In the rapidly changing world, each year finds the scientist increasingly important. He is needed to maintain and improve fast-changing technology, to combat disease, to develop natural and man-made resources, to improve food sources and production, and, in general, to work for the betterment of mankind.

The graduate scientist and the engineer will find jobs waiting and will be able to choose, to some extent, the sort of work they wish to do and where they wish to do it.

It is impossible to list all types of organizations open to science graduates, but it is relatively simple to divide them into general groups.

The United States Government

Scientists are needed in federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Bureau of Standards, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Health, and the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. Positions in these and other federal organizations are open in program administration, basic research, development, and applied research. Numerous positions exist at AEC laboratories that operate under contract—Ames, Argonne, Berkeley, Bettis, Brookhaven, Hanford, Knolls, Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Sandia, and Savannah River, as well as at the Health and Safety Laboratory in New York City.

Private Industry

Unlimited opportunities are found in private industry. Most industries have extensive research and development programs, as well as production activities. In addition to the industries that are engaged primarily in the design and fabrication of nuclear and electronic equipment, hundreds of industries use radioisotopes and radiation in tracing, testing, development, inspection, and quality control.

Opportunities are open to the scientist who wishes to work for himself. He may organize his own company to provide self-employment or he may serve as a private consultant.

Educational Organizations

With the growing demand for scientists comes an increasing need for science teachers—good science teachers—from the elementary through the university graduate-school level. The scientist who enters the teaching profession need not feel that he turns his back on a research career. Thousands of significant investigations and discoveries are made at colleges and universities where science faculty members combine teaching with research.

Although the basic salary scale for the science teacher is not normally as high as that of the industrial scientist, this situation is improving. Moreover, many college faculty members augment their salaries and keep in touch with new developments by acting as part-time consultants to industry and government. A scientific teaching career offers certain advantages: frequently the professor enjoys greater freedom than the industrial scientist in budgeting time and channeling interests, and teachers also experience the satisfaction of developing human minds.

Hospitals

Hospitals and medical research institutions must have highly competent scientific staffs. Besides physicians they need chemists, biochemists, biologists, bacteriologists, and often physicists and veterinarians.

State and Local Governments

Scientists hold important posts in state and local government ranging from the director of a state health department to the chemist in a police laboratory to the radiation safety advisor on a civil-defense commission. As the states assume more and more responsibility for licensing and regulating nuclear and other scientific development, the need for state-employed scientific staff members will grow.

Other Organizations

Scientists are needed also in private research foundations, pharmaceutical and drug houses, international organizations, museums, observatories, weather stations, and thousands of other installations.