Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise (2012) / Chapter Skim
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2 Defining Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
2 Defining Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
Pages 17-30
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From page 17... ...
CHARACTERISTICS OF NUCLEAR AND RADIOCHEMISTRY EXPERTS Fundamentally, nuclear and radiochemists are chemists who hold one or more degrees in chemistry and have taken additional specialized courses and conducted laboratory work in nuclear and radiochemistry, including the study of radioactive nuclei, nuclear processes, and nuclear applications in which chemical behavior is important. Their research interests reflect the breadth of the discipline's applications -- from nuclear energy to medical imaging, environmental chemistry, and nuclear security.
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Educational Background The committee obtained educational information about nuclear and radiochemists from the DNCT website, which has in recent years served as a hub for tracking active nuclear and radiochemistry graduate programs as well as graduates of the Nuclear Chemistry Summer Schools. Starting from a list of 49 U.S.
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What stands out in these data is that many of the advisors listed research areas and thesis subjects other than nuclear chemistry on their theses, as did their advisees, and the proportions for each group are quite different: nuclear chemistry was chosen much less often by the advisees. From these data, the committee concluded that the self-identification of nuclear and radiochemists varies and has changed over time, and that simply following the numbers of nuclear chemistry Ph.D.s reported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Nevertheless, the committee determined that a keyword search of "nuclear chemistry" in the PQDT database provides at least a baseline measure of the number of new Ph.D.s each year since 2003 to compare with the SED data.3 Once the committee performed its keyword search of the PQDT data base for nuclear chemistry it compared the results to the number of Ph.D. degrees conferred in the field of nuclear chemistry according to the SED4 (although in 2004 nuclear chemistry was eliminated as a subfield in SED because of the low number of degrees reported in prior years, as discussed in Chapter 1; NSF 2010)
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Theses 35 30 25 Count 20 15 10 5 0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year FIGURE 2-1 U.S.-granted Ph.D. degrees and dissertations in nuclear chemistry by year, 1970-2010, based on the National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)
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SOURCE: Jane Price, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Nuclear Engineering Academic Programs, personal communication, October 2011. (Also see Service 2011.)
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, suggesting that the decreasing share of U.S. articles is not an indication that the United States is falling behind but rather that other countries are catching up.
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Articles Authored Authored Articles Authored authored Subject areas All science and engineering 564,645 193,337 34% 788,347 208,600 26% Chemistry 68,319 14,738 22% 102,825 16,430 16% Nuclear and radiochemistry–relevant keywords Uranium 936 252 27% 1,717 485 28% Plutonium 250 74 30% 432 160 37% Technetium 628 245 39% 422 103 24% Fluorine-18 184 88 48% 785 231 29% Thorium 264 60 23% 332 69 21% SOURCES: Subject areas: NSB 2012, Appendix Tables 5-27 (all S&E) and 5-31 (chemistry)
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In addition to needs at the national laboratories, another key factor that drives the demand for Ph.D.-level expertise -- but is difficult to forecast -- is research funding by the federal government, which translates into positions Based on compilation of data obtained through personal communication from nine national 7 laboratories: Argonne, Brookhaven, Idaho, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Savannah River. Based on compilation of data obtained through personal communication from seven na 8 tional laboratories: Brookhaven, Idaho, Los Alamos, Pacific Northwest, Lawrence Livermore, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Savannah River.
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. SOURCE: Committee's compilation of data from nine national laboratories: Argonne, Brookhaven, Idaho, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Savannah River.
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. SOURCE: Committee's compilation of data obtained through personal communication from seven national laboratories: Brookhaven, Idaho, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Savannah River.
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. NSF (National Science Foundation.
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2011. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database [online]
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