They had to go: Australian chemists who took doctor of philosophy degrees in Britain, 1945-1965

Abstract

This study reports on 159 Australian graduates in chemistry who completed doctoral degree studies in Britain during the twenty years following the Second World War. Soon after the beginning of this period the PhD degree became available in Australia, and by 1954 the Australian chemistry PhDs outnumbered those awarded to Australian chemists in Britain. Almost 90% of the study group returned to make their careers in Australia, nearly half of them in the rapidly expanding university system. The data assembled in this study are used as the basis for discussion of linkages between Australian and British universities, scholarship and travel support, the paucity of women in the cohort, and patterns..