This essay will be divided into four parts. In the first part I shall report on the somewhat problematic prospects facing the new science graduate today when meeting the job market for the first time. In the second part I shall try to relate this situation to what could be called ‘the changing ecology of science’ in the post cold-war period. But impressions must be based on facts, and in the third part I shall review some facts and problems in todays research training. Finally, I shall offer some speculations on the future of career prospects in science. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.