Abstract
A recent study on the needs of employers in industry and other sectors for graduate employees who have received education in nanotechnology shows a mismatch between the existing offers at European universities and the real needs of the labour market. In particular, industry expects to hire employees with skills in nanosafety, regulation and environmental impact assessment within 5 years. However, universities appear to have difficulties incorporating these topics into their curricula. Here, results of our study are introduced. Moreover, the outlines of interdisciplinary model curricula spanning the bachelor, master, and Ph.D. levels of academic education that can support efforts to address the mismatch between study contents and skills needed in the nanotechnologies job market and minimise its possible impact, are discussed.
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Notes
- 1.
European Schoolnet is a network of 31 European Ministries of Education, based in Brussels, Belgium.
- 2.
Secondary education in the United Kingdom was not covered by our study. However, in the United Kingdom, there are some nanotechnology aspects in both Key stage 3 (11–13, 3 years) and Key stage 4 (14–16, 2 years up to and including GCSE exams) science curricula, with science being a compulsory subject for all students at these stages. Key stage 3 chemistry covers aspects of materials properties, looking at properties of ceramics, polymers and composites. Key stage 4 chemistry covers aspects of structure, bonding and properties of diamond, graphite, fullerenes and graphene.
- 3.
- 4.
We did not specify the definition of nanotechnology, so this is according to the companies’ own understanding of the term.
- 5.
This includes basic understanding of issues of safe handling, disposal and related legislation.
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Malsch, I. et al. (2016). Nanoeducation for Industry and Society. In: Murphy, F., McAlea, E., Mullins, M. (eds) Managing Risk in Nanotechnology. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32392-3_6
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