Bankers keen on physics and the City
The City is being asked to back a campaign to encourage more children to study science in preparation for an expected surge in demand for physicists to carry out the complex risk modelling required by forthcoming banking reforms.
Bankers say that too few science graduates are emerging from the education system capable of the financial modelling that will be required when the Basel II reforms - proposed changes to international banking regulations - are implemented in 2006 and 2007.
Now the Institute of Physics wants City support for a year-long initiative to make the subject more tempting to teenagers.
Physicists are often recruited by banks, as their training makes them well suited to financial modelling. The changes proposed under Basel II will increase demand for their skills by making some accounting practices more complex and requiring more banks to comply.
The institute's "Einstein Year" initiative - backed by a number of big companies, including BT Group and BP - comes a century after the Nobel laureate published his first significant scientific writings.
The organisers hope the campaign will make more children realise that studying pure science can lead to highly lucrative careers in industry and finance.
The scarcity of maths and physics graduates means they can command high salaries.
"Einstein Year is all about enthusing young people about physics, exploding the myth that physicists are white middle-aged men with mad hair, and highlighting the contribution of contemporary physics to society," the institute said.
A decline in applications from sixth formers for science degrees has hit universities hard. Many departments and courses have closed - most recently, pure physics at Newcastle and chemistry at Exeter - and more are under threat as institutions struggle with tight finances.
The government has asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to consider ways of protecting subjects of "strategic importance" to the economy.
But employers and science lobby groups are concerned about demand for the subject lower down the education ladder.
"This is a problem that has got to be tackled in schools," said Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters. "There is a need to bring science alive, and to make the connection with careers; you've got to understand what doors are closing if you opt out of science."
伦敦金融城需要吸引小爱因斯坦
英国皇家物理学会(Institute of Physics)要求伦敦金融城为一项鼓励更多儿童学习科学的运动提供支持。这一运动将为预期中对物理学家的巨大需求做好准备，因为即将来临的银行业改革需要这些物理学家设计出复杂的风险模型。
银行家们说，教育系统出来的毕业生很少能从事金融模型工作，而在2006和2007年执行巴塞尔2号协议(Basel II)改革时，银行业将需要完成这类工作，即对国际银行业规定进行拟议中的改革。
英国皇家物理学会(Institute of Physics)需要伦敦金融城支持一项为期一年的行动，使该学科更能吸引少年儿童。
银行经常招募物理学家，因为其专业训练使他们适合金融建模。巴塞尔第二号协议提议的改革使一些会计实务更为复杂，并要求更多银行遵守，从而将增加对物理学家技能的需求。
该学会的“爱因斯坦年”计划得到了许多大公司的支持，其中包括英国电信集团(BT Group)和英国石油(BP)。一个世纪前，诺贝尔奖获得者爱因斯坦发表了他的首部重要科学著作。
组织者希望，这次活动将使更多儿童认识到，学习纯粹的理科可以让人在工业和金融行业里从事报酬很高的职业。
数学和物理毕业生的缺乏意味着，他们可以获得高工资。
“‘爱因斯坦年’就是为了让年轻人热心学习物理，戳穿物理学家就是头发蓬乱的中年白人男子形象这一神话，并强调当代物理学对社会的贡献，”该学会表示。
