A report released last week by Britain's research councils gives UK science something of a mixed outlook (www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/healthdisc.pdf). On the one hand, it shows that overall staffing levels and student numbers rose by 15% between 1995–96 and 2003–04, with particularly strong growth in information sciences, medicine and computer science. But student enrolment in engineering, mathematics and the physical sciences did not keep up with the growth in other disciplines, and the number of academic staff in chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics declined during the period studied.

This has direct consequences for current research. Ian Diamond, head of Research Councils UK, points to problems recruiting engineers for the Diamond Light Source synchrotron in Oxfordshire as an example. The project has had difficulty getting skilled engineers — partly because of a shortage of appropriate candidates and partly because of competition with private industry.

Such issues are troubling because increasing globalization means that Britain now faces greater threats in science and technology. More funding and infrastructure might be one way to address the problem. But telling young scientists about both the need for skills and the resulting opportunities might help, too. For instance, mathematically minded biologists could be told that they might have more luck getting a job if they shifted their emphasis towards computer modelling. Or process-oriented scientists could be advised that learning engineering might accelerate their career, because large interdisciplinary science requires engineers to put the pieces of research together and make them run efficiently.

As the overall number of scientists in Britain has grown, it is just a matter of redistributing talent from one discipline to another. But if the country doesn't find a way to do this, it could end up with a glut of scientists in some disciplines and a serious shortage in others.