In Sweden, both the pharmaceutical industry and parts of the biotech industry have undergone recent challenging development, which has resulted in a changed labor market for analytical chemists. At the same time, the research characteristic of analytical chemistry has changed. Currently, instrument development is largely driven by instrument manufacturers, and research in analytical chemistry mainly concerns method development and applications. In order to better understand the current situation for analytical chemists in Sweden in terms of education, research and industry activities, a survey has been carried out among all active members of the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the Swedish Chemical Society. About one third of the members replied to the survey (120 out of 360).
Basically, the survey aimed to answer the following questions about analytical chemists in Sweden:
- Who are we?
- What work tasks do we have?
- Do we need more trained analytical chemists?
- Do we train analytical chemists with the “right” skills for the current and future needs of industry and the community?
- How much and what do we teach in basic education in analytical chemistry?
- Are we looking for external research funds, and how do we succeed in this?
The first survey was then followed by a follow-up survey, which was answered by 50 people. In addition, a survey was sent to all divisions of the Swedish Chemical society (121 answers). The complete results from the survey is available upon request.
If you have comments or questions regarding this work, please contact Lotta Turner at Lund University.