30th July – The R&D Scoreboard

For 20 years, the BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) collected data on the top 1000 UK and global companies investing the most in R&D. This was collated into a document known as the R&D Scoreboard, and the data tables can be downloaded from the now-archived BIS website.

Financial statistics such as sales and operating profit were also provided, as were the number of employees. These could be compared with data from previous years to examine trends in R&D investment over time and as a proportion of sales, profit, or per employee.

Alas, the final report was published in 2010, using data collected in 2009. David Willetts, Minister of State for Science and Innovation at the time, explained this was because “today’s companies better understand the importance of R&D to their long-term success.” The second, more plausible reason given was “financial pressures have made it necessary to reduce public spending” – resulting in the R&D Scorecard being axed.

Albeit out-of-date, the 2010 report still contains useful information for the active jobseeker. For example, of the top 1000 UK companies investing in R&D in the UK (including global companies with UK subsidiaries), 260 were in the industry sectors of pharma/biotech, chemicals, oil/gas producers, food producers or health care equipment/services.

This list of companies could be useful for identifying less well-known small and medium-sized enterprises that may be accepting speculative CVs through their website. The visualisation below plots UK R&D investment against the number of UK employees. The tools on the right can be used to filter for companies depending on size, and hovering over a datapoint reveals the company name.

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For interest, the alternative view below plots the R&D expenditure per employee against the number of UK employees (for which Google helpfully produces this great quote: “The joy of engineering is to find a straight line on a double logarithmic diagram”).

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17th July Graduate Jobroll

It’s been slim pickings on the job boards over the last couple of weeks, but here are a few offerings of interest.

Two government agencies are recruiting this month. The Food Standards Agency is looking for a number of office-based scientific officers (£22k) to interpret scientific information, provide advice and briefings, and help develop scientific policy. Based in London, degree required. The Food and Environment Research Agency is seeking a human and environment safety scientist (£25k) for a 3-year contract in York, planning and performing regulatory studies for human exposure to various chemical sources. Degree required, closing date 20^th July. Both roles may be appropriate for graduates, especially if an industrial placement or independent research was carried out.

Novartis are hiring entry-level medicinal chemists at their biomedical research facility in Horsham. A first degree with no industrial experience required; more experienced candidates may be considered.

A waste management company in East London is hoping to recruit a site chemist (£17-25k) to carry out the inspection and assessment of hazardous waste as it arrives on site. Chemistry qualification required; industrial experience (including placement) is advantageous but not essential.

A company carrying out high throughput screening in Glasgow is looking for a Scientist I, Production to help prepare and run HTS assays and ensure reagent inventories are kept up-to-date. HNC/HND/BSc required; prior experience not needed (0-2 years experience).

3rd July Graduate Jobroll

A few positions from the job boards that require little or no experience post-degree or PhD.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is seeking applicants for the position of publishing editor in Cambridge. Duties include contributing to the daily operation of peer review, editing and publication, and helping to build information databases to support the chemical community. Applications open all year round, but apply by 15^th July for the August assessment centre.

A Gloucestershire-based firm specialising in precious metal development and manufacture is looking for a graduate production chemist (£18-24k). The role entails developing and testing trial formulations, manufacturing products and providing technical support to the production team. Previous experience is beneficial but not essential.

A not-for-profit organisation that develops software for the pharmaceutical sector is recruiting a graduate sales executive (£24k basic + £4-6k OTE). Based in Birmingham, with European travel, responsibilities will include business development, account management and technical support. Six month's commercial/lab experience is required – presumably an industrial placement would be eligible.

A development scientist is sought by BBInternational, a partner for assay development and immunoassay contract manufacture based in Dundee. The advert is scarce in details, but the position covers all phases of R&D, and involves improvement activities. Minimum 2:2 required, experience working in a cGMP/ISO9001 lab is advantageous.

Syngenta is hiring physical organic chemists (£26-40k) at their Jealott’s Hill site in Berkshire. Working in the Process Science Group, the successful applicants will “translate cutting-edge thinking into new process and product technology” to deliver improved manufacturing processes. PhD and/or process research experience required.