How International are You?
Science today is an increasingly globalised arena, with scientists collaborating to share knowledge and ideas across geographical boundaries, the current Human Genome project being a case in point. The international outlook of science and science-based industry is most evident in the number of students who are studying abroad, both during their first degree and in subsequent research posts.
Strong links between industry and academia are also enhancing the education and experience of students. Whether through sandwich years, research sponsorship or visiting lecturers, the input of industry is adding value to knowledge gained in the laboratory. It is widely understood that an increasing supply of skilled graduates will be necessary if industry is to take full economic advantage of the burgeoning progress in scientific and technological research. The opportunity to make this link internationally is even more advantageous, often made possible by scholarships and bursaries.
The Society of Chemical Industry
The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) offers a number of scholarships and travel awards designed to provide students and younger researchers with opportunities at the international science frontier. The SCI Seligman APV Fellowship offers full funding for a postgraduate to spend at least three months in centres of food engineering, research and learning in the UK. Previous winners have come from a broad range of countries, including China, Thailand, Italy, Singapore, the US and the Ukraine.
Travel & Networking
The opportunity to attend international conferences is also a valuable experience for students. Travel awards provide scope for young researchers to attend important events that otherwise would have been out of their reach, giving them access to the latest thinking and developments in their field. Although conference proceedings are often freely available, networking at international meetings can help to forge those all-important professional contacts and partnerships.
The SCI Messel and AJ Banks Bursaries give students financial assistance to attend major conferences. The reports that Bursars file following their trips always endorse the value of international experience. One Bursar who attended a Congress in Mexico reported: 'not only has this conference been a chance for me to meet researchers working in the same area, but it has also given me the opportunity to see a new part of the world. As I have found through living abroad for the last four years, being in a foreign environment adds another point of view to one's thinking.'
Real Perspectives
Another Bursar states: 'I had the opportunity to meet some of the leading researchers from around the world. Hearing the perspectives of these researchers and reviews of their work has helped me to gain a very broad overview of current research… the personal contact and discussion had an added value, since most names were familiar only as authors of academic papers.'
Another students enhanced her studies by visiting the Citrus Research and Education Centre in the US. More of an industrial placement, she was able to garner research material and samples unavailable in her home country. On her return, she enthused, 'I gained information which I believe is invaluable with respect to my final dissertation, and feel that I have made good links within the industry.'
The important personal element of networking can be continued through the immediacy of electronic communications, an invaluable tool for the international student, and one that has been embraced by the academic and research world.
Networking for Self-Confidence
It is not only contacts that are established at international meetings. Professional standing and self-confidence can be enhanced through participation in poster sessions and presentations. A PhD student who attended a Symposium in Budapest expressed the value of such opportunities in her post-conference report: 'The experience was beneficial not only from the point of view of gaining confidence in my own work and presentation skills, but also in terms of having my work objectively assessed by a group of independent scientific peers.'
For those who are unable to attend international symposia, SCI brings together authoritative scientists from across the world for a varied programme of meetings. For example, a recent collaborative venture between the Volcani Center, Israel and SCI led to internationally-renowned scientists from five continents gathering to discuss 'The Economic and Commercial Impact of Integrated Crop Management'. As with all SCI meetings, students fees were dramatically reduced, enabling students to attend this important conference at a fraction of the cost.
Media - Electronic and International
Publications also give students access to the latest thinking, issues and research from across the world. Postgraduate students are welcome to submit their research to the SCI peer-reviewed journals 'Pest Management Science', 'The Journal of the Science of Food & Agriculture', 'The Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology', and 'Polymer International'. Other avenues of information include the SCI Lecture Papers Series, available to download from the internet, and the internationally-renowned magazine 'Chemistry & Industry'.
Insight for the Future
With great foresight, the international group of business and science leaders who formed SCI in 1881 recognised that in the global economic and employment marketplace, cross-cultural insight is key. Future leaders and decision-makers will require a bank of international and interdisciplinary contacts to support them and inform their thinking.
The value of a global perspective is evident in the reach of SCI members, who now come from industry, research and public life in over seventy countries. In the increasingly worldwide arena of science, the cultivation of an international mindset can only benefit the student of today.
Author: Kelly Quigley, Publicity & Education Officer, Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)
