a more competitive and innovative American workforce.
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China and India alone graduate 6.4 million from college each year and over 950,000 engineers. The United States turns out 1.3 million college graduates and 70,000 engineers.
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Expands existing educational programs in the physical sciences and engineering by increasing funding for NSF graduate research fellowship programs as well as Department of Defense science and engineering scholarship programs.

The recent report from Duke, explains that the figures on science and engineering graduates used are not accurate (see below). Still, this seems like a good idea. The press release also includes a list of organizations supporting the legislation including: Athena Alliance, Business Roundtable, Council on Competitiveness, Council of Scientific Society Presidents. From the section by section details included on the web site:

The Director of NSF will expand the agency’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program by 250 fellowships per year and extend the length of each fellowship to five years. Program by 250 fellowships per year and extend the length of each fellowship to five years. The bill authorizes $34 million/year for FY 2007- FY 2011 to support these additional fellowships. In addition, funding in the amount of $57 million/year is authorized for a similar expansion of the Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program by 250 new traineeships per year over five years.
The Tech Talent expansion program encourages American universities to increase the number of graduates with degrees in mathematics and science. The bill authorizes $335 million from Fiscal Year 2007 to Fiscal Year 2010 for continued support of this program.
This section extends the Department of Defense’s Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarships program through September 30, 2011, and authorizes $41.3 million/year over 5 years for the SMART program to support additional participants pursuing doctoral degrees and master’s degrees in relevant fields. This section also authorizes $45 million/year over 5 years to be appropriated to the Department of Defense through 2011 to support the expansion of the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship program to additional participants.

Related posts:

“Fluid” State of Matter

photos of granular jets forming

Physicists Describe a New “Fluid” State of Matter, photo – granular jets forming at atmospheric pressure (top) and in a vacuum (bottom), see larger photo.

Using nothing more than a container of loosely packed sand and a falling marble, a research team led by University of Chicago physicist Heinrich Jaeger has discovered a new state of fluid matter.
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Why doesn’t air pressure just blow the sand grains apart? “One of the biggest questions that we have still not solved is why this jet is so sharply delineated,” says Jaeger. “Why are there these beautiful boundaries?”

Physicists describe strange new fluid-like state of matter, University of Chicago news release.

See more science and engineering research related posts.

$71 Million for Texas STEM Initiative

$71 Million Committed to Launch the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (TSTEM) Initiative:

The $71 million public-private partnership, a new effort of the THSP, will establish 35 small schools that offer focused teaching and learning opportunities in STEM subject areas and five to six STEM Centers to develop high-quality teachers and schools. The highest-quality education in these subjects is critical to workforce development in Texas and to ensuring that the United States keeps its competitive edge as a world leader in scientific and technological innovation.

Joint Singapore MIT Degree Programs

The Singapore–MIT Alliance offers joint degrees from Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS) (where my father taught for a year and a half when I was a kid) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Programs are offered in:

  • Advanced Materials for Micro- and Nano-Systems (AMM&NS)
  • Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering (CPE)
  • Computational Engineering (CE)
  • Manufacturing Systems and Technology (MST)

Students study in Singapore and while in residence at MIT and distance coursework from MIT while in Singapore. The students earn masters degrees from MIT and a masters from NUS/NTU and possibly a doctorate from NUS/NTU. As an example, An MIT Masters and an NTU Masters details:

The Dual Masters will comprise a Master of Engineering Degree in Manufacturing from MIT and a Master of Science Degree from NTU. This programme combines a broad based approach with independent research and concentrate on problems of emerging industries. Students will combine industry-based project experience with a university-based research derived from that experience. Depending upon the student’s progress the programme may be completed in 1.5 years, but no more than 2.0 years. The MIT degree will be taken partly in residence at MIT and by distance at NTU, and will be primarily coursework-based with a group project in industry supervised by MIT. The NTU degree will include coursework and independent research with NTU faculty supervision.

USA Science and Engineering Doctorates Hold Steady

Statistics from NSF

1995 2000 2004
Total S&E Doctorates 29,533 26,536 26,275

NSF also indicates 33% of all doctorates (including those outside science and engineering) went to non-USA citizens in 2004 compared to 32% in 1995. It is not surprising that the percentage of non-USA-citizen doctorate degrees, awarded in the USA, is much higher for many science and engineering fields (65% in engineering, 56% in mathematics, 55% in physics). It might be surprising to many people that 56% of computer science doctorates were awarded to non-USA citizens.

More detailed data on Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards is available from NSF.

Massive Project Will Reveal How Humans Continue to Evolve

Massive Project Will Reveal How Humans Continue to Evolve by Gregory Mone

By comparing differences among those groups’ DNA, HapMap gives scientists a better shot at distinguishing the genetic factors involved in disease from the environmental ones. Ultimately, it will help them explain why, for instance, some people have a higher or lower risk of certain illnesses. And once scientists understand how deleterious genes affect various populations, they’ll be better equipped to develop more-effective, targeted drugs to combat them.

What Are Viruses?

What Are Viruses?, from the excellent Science In Action blog:

Viruses are small, from about 20 nanometers to about 400 nanometers in size. (A bacterial cell is generally in the range of 0.5 to 5.0 micrometers in size. A micrometer is one thousand times bigger than a nanometer, so bacteria are hundreds of times larger than viruses.)
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Viruses cannot be killed by antibiotics. Antibiotics kill or stop the growth of bacteria, not viruses. Using antibiotics to try to control viral diseases like colds and flu just hastens the day those antibiotics will be useless against dangerous bacteria, because exposing populations of bacteria to antibiotics gives them a chance to evolve defenses against the drugs.