Is industry getting the graduates it wants?

[B_DUKE %! at !% DARWIN.NTU.EDU.AU (Brian Duke)]

Dear Computational Chemistry List Subscriber,
 My colleague, Brian O'Leary from the Chemistry Department of the
 University of Alabama in Birmingham, and I are surveying university
 chemistry departments to determine the extent of teaching of
 computational chemistry at all levels. Our letter and questionaire
 is being sent to Chairmen or Heads  of Chemistry Departments and to
 some individuals who we have identified as the most likely people
 to be able to reply. It was posted to this list about a week ago and
 it has also gone to sci.chem newsgroup.
 If you have not replied, please do so. If you need a copy of it please
 mail me.
 However the main purpose of this posting is wider. I have had responses
 from people in industry, saying we should ask what industry requires of
 computational chemistry graduates. A good idea, but I do not believe
 a formal survey is really possible. If you work in industry or a
 research lab where you recruit chemistry graduates with skills in
 computational chemistry, please mail me your ideas about the type
 and level of training these graduates should have. Please make it clear
 whether your remarks apply to graduates with a Batchelors degree, or a
 Masters degree or a Ph D. Are you getting the sort of people you want,
 or are there insufficient trained graduates? Do you have to employ
 people with a M Sc when you wanted someone with a Ph D? Can you
 train people further "in-house"? Do you have to?
 Any comments will be valuable. Thank you for your cooperation.
                         Brian Duke
 School of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Northern Territory University
         GPO Box 40146, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia.
 Phone 089-466702   FAX 089-410460    E-mail B_DUKE %! at !% DARWIN.NTU.EDU.AU