Materials science hit by decline in students

Materials-based subjects are the Cinderellas of the sciences, faring far worse than subjects such as physics and chemistry, suggests research published this week.

The number of full-time undergraduates in materials science fell by 24 per cent between 1996-97 and 2004-05, according to an analysis of data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Over the same period, there was a 20 per cent decline in the number of chemistry undergraduates and a 6 per cent drop in those studying physics, according to the analysis by Hywel Jones of the Materials and Engineering Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University.

This compares with a 17 per cent overall increase in undergraduate numbers over the period.

Dr Jones said that physics student numbers were better than expected, but that the chemistry and materials situation was "dire".

"These are subjects in crisis. The situation in materials is at least as bad as chemistry, but you don't hear a peep about materials departments closing," he said.

"Let's get this Cinderella subject back in the headlines."

There are 17 departments in the UK providing accredited materials courses compared with 22 in 1994, according to the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

James Busfield, senior lecturer in the materials department at Queen Mary, University of London, said departments had closed and merged as a result of the decline in student numbers. "We have to sell ourselves hard to get people to study with us," he said.

Dr Busfield added that he would welcome a higher profile for materials science. "If it encourages a single extra student to turn up in clearing this year, I'll be thrilled," he said.

Richard Brook, of Oxford University's department of materials and director of the Leverhulme Trust, agreed that attracting students to materials-based subjects could be difficult.

"Students choose a subject partly because they find it fascinating and partly because they would like it to lead to a career," he said. "Materials is intellectually fascinating, but it doesn't obviously lead into a career like law or medicine do."

Professor Brook stressed that materials departments needed to remain flexible to encompass areas such as polymers and biomaterials as they replaced traditional fields such as metallurgy.