Science plays central role in maintaining growth

Economy relies on expertise in this sector, but its profile needs boost in schools, writes Claire Shoesmith

Glancing through the jobs pages of Business This Week last Friday, I quickly came to the conclusion that I'm in the wrong profession.

Well that's not strictly true, because after all I do have a job and I do like my work, but if I wasn't so fortunate and was looking for a job in journalism then I wouldn't have found my glance through the job adverts very rewarding. If I was a scientist or an engineer however, I could have used up the ink in my printer replying to all the adverts for such vacancies.

The European Patent Office is looking for engineers and scientists. Multinational pharmaceutical group Bristol-Myers Squibb is looking for specialist engineers. Another international drug maker, Pfizer, is advertising for research engineers, and analysts and cosmetics firm Johnson & Johnson is after an engineering projects manager - and that's only after looking through the first three pages of adverts!

While to many the idea of science will conjure up images of men and women in goggles and white coats peering through a microscope at what looks like the remains of the dog's dinner, its relevance to everyday life cannot be overlooked.

Earlier this week, the Stardust spacecraft returned to earth after a 4.7 billion-kilometre (2.92 billion miles), seven-year journey through space, bringing with it what is arguably the most precious dust anywhere on the planet. Scientists will now examine this with a view to learning more about the solar system. Meanwhile, another batch of researchers are busy studying other particles - those taken from the human victims of the latest outbreak of the bird flu virus in Turkey.

The expectation is that these talented individuals will be able to identify the flu's weakness and stop it in its tracks.

Our reliance on these skilled people and their importance within society today hasn't gone unnoticed.

"Science and technology have a huge role to play in society today," says John Smith, technical manager at Enterprise Ireland, which has a raft of programmes and funding in place to help indigenous companies to boost research activities.

This is something that the Department of Education has already caught on to. Only in last month's budget, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin announce the provision of €40 million to support the implementation of technology subjects in second-level schools.

This comes on top of previous investments in science facilities and the creation of a taskforce on physical sciences set up to help encourage more students to choose science subjects at senior cycle and progress on to third-level options in what it describes as this "critical area that's a vitally important part of the national strategy to support competitiveness and employment".

"There is a real problem with the perception of science among younger people," says Mark Keanen, director of information and communication technology (ICT) at Science Foundation Ireland. "There is no doubt that Ireland needs it to keep the economy going - after all, the pharmaceutical and ICT sectors are our biggest industries at the moment, but it doesn't seem to be perceived as being important among school children."

What Keanen believes is that there needs to be more of a connection made between the studying of science and its use in business and industry.

Luckily he's not alone here. International telecommunications company BT last week sponsored Ireland's Young Scientist Exhibition in a bid to boost the profile of science and technology in industry.

Speaking at the launch of the competition last September, Mike Maloney, BT's chief operating officer, described science and technology as critical to business.

The competition, which is in its 42nd year, was last week won by a 14-year-old student from Kinsale Community School, who developed a way to detect whether a food product has gone off. At the awards ceremony, President Mary McAleese praised all the students for their 1,150 entries and said the message that they were sending out to others, that science and technology are fun, bodes well for Ireland's future.

And if you're still in doubt and want more convincing, then look no further than the west coast to find one individual who proves that science can not only be fun but also rewarding.

After years spent learning everything about his passion, namely seahorses, in 2001, Kealen Doyle and a colleague, Ken Maher, set up Seahorse Ireland in Carna, Co Galway, in a bid to cultivate seahorses in a natural environment.

In parts of Asia, seahorses are worth more than gold because of their use in herbal medicine and are therefore often poached from their natural habitat. Consequently, the effect is that they are in danger of becoming extinct.

Over the past five years, the company has grown from two people to 10 - all with a marine biology background, and now it not only fills tanks for aquariums and company advertising campaigns in Ireland, but also sells seahorses all around the world, including places as far away as Japan, the US and Taiwan.

"I am lucky to be working with something I am passionate about, I would recommend science to anyone," says Doyle.