SCIENCE TRAINING IN N.Z.

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25085, 17 January 1947, Page 5

SCIENCE TRAINING IN N.Z.

NEED FOR INQUIRY SEEN The need for training more recruits m certain fields was mentioned by Mr Justice Smith, Chancellor of the University of New Zealand, in his address i yesterday. The Chancellor, after reI viewing recent opinions on the training of scientists, said: “Not merely do we need to know the numbers, but we need to know whether the methods adopted in New Zealand in training scientists are satisfactory “I should like to hear the views of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and of the various departments concerned and also the views of the Public Service Commission as to the posts m the Public Service which are likely to be available for graduates in science. I should like also to hear the views of industry,” he said later. “The number of scientists the country can absorb and the salaries whiefi should be paid to them are very important matters. There is reason to think that many scientific workers in this country are paid salaries which are too low. There is reason to think also that the salary scales of the Civil Service should not be so strictly regulated that what would now appear to be high salaries in relation to other salaries should not be paid for firstclass scientists whose work may be of fundamental importance to New Zealand. “There should be'some proper inquiry • into the whole’ question of scientific teaching and training and scientific research in New Zealand. It might begin by a conference between representatives of the university, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Department of Agriculture, the Research Institutes, the Public Service Commission and private industry. Alternatively, the Government could appoint a committee to inquire. Mr Justice Smith also referred to the needs of the new post-graduate Schoo] of Obstetrics and Gynaecology being established in Auckland, the need for training in the social sciences to provide psychological advice and treatment and to improve industrial relations, political science and the proposal to establish an institute of research in public administration, and the broad- subject of university courses in the humanities and science. He added: “The humanities create the wish for the good life.” Many teachers were graduates in arts and their cultural standards and influence on the personalities of others were largely fixed by the university