The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the UK funding agency for life science research, has launched a consultation to identify skills and expertise that are in danger of being lost from the nation's bioscience research community.

The consultation will involve the UK's bioscience societies and industrial associations, who will be asked to highlight vulnerable areas of expertise. The findings will guide investments needed to fill these skills gaps.

Such gaps have numerous possible causes, says Ian Lyne, who heads the BBSRC's policy development in relation to postgraduate training and research careers. “There may be issues related to the attractiveness of careers in specific areas of science. Individuals may not be aware of the opportunities and so not explore them,” he told Nature Medicine.

One skill gap that the BBSRC is already trying to fill involves animal experiments, in particular using mammals as models for human physiology. In 2007, the agency set up a capacity-building program in integrated mammalian biology, funded by numerous government agencies and the British Pharmacological Society, to address this issue.

The program, which received a further £12.3 million ($19 million) of funding in April 2009, aims to equip researchers with skills relating to topics such as best practice for using animals in research and high-quality experimental design.

But the consultation will focus more on niche specialist areas, explains Lyne. Areas that have already been highlighted include certain aspects of applied agricultural sciences and the need for molecular biology researchers to have high levels of mathematical ability.