Abstract
IT is now almost platitudinous to say that industrial efficiency can be furthered by the introduction into works and factories of men trained in science and ready to use such training in industrial pursuits. The difficulty, however, is to find really suitable openings for students whose special scientific training will ultimately fit them for responsible posts. It is true, of course, that employers are realising more and more the value of such men to industry, but it is not always easy for students to gain practical experience when their financial position is such that they cannot accept employment at the nominal remuneration which usually acompanies the ‘learning period’ in industry. In these cases the Industrial Bursaries of the Royal Commission of 1851 are specially useful. The scheme is designed to assist “young men who, after a course of training in a University or approved technical college, desire to take up Engineering, Chemical or other industrial work”. It has no intention of facilitating collegiate studies; it is solely “to enable suitable applicants to tide over the period between their leaving college and obtaining remunerative employment in industry”. To carry out its full intention, the candidate must be under twenty-five years of age, must have been a bona fide student of science for three years, must be able to obtain an industrial post approved by the Commissioners, and must be in need of pecuniary assistance to enable him to hold such a post. He is not allowed, except in particular circumstances, to accept less than the standard wage. Elsewhere we publish an article dealing with the record of bursars appointed between 1911 and 1929, and we shall not, therefore, deal with the actual record here. In spite of that part of the regulation which we have indicated above, however, it would appear that the bursars were nominated chiefly by universities: only the Heriot Watt College, Edinburgh, would fall under the heading of “approved technical college”. We would, therefore, direct the attention of technical colleges to the scheme, for we feel that it would be of enormous value to students who may not contemplate proceeding to universities but whose whole training fits them admirably to fulfil just that purpose which the Commissioners have in mind.
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Industrial Bursaries. Nature 129, 571–572 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129571c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129571c0