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The Newest Master’s. Professional Studies in The Sciences and Mathematics. The Problems . Too few U.S. undergraduates electing majors in mathematics and the sciences
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The NewestMaster’s Professional Studiesin The Sciencesand Mathematics
The Problems • Too few U.S. undergraduates electing majors in mathematics and the sciences • No business/industry-oriented graduate training shorter and less rigorous than the research oriented PhD, focused on discovery of new knowledge, not the application of existing knowledge. • Too few science-(or math-) trained professionals in state and local government, media, finance, the non-profit sectors
The PSM Degree, a Two-Year Post-graduate Degree with • More Science than an MBA • More informatics & computation than a typical science degree • More skills training in professional fields (business, law, communication) than in any doctoral program • Closer interaction with employers through internships, business/industry affiliates
Today’s EmployersExpect a Workforce that is: • Able to work in interdisciplinary teams on complex problems involving rapidly changing science and technology • Highly proficient in computational techniques • Able to communicate effectively their scientific mission to variety of audiences • Have an understanding of the business and legal issues associated with their projects.
Immediate Benefit to State Economies: Master’s Grads Stay Nearby • Master’s Grads tend to work near where they got their degree • PhD grads go on a national (even international) job market
Conditions forPSM Accreditation • High Quality Content – Graduate level science/math courses, “plus” courses in business, law, project management, entrepreneurship, regulatory affairs,finance • Local industry/business input into planning • Reasonable prospects for Regents Approval
Three Variants • New applications of classical subjects, e.g. financial mathematics, physics of modeling, biotechnology • Interdisciplinary (or fused) subjects, e.g. environmental decision making, human/computer interaction • Integration of Informatics with science subjects, e.g. bioinformatics, computational chemistry, geographical information systems, computational linguistics
97 Training Areas in 45 Institutions in 20 states • Mathematics – Financial, Industrial, Applied, Statistics for Entrepreneurship, Statistics for Environmental Decision Making, Computational Sciences • Physics – with Business Applications, Physics of Modeling, Industrial Physics, for Entrepreneurship • Computational Biology • Computational Chemistry • Forensics • Biological Sciences – Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Applied BioSciences • Bioanalytical Chemistry, Biomolecular Chemistry • Geographical Information Systems
Degree Requirements • Disciplinary courses • Cross-disciplinary courses • Thesis or Project • Business course(s) • Internship
The Cohort Experience • Unlike M.S./Ph.D. programs which are often a solo experience…PSM’s cultivate working teams, the “cohort experience” • Orientation assignments • Social gatherings • Pre- and post-internships, • Shared projects, • Joint seminars, colloquia, speakers’ series, across tracks
The Role of Researchin PSM Programs • PSM is not without research exposure, but it is not designed to prepare students for a research career. • Rather, students get a project/team experience in solving a problem they might encounter in the workplace.
What Employers Say about PSM Grads as regards Research-related Skills • Able to design/execute experiments with minimal supervision • Able to write research reports • Able to present technical information to varied audiences • Able to interface between research and marketing, research and business development, research and legal/regulatory, policy/legislative
Advantagesto Industry • Graduates tend to focus on emerging or interdisciplinary fields, where the action is • Able to apply science/math/engineering to techniques non-technical fields • Opportunity to add management skills to technical proficiency • Graduates have greater business sense • Lower salary entry (vs. Ph.D.) for top versatile talent
What’s in it for the Universities • Contacts with business/industry • Highly motivated students • Additional full-time equivalent (FTE) students to add to department roster • Satisfies regents’ and trustees’ demand that universities contribute more directly to economic and workforce development
What’s in it for the States • Another source of Intellectual Capital • High tech Workforce Development • Increase Tech transfer capabilities • Provide Personnel for Incubators • Compete for high tech businesses
Employers of PSM GraduatesApplied Physics & Health Physics Raytheon Spectrum Astro Lockheed Martin Boeing Illinois Dept Nuclear Safety Entergy Argonne National Lab Geisinger Health System Mayo Clinic Thom. Jefferson Accelerator
Employers of PSM GraduatesApplied Biosciences • Eli Lilly • Dept. Homeland Security • Pfizer • 3-D Pharmaceuticals • Inst. For Human Genome Therapy • Health Sciences Inc. • Alltech Inc. • Fl. Dept of Law Enforcement • Texas Dept of Public Safety • Glaxo Smith-Kline • Allergan • \Novartis • Johnson & Johnson • Informax
Employers of PSM GraduatesEnvironment-Related Orgs. • STS Consultants (WI) • Alameda County Water District • Cold Regions Research and Eng. Lab • Minerals Management Service • Vestra Inc. • Inst. Of Pollution Control • MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA • Conservation Biology Inst. • Patrick Engineering • EPA
Employers of PSM Graduates Financial, Industrial Math, Statistics • First Federal Bank • Digital Credit Co • Putnam Investments • Southeastern Mich. Council of Gov’t • Watson-Wyatt • Roche Diagnostics • Guidant • Chevron • Lockheed Martin • Am. Auto. Assoc. • G.E. Capital • US Dept’ of Agriculture
Companies Supporting PSM Students • Baxter Healthcare • Merck • National Center for Food Safety • TEVA Pharm. Industries • Fermi National Lab • Loyola Univ. Medical Center • Regional Radiation Consultants • U.S. Army • U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission • Abbott LAboratories
Companies Supporting PSM Students (2) • Sun Chemicals • Coral Chemical • Conoco Phillips • Cabot Corporation • Cargill • Fisher Scientific • Sherwin-Williams • Agrium • Akzo Nobel • Allon Science/Technology • Fisher Scientific
Challenges for PSM-2005 • Scale Up -- How to engage 200 universities? More than a few thousand graduates? • How to attract more minority students and minority institutions? • Who will pay for program development? Who will pay for students to attend? • How to partner with State Economic Development Agencies? • How to integrate training for innovation and entrepreneurship?
Action Items for States • Be sure that applied math and applied science (along with research capability) are part of the conversation about economic development, workforce enhancement, innovation, and tech-transfer in your state • Be sure there are no legislative barriers to launching innovative new master’s programs – no caps, no prejudice • Get to know the programs in your state; make sure others know about them, too. • Consider a system-wide adoption of the PSM model