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For more information on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of each item at (703) 292-8070. Editor: Cheryl Dybas Contents of this News Tip:
MEDICAL SCIENCES SHOW BIGGEST GAIN IN ACADEMIC R&D "MARKET SHARE"The medical sciences gained the most "market share" in academic research and development (R&D;) spending between 1973 and 1996, according to a National Science Foundation (NSF) Issue Brief. Engineering, computer sciences and astronomy also showed gains in their share of the total academic R&D; pie, said Alan Rapoport, the Issue Brief's author. The social sciences, biological sciences, physics, agricultural sciences, psychology, environmental sciences and chemistry all lost market share, while the mathematical sciences remained roughly constant. The federal government provides 60 percent of the financial support for academic R&D; - which accounts for half the nation's basic research and about 30 percent of all research in the U.S., Rapoport said. Each percentage point of academic R&D; was worth $230 million in 1996. The medical sciences share of total academic R&D; increased from 22.4 percent in 1973 to 27.6 percent in 1996. Engineering increased from 11.6 to 16.0 percent. The social sciences share decreased from 8.0 in 1973 to 4.8 percent in 1996; biological sciences from 19.3 to 17.3 percent; and physics from 5.8 to 4.3 percent. "It is important to note that while a field may have lost 'market share,' the pie is bigger today. In fact, all fields had higher constant dollars expenditures in 1996 than in 1973," said Rapoport. [Joel Blumenthal] The Issue Brief is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/issuebrf/ib99309.htm JOB MARKET NOT A MAJOR FACTOR IN S&E "POSTDOC" INCREASEApproximately 42 percent of all 1993-94 U.S. science and engineering (S&E) Ph.D. recipients had taken a postdoctoral appointment (or "postdoc") by April, 1995, according to a recent Issue Brief by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Science Resources Studies. The percentage of S&E Ph.D.s taking postdocs has risen steadily over three decades - from only about 25 percent in the 1965-66 cohort, said Mark Regets, the Issue Brief's author. "Traditionally, postdocs have been temporary positions, taken primarily for additional training - a period of advanced professional apprenticeship," Regets said. Now, he noted, there have been reports that more Ph.D.s are taking postdocs because they cannot find other suitable, higher-paying jobs. And the median length of time in postdoctoral appointments also has increased. However, most respondents reported they accepted postdoctoral appointments for reasons such as advanced training in their field, training outside their field, or working with a specific person. The fields with the highest rate of postdoc use, biological sciences and physics, showed particularly large increases - from 51 percent (1965-66) to 72 percent (1993-94) in biological sciences, and from 50 percent (1965-66) to 69 percent (1993-94) in physics. Postdocs also gained importance in engineering, increasing from 12 percent of 1965-66 Ph.D.s to 31 percent of the 1993-94 cohort. [Joel Blumenthal] The Issue Brief is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/issuebr/ib99310.htm GRADUATE STUDENTS & POSTDOCTORATES: WHO AND WHERE ARE THEY?The report Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 1997 will be published by NSF later this year on the world-wide web and in paper form. But to assist those data users and members of the public who are just itching to get the most timely statistics possible, this set of 54 tables is available in electronic spreadsheet form now. Data were derived from the National Science Foundation/National Institutes of Health (NSF/NIH) Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, Fall 1997. Generally, the data represent national estimates of total enrollment in all 11,597 graduate science and engineering programs at all academic institutions in the United States that granted doctorate or master's degrees in any science or engineering field. The published report will contain detailed information about the history of the survey, methodology, questionnaires, instructions, and other survey documents. The statistics in the tables available now are final and will be the same as those published in the web and printed versions. NSF's Human Resources Statistics Program in the Division of Science Resources Studies prepared the tables, some of which span a 22-year period, back to 1975. [Lee Herring] The tables are available in spreadsheet format at: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/srs99405/start.htm
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