Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
America may be thinking big, but in Europe the rise of neuroscience is finding favour in a more localized manner. Helen Gavaghan taps into the continental flavour of European interdisciplinary research.
Multidisciplinary approaches pave the way towards new frontiers in understanding complex human behaviour and intractable diseases. Diane Gershon assesses the US field.
Japan's government is belatedly realizing that it needs to increase funding for training in bioinformatics, says Robert Triendl. But lack of specialists in the field could hinder the country's efforts.
As data analysis shifts towards protein expression and structure determination, demands for standardization and ease of access are leaving bioinformaticians scrambling to keep their skills up to date, says Helen Gavaghan.
Courses to teach bioinformatics are starting to spring up all over North America. But the interdisciplinary nature of the subject means that there is a severe lack of experienced instructors, so the quality may vary between programmes, warns Potter Wickware.
Over the past two years, the Japanese government has increased funding for research in structural genomics. Although companies remain uncertain as to how this will benefit them, there will be more job opportunities in protein engineering and structural biology, says Robert Triendl.
The industrial revolution that is reshaping structural biology is opening doors of opportunity for computer scientists and protein chemists alike, says Paul Smaglik.
Inorganic chemists face a range of possible career options when they qualify. But catalysis and biomimetics look to be reasonable bets in Britain, says Alok Jha.
The research boom in biology is helping to reshape classical chemistry disciplines, providing fresh challenges for inorganic chemists, says Steve Bunk.
Young European immunologists should benefit from demographic shifts if they can wait long enough for the opportunities to materialize, says Helen Gavaghan.
Foundations and philanthropists are injecting new life into vaccine and drug development, especially for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, says Diane Gershon.
US academic health centres face challenges that may threaten the future vitality of the clinical research enterprise, but they are fighting back, says Diane Gershon.
Increased demand by public healthcare for an already dwindling number of doctors has resulted in a low supply of clinical researchers in France, says Catherine Tastemain.