C&EN Washington

The sentiment among recruiters and chemistry department chairmen is that chemists and chemical engineers graduating in 2000 will enter a job market that's shaping up to be one of the best in the past 10 years. By virtually all accounts, demand for new graduates is expected to be as good, or nearly as good, as it was in 1998, the best year of the '90s. Industrial hiring slipped a bit in 1999, but the job market in general remained strong, and the academic market gathered steam.

"Competition for top candidates will be fierce" in academia in 2000, predicts Wayne L. Gladfelter, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. "And this pressure will force increases in both salaries and start-up costs."

Indeed start-up costs already have escalated, with some universities forking out as much as $500,000 to bring a junior faculty member on board. Tenure-track openings are being driven mostly by retirements, Gladfelter says, with a number of chemistry departments "approaching a period where they will need to replace more than one faculty member per year." The upshot is that the academic market will remain strong for several years, he believes.

On the industrial front, "my sense is that hiring in the coming year will be as vigorous as in 1998," asserts James D. Burke, manager of research recruiting and university relations at Rohm and Haas. "Large companies that felt constrained to reorganize, or restructure, or downsize, particularly in the past five to seven years, now feel an obligation to refill their pipeline," he points out. "And that will mandate much hiring in 2000. I think chemical companies are looking well beyond 2000 and know that they need to reconstitute some of their research staff with younger people. That's where their future leadership comes from."

The industrial job market wasn't expected to slow down in 1999, and it's not completely clear why it did. Slippage "probably was due to world economy issues," suggests David M. Floyd, vice president of discovery chemistry at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Indeed, companies had planned to hire aggressively in 1999 and were sticking to their plans early on in the recruiting season. But many were wary that the international economic crises emanating from Asia, Latin America, and Russia could hurt the global economy, and those that perceived their economic outlook to be discouraging were expected to pull back on hiring.

Another consideration is the effect of mergers and acquisitions, which may have contributed to the market slowdown, suggests Debra A. Fowler, Dow Chemical's workforce planning implementation leader. In contrast to the past several years, many strong job candidates were available late in the spring, Fowler explains. "That's unusual," she notes, because the best of the new graduates ordinarily have been hired by January or February. The strong candidates that became available later in the year typically either had a job offer withdrawn or had turned down an offer because the company that recruited them was involved in a merger and they weren't sure how that might affect them, she explains. This type of situation makes the job market "just a little bit erratic," Fowler says. She believes the market in 2000 is "going to be pretty strong," even if mergers and acquisitions rattle it some.

In fact, the market appears to be on a roll. "I can hardly hang on to the postdocs in my lab," remarks Catherine C. Fenselau, chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park. Their expertise is highly sought by both industry and academia, where a national shortage of faculty members in analytical chemistry prevails, she explains.

"We are seeing many recruiters coming through our department who are eager to hire quite a number of people," notes Steven C. Zimmerman, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and interim head of the chemistry department. "I believe the industrial job market has really taken off in the past year or two after several lean years."

According to C&EN's conventional measures--the volume of advertising in the magazine for "positions open" and the recruiting activity at the American Chemical Society's national meetings--demand for chemical professionals is about on par with last year. In fact, the volume of advertising for academic positions has increased, reflecting the apparent abundance of openings that exist.

At ACS's national meeting in New Orleans in August, the society's National Employment Clearing House (NECH) was busy. "The number of interviews conducted was among the highest in clearinghouse history," notes Tanya Y. Fogg, manager of employment services for ACS's Department of Career Services. In all, 134 employers conducted 3,049 interviews with 964 candidates for 829 potential slots.

"The ratio of job seekers to potential hires was just over 1.1," Fogg points out. She believes the high number of interviews can be attributed to NECH's Professional Data Bank --a repository of candidate profiles--available online since January (see page 72). "Recruiters registered for the clearinghouse can review the profiles and have e-mail conversations with candidates before the meeting," Fogg says. Employers have begun to use this opportunity to schedule interviews with candidates, and that jump-starts activities at the clearinghouse, she says.

On-campus recruiting is under way, and by all accounts it's strong. "The number of companies we are seeing on campus--and at professional career fairs--remains high, especially when compared with the previous five years," points out Robert L. Siegel, DuPont's manager of Ph.D. recruiting. "We find that the best qualified candidates often have multiple jobs to select from."

"Based on what I have heard and seen, the job market for chemists at all levels is robust," Bristol-Myers Squibb's Floyd affirms.

"Thirty-six companies will be visiting our chemistry department to recruit this fall," notes Charles P. Casey, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Madison, Wisconsin. "This is similar to the number that came last fall. My sense is it will be another good year for industrial positions."

Rohm and Haas was recruiting on campus two weeks ahead of schedule, Burke indicates. "So, it seems, was everybody else. My guess is that at the large universities recruiting will be up this year."

Hiring at Rohm and Haas indeed will be up from last year, Burke says. Depending on how the economy breaks, the company plans to hire 15 Ph.D. chemists and 30 to 40 chemical engineers via campus recruiting. Experienced chemical engineers are always in demand to some extent, he points out, but they aren't recruited from campus.

Hiring at DuPont has continued to grow over the past three years, Siegel notes. In 2000, it will be up about 25% over 1999, when the company hired about 70 Ph.D. chemists and engineers and 250 at the bachelor's level. In addition to recruiting on campus and at career fairs, the company has started to hire through its career web page (http://www.dupont.com/careers) and "focused use of Internet postings."

Procter & Gamble will be hiring at about the same level as last year, according to Ron Webb, the company's senior manager for doctoral recruiting. In 1999, P&G hired more than 80 Ph.D.s, about half of them chemists and the remainder a mix of life scientists, medical scientists, biostatisticians, and engineers. Chemistry Ph.D.s were spread across traditional chemistry disciplines, with analytical chemistry representing the largest number of hires.

"Analytical chemists will once again be in greatest demand relative to other chemistry disciplines," Webb says. This year P&G also has openings for textile chemists as well as "the traditional mix" of life scientists (toxicologists, microbiologists, and molecular biologists); medical specialists (physicians, dentists, and Ph.D.s in pharmacology); and chemical, materials, electrical, and polymer engineers, he notes.

Additionally, P&G hopes to fill 30 to 40 positions overseas, with the majority of these positions requiring an advanced degree in chemistry. The company prefers to hire foreign nationals who are returning home, but will consider any candidate, regardless of nationality, who has the technical expertise and is willing to relocate. Finding foreign nationals who are willing to return home after completing graduate school in the U.S. is a big challenge, Webb contends. "This is especially true for Chinese and Mexican students who prefer the U.S. lifestyle and salary potential," he says.

In addition to recruiting in the traditional ways, P&G advertises positions on selected web sites (http://www.pg.com and http://www.monster.com). The company noticed an "increasing trend for candidates to find us via the Internet," Webb says. Based on this observation and "the critical need to streamline recruiting efforts by eliminating paperwork," P&G introduced a paperless, online application system in August (http://www.pg.com/careers/applynow).

"This new tool has greatly exceeded our expectations, and we're very excited about it," Webb notes. "I have no doubt that it represents the wave of the future for industrial R&D doctoral recruiting," he says.

Table: B.S. degrees in chemistry are highest since 1984

At the bachelor's and master's degree levels, "once again, we're finding the job market to be increasingly competitive for top talent in chemistry and chemical engineering," observes Margaret T. Boehmer, P&G's senior manager of research and product development recruiting. "We expect it will be a challenge to fill hiring needs." P&G plans to hire roughly 150 engineers, including chemical engineers, and 300 science graduates, including chemistry graduates, with B.S. or M.S. degrees, she says. P&G hires foreign nationals at the B.S. and M.S. levels who are interested in returning to their home country, Boehmer notes.

Other major companies recruiting on campus include Dow Chemical and Air Products & Chemicals. Dow is looking "mostly for chemical and mechanical engineers" at the B.S. level and some Ph.D. chemists and engineers, Fowler notes. Recruiting was "pretty flat" in 1999, when the company hired 81 chemists and engineers, including 11 with Ph.D. degrees. But "it will be back up this year," she says.

Air Products will focus most of its recruiting on bachelor's level chemical and mechanical engineers, according to Director of University Relations James W. Brockington. "We will also look for Ph.D.-level chemical engineers specializing in process modeling, process control, and process technology, particularly candidates with experimental backgrounds," he adds. Similarly, the company plans to recruit Ph.D.-level physical, polymer, physical organic, and organometallic chemists as well as organic chemists. "We do not aggressively recruit chemists with bachelor's or master's degrees at the national level, but rather look for them locally," Brockington says.

The thrust of Air Products' recruiting is to maintain a steady number of people in its career development program. Fewer people will be recruited in 2000 because of "productivity improvements made throughout the enterprise and other synergistic business opportunities," Brockington notes. "I look for candidates who are eager to work and have a great deal of confidence. It's the attitude of 'Let me at it, let me go do something, I want to have a positive impact' that impresses me most."

Brockington urges students to aggressively pursue co-ops and internships to help increase their competitiveness in the job market. The company increasingly focuses on such programs as a major part of its recruiting strategy, he notes.

Eastman Chemical expects hiring levels to be down slightly, indicates Hoyt H. Denton, manager of employment and personnel services. As the company positions itself to be more competitive, hiring will be kept on the low side in 2000, as it was for the two previous years, he says.

Hiring will be up from last year at Phillips Petroleum, according to David Blakemore, manager of employment and college relations. After backing off from filling last year's quota, in part because oil prices "fell through the floor, we're playing a little catch-up" this year, Blakemore says. Chemical engineers are high on the hiring list. "That's our core competency," Blakemore explains. "We're a processing company, after all. This year we'll be looking for about double the number of chemical engineers we hired last year."

At major pharmaceutical firms, synthetic organic chemists will remain a hot commodity. "Pharmaceutical companies continue to need more synthetic organic chemists than they can find," Burke points out. "And so they will continue to recruit avidly for Ph.D.s in this field. But separations chemists and other analytical chemists, particularly those with experience in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, will also continue to be in demand."

Many major pharmaceutical companies are planning to expand their capabilities in medicinal chemistry, Floyd says. In fact, he adds, most major companies "have new buildings to fill." So as output from discovery research increases, the process and development chemistry groups must grow. In other words, when the quota of synthetic organic chemists increases, the need for analytical chemists is enhanced, he explains. But specialists in high-throughput synthesis also will be needed, "and people with experience or training in chemistry laboratory automation or informatics/database management can probably write their own ticket," he says.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is recruiting aggressively for organic and analytical chemists for both research and development. "Our concern, given the competition, is identifying and attracting the people we need from both academia and industry," Floyd says.

Eli Lilly is "looking to increase the scientific side of its business," according to Sandy C. Sifferlen, manager of U.S. recruiting and staffing. The company is planning to significantly increase the number of people in discovery chemistry--the "innovation machine," she says. The goal is to optimize the annual yield of products over the next several years. Chemists at all degree levels will be in demand, with synthetic organic chemists a top priority.

Lilly has a "wide spectrum of needs," in chemistry, she says, from discovery through development and production. Thus bioanalytical, formulations, computational, and analytical chemists will be in demand, as will chemists who work in drug metabolism. So will chemical engineers. "We look for engineers in R&D, manufacturing, process, and technical services," Sifferlen says. Lilly is recruiting on campus for new graduates. But the company also is looking for graduates with experience. "We try to take a look at the full marketplace," she adds.

Pfizer, too, is increasing its discovery and development capabilities, according to Peter A. McCarthy, head of chemis try recruiting. Rather than "growing" through a merger, Pfizer plans to grow in part by expanding its capabilities, he says. Toward that end, the company is exploring new initiatives in drug discovery that will go beyond the traditional synthesis approach.

As a result, the company expects to hire slightly fewer synthetic organic chemists this year as it seeks to fill a mix of positions that "require a very strong understanding of mechanistic organic chemistry and the proven ability to apply this understanding to the synthesis of complex molecules," McCarthy says. "What will be 'hot' this year are top-flight synthetic organic chemists who recognize the exciting potential in these nontraditional positions and are prepared to apply their skills to them."

He insists that well-trained synthetic organic chemists will continue to be much sought after by both Pfizer and the rest of the pharmaceutical industry. "Sustained innovation is the key to success in the pharmaceutical industry," McCarthy says, and "organic chemistry is a core discipline of drug discovery and development." Pfizer is recruiting on campus "as broadly as it ever did," for B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. chemists.

Glaxo Wellcome "has a commitment to build in the chemistry areas, because chemistry is identified as a core resource," according to company spokesman Thomas Fuldener. Glaxo estimates it needs to add 150 more chemists worldwide next year, including 75 at its Research Triangle Park facility in North Carolina. Some positions could go unfilled, though, if budgets are constrained, Fuldener warns. Glaxo looks for individuals whose "personal qualities" would make them a good fit--people who are innovative thinkers, independent, and who work well in a matrix environment, he says.

Table: Demand for engineers spurs B.S. production

In addition to the major chemical and pharmaceutical companies, a range of smaller firms are hiring chemists or chemical engineers. Among them are analytical testing companies, synthesis firms, and biotech companies. Even small start-up companies expect to have a position or two open.

Analytical testing firm Lancaster Labs of Lancaster, Pa., "is currently hiring in both our pharmaceutical and environmental divisions," Executive Vice President Carol D. Hess indicates. "We will continue to hire mostly B.S. chemists, with an emphasis in analytical chemistry," she says. "We do most of our recruiting at college job fairs, but we have seen a big increase in résumés received by way of the Internet."

Albany Molecular Research, Albany, N.Y., which provides custom synthesis and analytical services to clients in the pharmaceutical industry, expects to "enjoy the same level of success in recruiting in 2000 that we enjoyed in 1999"--despite the competitive market, says James J. Grates, vice president of human resources. In 1999, the company hired 42 chemists, and 17 more will be on board by December, he notes. About half have Ph.D. degrees. The eight-year-old company that started out with two employees has built "a high-powered chemistry" group that includes more than 85 Ph.D.s, Grates notes. The company plans to hire more B.S. and M.S. chemists as it begins to build research teams around Ph.D.s, he says.

Set to expand in 2000 is Collaborative Group Ltd., Stony Brook, N.Y., "a diversified biotech company" that opened for business with a few employees in the mid-1990s, says Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer James A Hayward. Launched as "the first 'incubator' company" at State University of New York, Stony Brook, Collaborative Group currently has about 250 employees, most of whom are in technical positions, Hayward notes. The company expects to add 50 employees in 2000 as it expands operations in a recently acquired 50,000-sq-ft facility in Providence, R.I., he says. Collaborative Group wants to hire compounding, formulations, and process chemists, among others, as well as chemical engineers for areas such as process and fermentation.

Collaborative Group develops and manufactures biopharmaceuticals on a contract basis for the pharmaceutical, skin care, and other industries. The company provides "a seamless service from 'postdiscovery' to market supply," producing biotechnology-based raw materials in addition to manufacturing finished products, Hayward explains. "We are the world's largest manufacturer of liposomes," he notes. "We have a significant position in tissue engineering and drug delivery, manufacturing delivery systems for everything from genes to perfume." The company also conducts safety testing of raw materials and finished goods, avoiding the use of animals in testing skin care products.

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies wanting to streamline or boost their operations increasingly are relying on services provided by small start-up companies. One such firm is ChemRx, a subsidiary of Discovery Partners International, La Jolla, Calif. Year-old ChemRx has created a niche for itself in the outsourcing market by offering drug discovery services, notes David L. Coffen, chief scientific officer of Discovery Partners and acting vice president for R&D at ChemRx.

Using combinatorial and synthesis chemistry, the company produces libraries of lead drug candidates for customers in the pharmaceutical industry. "We take orders and produce libraries to customer specification," Coffen says.

ChemRx started out with five chemists and now employs 15. Early next year, it expects to have 26 on board. The company hires about twice as many Ph.D. chemists as B.S. chemists. "The strong emphasis on problem-solving skills and synthetic and combinatorial chemistry requires for the most part that our staff has Ph.D.-level training," Coffen says. "But we do have a need for B.S. and M.S. chemists also." He notes that wherever there's combinatorial chemistry, analytical chemists will be in demand--people with skills in mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, and data management, for example.

"The way the pharmaceutical industry is growing, there's a lot of outsourcing that needs to be done," contends Jeffrey Bibbs, president of Pharmatek Laboratories, San Diego. Pharmatek opened its doors in September, with three chemists on board, to offer comprehensive product development services to both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Sidebar: Workforce needs of biotechnology industry are growing

Pharmatek offers a full spectrum of drug development from analytical testing to clinical supplies. That means that after a biotech or a pharmaceutical company has synthesized a lead drug candidate, Pharmatek can take over and get the molecule ready for clinical trials. "We have to decide whether it should be administered as a capsule, or a tablet, or a liquid, or whether it should be injected or applied as a cream. We'll evaluate whether it will be stable in the stomach or in the bloodstream, or whether it gets metabolized in the liver," Bibbs explains. The company also does small-scale manufacturing, producing drugs in the quantities needed for clinical trials.

In building Pharmatek, Bibbs had two goals. One was to fill a need in the San Diego area and the other was to create an environment where it was fun to work. "I think I've done that so far," he says. "We're having a good time. We're meeting our deadlines. We're doing some good science, and our customers are happy." The company is "considering" hiring another chemist this year and perhaps up to four more next year, Bibbs says.

New chemistry and chemical engineering graduates often enter the professional workforce via temporary employment. Some are recruited by agencies such as Kelly Scientific Resources (KSR), Troy, Mich. (http://www.kellyscientific. com), which specializes in placing scientists on a temporary or full-time basis in a broad spectrum of industries, including biotechnological, chemical, consumer products, cosmetics, environmental, food science, medical/clinical, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical, among others. KSR currently employs about 4,000 scientists worldwide in contract positions each week, according to Rolf E. Kleiner, the company's senior vice president and general manager. KSR "is recruiting on campus, on the Internet, by word of mouth, and other more traditional means," he says.

"In a tight labor market, we have to recruit and retain employees even more diligently," Kleiner continues. To promote continuing education and career development, KSR offers web-based scientific training via its Science Learning Center (http://www.sciencelearning.com). "Anyone interested in increasing their understanding of scientific principles, fundamental chemistry, and regulatory and protocol standards can take online courses anytime they wish," he notes. KSR expects to have grown 40% in 1999, he says.

Pending budget approval, the Patent & Trademark Office will have 1,000 openings for patent examiners in 2000, notes Cynthia L. Nelson-Possinger, chief of PTO's Classification & Employment Division. And many of these openings will be for chemists. For 1999, PTO has hired 800 or so patent examiners, nearly a fourth of them in areas handling patents in biotechnology, chemistry, materials, engineering, and the like. New hires in these areas would have at least a B.S. degree in chemistry, biochemistry, or related fields, Nelson-Possinger notes.

The large number of openings in 1999 and 2000 can be attributed to a surge in patent applications and the end of a hiring freeze, points out Brigid S. Quinn, deputy director of the office of public affairs. "A lot [of patent applications] are in biotechnology, and a lot in computer technology--particularly Internet-related technology," she notes. However, she says, patent applications have gone up "across the board," which she believes is a reflection of the healthy economy. "Companies put more money into research and development when the economy is good," she suggests.

A survey of major research universities across the U.S. suggests that many academic openings exist, created by retirements, faculty expansions, or both. Many institutions reduced the size of their faculty in the 1990s "and are now in a steady state of hiring," observes Hai-Lung Dai, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Pennsylvania. And "some, mainly state institutions, are responding to the rising number of undergraduates," he adds. But a shortage of "competitive" candidates is likely to leave many positions unfilled and the search for the ideal candidate ongoing, Dai believes.

"I think hiring in academia will be strong again this year, with the usual variations from specialty to specialty," Maryland's Fenselau predicts. The maturing of faculty and an undergraduate student body that keeps growing as college-age children of baby boomers swell enrollment will create a need for more faculty members, she says. But hiring activity also will reflect the R&D opportunities of the "postgenomic frontier," notably proteomics, bioinformatics, and microbioanalysis, she adds.

Maryland hopes to make four new appointments in 2000, "one in the bioanalytical/environmental area and up to three in the biochemistry/biophysics area," where several appointments were made last year, she notes, jointly with the university's Center for Cellular & Biochemical Structure.

"From the number of letters our department has received from universities seeking to hire assistant professors, it looks like there are a large number of openings again this year," Wisconsin's Casey notes. Last year, the chemistry department hired four assistant professors and one full professor in "a very competitive market," he says. This year the department has an opening for an assistant professor.

"With retirements looming for many faculty that were hired in the 1960s, I think we will see a wide-open market for academic-bound Ph.D.s for some time to come," predicts Andrew G. Ewing, chairman of the chemistry department at Pennsylvania State University. The caveat is that candidates should be both "qualified and interested to become educators, and, for a major research institution, have the creativity and boldness to embark on new and significant missions of research," he says.

Sidebar: Finding a job in a small company

With searches ongoing, the chemistry department at Penn State is looking for an unspecified number of faculty positions in all areas of research over the next few years. More immediately, the department is seeking to fill a faculty position for director of undergraduate physical chemistry as well as for a faculty member who would combine research interests "with a creative interest in undergraduate education."

"We are definitely seeing an increase in retirements, but we also have a need to add faculty due to growth of our programs," indicates Marvin L. Hackert, chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Texas, Austin. "We have recruited at least two new faculty each year for the past four years," he says. "Many of these have very interdisciplinary research interests" that primarily fit with the school's emerging institutes in materials science and cellular and molecular biology, he notes. "This year we will be searching for two or three junior-level positions and one senior-level position," he says.

Indeed, many universities are looking for candidates interested in working at an interdisciplinary front. "We are definitely interested in the interdisciplinary areas," notes John D. Simon, chairman of the chemistry department at Duke University. The department is interested in bridging chemistry to materials sciences in the engineering school and to chemical biology in the university's medical school, he says. "I would say that our hiring needs will remain interdisciplinary for the next several years." Duke has three faculty positions to fill--an endowed chair, a position in organic chemistry that can be filled at any level, and one in the-oretical chemistry for an assistant professor.

"Our department has a long history of interdisciplinary studies, and we are always interested in individuals who can bridge areas," says Edward A. Dennis, chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. The department is expanding, and searches have been initiated for four positions: one each in inorganic chemistry and environmental chemistry for a junior faculty member, one in organic chemistry for a senior professor, and one in biochemistry that can be filled at any level.

"Our environmental chemistry position is definitely interdisciplinary," Dennis states. "We are particularly open" to candidates with "broad and cross-disciplinary" experience, he notes. Among other duties, the environmental hire will be expected to teach in the department's newly established minor in environmental chemistry.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, "we can expect to make about two new hires per year to maintain steady state," notes Craig A. Merlic, vice chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry. "Over the 11 years from 1989 through 1999, we hired 23 faculty members, and all but three were at the assistant professor level."

UCLA's chemistry and biochemistry department is large, he observes, with about 50 full-time faculty members and a number of emeritus professors who remain active. Future hiring will traverse the traditional areas of biochemistry and organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry, but the department also "expects to make some targeted appointments in new or interdisciplinary areas, such as biophysics, proteomics, bioorganic, and materials chemistry," he says.

At the University of South Carolina, Columbia, "academic hiring is following the pattern of the past couple of years," according to R. Bruce Dunlap, chairman of the chemistry department. Tenure-track positions are open in both organic and physical chemistry, "nominally at the assistant professor level, although we will consider applicants at the associate or full professor level--under the right circumstances," he says. A search that began last year for a director of the department's emerging nanoscience initiative is being reopened, he says.

Among other universities with faculty positions open are Johns Hopkins University; the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Cornell University; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Johns Hopkins currently is looking for a junior-level organic chemist and anticipates additional searches, according to Paul J. Dagdigian, chairman of the chemistry department. The University of Illinois is in the process of expanding its chemistry faculty and "would like to hire as many outstanding candidates" as space and start-up funds permit, chemistry department chairman Zimmerman says. Cornell anticipates "hiring 11 new faculty members in the next five years," according to Paul L. Houston, chairman of the department of chemistry and chemical biology. The department would like to fill two or three openings this year. "Start-up costs are a hurdle," Houston notes, "but the main problem is finding candidates."

MIT is planning to hire in inorganic chemistry only, mainly because of space constraints, notes chemistry department chairman Stephen J. Lippard. The entire chemistry department is being renovated to upgrade all laboratory spaces, and while that is being done, all unoccupied areas will be used as swing space, he explains. The department hired four new faculty members in 1999--two in biological chemistry, one in organic chemistry, and a senior professor in bioorganic chemistry. Lippard is concerned that "although talented inorganic chemists are available, the supply is short, so that some of the openings in inorganic chemistry in research institutions may go unfilled."

The cost of bringing a new faculty member on board continues to present a difficult problem. "Start-up costs for equipment are a concern and can be a limiting factor," says UT Austin's Hackert.

At Duke, "the last couple of junior hires have cost us nearly $500,000 apiece, and senior hires are more expensive," Simon attests. Start-up costs for senior hires "can be an issue," UCLA's Merlic affirms. "But UCLA has always been supportive of junior faculty appointments. This has enabled us to bring in an excellent group of highly successful young faculty."

The University of South Carolina, Columbia, spent "well over half a million dollars" last year to hire an assistant professor in experimental physical chemistry, according to Dunlap. But he believes it was money well spent. "We're very proud we were able to recruit her to our faculty," he says. "We have done very well here of late in attracting young faculty. The people we brought in during the early 1990s have done so well."

Ironically, while academia continues to open its hiring doors, students' interest in pursuing chemistry careers in academia seems to be declining, some chemistry professors fear. In fact, Penn's Dai suggests that "student interest in chemistry in general is declining." Such a situation could make the academic market look even better in the future because of a lack of candidates, he points out.

MIT's Lippard also predicts that the candidate pool will shrink, in part because many talented undergraduates are being siphoned off into start-up companies that are fulfilling the needs of the computer revolution as the Human Genome Project and other opportunities generate the need for software writers and people who do data analysis. "When my generation sought jobs, the heroes were Linus Pauling and Albert Einstein," he says. "Today, it is Bill Gates."

Catherine Connor, director of the Biotechnology Center Placement Office at the University of Illinois, says that many Ph.D.s do not want to go into academia. "Ten years ago, a huge percentage of Ph.D.s thought about academia--indeed insisted that is where they preferred to go," she says. "But now that percentage has drastically diminished, if those students I see are indicative. The usual comment is, 'I see what my professor does. I do not want to spend all my time writing grant proposals.' "

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