Focus like a lens, not like a laser

Abstract

Forge a clearer path for technical careers The UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) surveyed more than 800 technicians and laboratory assistants about their roles, careers and professional recognition (see go.nature. com/2fs6icb). The results reveal opportunities for change in the current ill-defined status of technical staff. These non-faculty members professed to a blurring between technical and academic roles. Forty per cent of them teach and 60% supervise students. They need to have expertise in mathematics, statistics and computing, for example-skills that are crucial for research Nobel launchpad is immaterial The question of which institutions produce the most Nobel prizewinners is one not just of numbers but of ratios (see Nature 538, 152; 2016). Merely counting doesn't cut it. We analysed the distribution of US Nobel laureates and members of the US National Academy of Sciences according to their undergraduate institutions (R. Root-Bernstein and K.