U.K. CHEMISTRY UNDER PRESSURE

CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENTS IN several British universities and colleges are struggling to survive as a result of declining student interest in the subject and significantly increased selectivity in the way the government distributes research funding. Even strong departments are experiencing difficulties. The underlying problem is not just a matter of how much funding the university receives, but also how that funding is distributed within the universities and colleges. Chemistry is losing out in the process in several ways, and unfairly so, say chemists at a number of universities. "I am extremely depressed about the future of British science, more particularly the physical sciences," says Ian W M. Smith, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Birmingham. "It is hard to see how more than a few university departments will survive without a radical change in the funding mechanisms operated by the government." All higher education institutions in the U.K., with the exception of the small, ...