“Start them early”
Audience member: “I believe we should start at a very early stage in the academic path – at the early bachelor level – by exposing students to the significance of liquid chromatography in the real world. Most of our students, even internally, aren’t aware that chromatography could play such a central role in their future careers. In fact, it’s one of the largest employment areas for chemists. For example, in our chemistry curriculum, a substantial number of graduates will eventually use liquid chromatography extensively. So, it would be helpful if companies could increase their visibility.”
“The Spring School model”
Audience member: “We have something [in Germany] called the Spring School. We invite people from industry, and 30 students are sponsored each year to take part in a two-week program. At the end of the program, they must pass an exam, and the top third win an internship in industry. It’s a great program. We’ve already hired some talented individuals through it. It doesn’t cost much, and there’s a lot to gain. If the students are truly good, you see it very quickly.”
“Hire for capabilities”
Audience member: “Education is a long-term investment. Industry needs to understand that the return on this investment may only come years down the line, after an entire education cycle. So, we need to invest in the very young generation – as others here have already said – and help them grow. Then, over time, we’ll have a stronger pool of talent to draw from.
“Second, when I look at job postings, I often see that companies are hiring for specific skills, not capabilities. They’re looking for candidates who can do “this and that” right away – but not for people with long-term potential. We need to shift that mindset. We should be hiring for capabilities, then adapting and developing those individuals inside the organization. That’s how we build strong teams for the future.”
“Molecular measurement science?”
Gert Desmet (Audience): “The term chemistry can feel tainted. There's a stigma attached to it. What if we called the field something like molecular measurement science? Something new, something catchy. I know it might seem like just a cosmetic trick – but it could help. That's my suggestion.”
“Provide better context”
Elia Psallikis, Technical Uni Crete, Greece (Panel): “I know it might sound strange, but I’m at an engineering school – and if I tell someone, “Come, I’ll train you in chromatography,” nobody shows up. But if I say, “Come, and I’ll train you to solve a real-life problem,” then people are interested.
“So I think there’s an urgent need for us to provide better context in analytical chemistry – connect what we teach to real-world challenges, and show that our work is directly about solving important problems. That’s what motivates students.”
“Focus on making the world a better place”
Frank Van Geel (Audience): “Analytical science is a means to a goal. And if you focus on that goal – on making the world a better place – you will attract young people. That’s the message we should be sending.”
“Industry: Tell the impact story”
Steve Groskreutz, Eli Lily, USA (Host): “From the industrial leadership discussion – we really need to do a better job of contextualizing and telling the story of what industrial chemists actually do. How we impact projects, how we drive innovation in medicine, and how we affect the world around us. We don’t do a great job of telling that story – and I’ll own that on behalf of our industry. But it’s something we absolutely need to work on, to get people excited about the work we do every day. Because what we do is, honestly, pretty cool.
“Lobby governments”
Paul Ferguson, Astra Zeneca, UK (Panel): “I sit on an organization called the Community for Analytical Measurement Science, and we’re trying to put together a white paper to lobby the UK government to put more money and funding into separation science.”
“Consider the impact of AI”
Audience member: “A lot of jobs in areas like finance are going to be heavily disrupted in the coming years – probably sooner than people expect. I would argue that fields like chemistry and biochemistry are among the last to be disrupted by AI. So to the younger talent here: don’t get discouraged. It may not always feel like the most glamorous path, but you might actually be in one of the more stable and enduring careers – at the end of the disruption queue, so to speak, compared to other sectors like finance.”
“Focus on coding and digital literacy”
Paul Ferguson (Panel): “There is definitely a shift in the skill set that’s being required nowadays. A fundamental understanding of analytical chemistry is still of primary importance, but coding and digital literacy are becoming much more important.
“I think we need to see more of that within analytical courses – Python programming, for example. Pretty much everyone we hire now, even at the entry-level graduate stage, has at least some level of proficiency in Python. And I think we’ll be seeing more and more of that in the future – because, well, it is the future.”
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