The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 8 research/teaching positions and 2 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has has 8 research/teaching positions and 2 teaching assistant professor positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

In 2020-2021, we will be adding teaching professor positions, targeting positions that demonstrate an intention to renew permanently, 3 year terms and a promotion ladder and/or are titled "assistant teaching professor" or "associate teaching professor." We are adding community college positions if they explicitly offer tenure.

On July 2, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 17 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Go to the first open thread.

Job posting: research scientist, Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS

From the inbox:

The Computational Chemistry and Bioinformatics Research CORE (CCBRC) of the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence (GlyCORE) at the University of Mississippi, is seeking applications for a Research Scientist.  This position will manage the day-to-day operations of CCBRC. 

Candidates should have a computational PhD with specialization in glycoscience, medicinal chemistry, chemistry, biology, biophysics, bioinformatics, or a related field; three years of relevant postdoctoral experience; and an outstanding publication record. Candidates must have excellent written and oral communication skills. Highly valued personal characteristics include a dedication to scholarship, excellent communication skills, experience in collaborating with others, and a commitment to promoting diversity and advancing an inclusive climate that stimulates excellence.

Additional description of the center here. Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Postdoctoral position: carbohydrate chemistry, Axelrod Lab, Purdue University

From the inbox:

Postdoctoral Position Available in Oligosaccharide and Glycan Synthesis  

The research group of Dr. Abram Axelrod in the department of Chemistry at Purdue University is seeking a postdoctoral researcher skilled in carbohydrate synthesis for our biologics programs. The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry, and a proven track record of accomplishments in the laboratory, demonstrated through publications. Required experience includes strong capabilities in multi-step synthesis, analytical techniques and characterization. Experience in glycopeptide synthesis or enzymatic transformations are a plus, but not required. In addition to research, other responsibilities will include mentoring students and assisting manuscript preparation. The candidate will have access to world-class instrumentation and new facilities, and be part of a dynamic atmosphere in team of researchers focused on translational immuno-oncology research. The position offers competitive salary and benefits. The successful applicant will be assessed on their productivity on an annual basis with the option of a yearly renewal if agreed upon by both parties.  

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and CV with research summary to aaxelro@purdue.edu, and arrange for 3 letters of reference from individuals familiar with the candidate’s experience, accomplishments, and potential. The position is open immediately, but the start date is flexible. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested: 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 23 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 23 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

June 11: Johnson Matthey cutting 2500 employees worldwide

News from June 11. I'm a little late with this, but I think it's significant nonetheless: 

Johnson Matthey PLC on Thursday cut its dividend for fiscal 2020 in light of the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, and said it is targeting cost savings which will lead to around 2,500 job losses. 

The FTSE 100 specialty chemicals company declared a final dividend of 31.125 pence per share for the year ended March 31, bringing the full-year payment to 55.625 pence--down from 85.5 pence a year earlier and below the market consensus forecast of 68.07 pence taken from the company's website and based on thirteen analysts' estimates. 

Chief Executive Robert MacLeod said that the group is targeting cost savings of at least 80 million pounds ($102 million) by the end of fiscal 2023--in addition to GBP120 million already announced and delivered--and this will lead to around 2,500 job losses globally. The company said it was unable to provide any financial guidance for fiscal 2021 given the ongoing uncertainty.

Johnson Matthey has 14000 global employees, so this is a significant cut. It will be interesting to see if this is unique to them, or if this augurs a broader trend amongst chemical companies. Best wishes to them, and to all of us. 

Have a good weekend

Well, it's been another week. Here's hoping that you had a good one, and that next week will be better. 

Calculated Risk author downgrades all economics forecasts for H2 2020/2021

Bill McBride is an economist, and the author of Calculated Risk, an economics blog that longtime readers know I have been following for many years. His claim to fame (with his co-blogger Tanta) was calling the mortgage crisis and subsequent downturn correctly. He has a new outlook, and it is quite grim (emphasis mine): 

...It doesn't take an official lockdown to push local economies back into recession - many people will pull back as the number of cases and hospitalizations rise.  Based on recent hospitalization data, I expect further layoffs in some states like Arizona, Texas, and Florida.  

I do expect another round of disaster relief in July - extending the extra unemployment benefits (perhaps at a lower level), extending the PPP, and providing relief to the States.   Without this disaster relief, the entire US economy might slide back into recession in August. But even with another round of disaster relief, it seems likely the recovery will stall unless progress is made in slowing the spread of the virus.  The longer the widespread pandemic continues, the more structural damage to the economy.   And the more severe the economic damage, the longer it will take to recover from the pandemic.

Everyone is hoping for a vaccine in late 2020 or early 2021, but even if there is a vaccine, the damage to the economy will be extensive if we don't lower the infection rate significantly in the near term. Perhaps there will be a sudden change in behavior while we wait for a vaccine - or some other breakthrough that will slow the spread of the virus - but I'm not sanguine. 

After a decade of making fun of bearish analysts and writing "the future is bright", it pains me to be pessimistic.   I hope I'm wrong on the virus, but if I'm correct, then I expect every major economic forecast will be revised down for the 2nd half of 2020 and for early 2021.

This bodes poorly for all of us, and it's not clear to me how chemistry will be affected. I imagine that the real problem will stem from two places. First, it's quite clear the pandemic is hurting academia most, and there will be a tremendous slowdown in the hiring of tenure-track professors, and even more of a burden shifted towards non-tenured teaching faculty. Second, I think that it's the non-pharma sectors within the industrial chemical enterprise that will be affected the most - while there is undoubtedly plenty of excess plastics being purchased for PPE, etc, it's the people who are not buying new cars, new planes and new houses that will be problematic for the Dows and DuPonts of the world. It's hard for me to know how best to think about this, but that's what I have been thinking, and I haven't seen a lot to change my perspective yet.

Best wishes to us all. 

33 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 17 new positions for June 23 and 16 new positions for June 18.

Don't forget to check out the Common Organic Chemistry company list, a very helpful resource for organic chemists looking for potential employers. 

This week's C&EN

From this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

• Cover: "One molecule’s journey from discovery to market" (by Michael McCoy)
• "Former US Chemical Safety Board member Kristen Kulinowski reflects on her term" (by Jeff Johnson) 
• Cool article about plastics manufacturers during coronavirus (by Alexander H. Tullo)
• "Chemistry helps reconstruct the origin of 2017 ruthenium plume" (by Laura Howes)
• "Universities must tell NIH about sexual harassment allegations" (by Andrea Widener)
• The Senior Chemists Committee during COVID-19 (by Arlene A. Garrison, Chair, Senior Chemists Committee)

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 7 research/teaching positions and 2 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has has 7 research/teaching positions and 2 teaching assistant professor positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

In 2020-2021, we will be adding teaching professor positions, targeting positions that demonstrate an intention to renew permanently, 3 year terms and a promotion ladder and/or are titled "assistant teaching professor" or "associate teaching professor." We are adding community college positions if they explicitly offer tenure.

On June 25, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 13 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Go to the first open thread.

Postdoctoral position: Cheloha lab, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

From the inbox: 

We are soliciting applications for funded postdoctoral positions in biochemistry and chemical-biology. Research will center on the synthesis of new chemical and immunological tools to study cell surface proteins, such as disease-relevant G protein-coupled receptors.  

See the following link as a primer on the types of tools to be developed in the laboratory: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15884-8

A PhD in biochemistry, chemistry, or pharmacology (or related fields) with completion planned in 2020 or early 2021 is required. US citizenship is not a requirement. Applicants should be detail-oriented and highly organized with the ability to plan and have ownership of tasks to completion.  

Additional attributes of interest (but which are not required) include knowledge of peptide or organic chemistry, protein expression and purification, and experience in cell-based assay development. 

Instructions: Please provide by email a summary of your PhD work (≤ 1 page) and your role in the work. Provide a short description (1-2 paragraphs) of how your skills are suited to the areas of focus in the Cheloha lab. Also provide contact information for three references that can comment on your research and laboratory experience.

Full ad and contact information here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 21 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 21 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

Copper in anti-coronavirus products

Interesting article in the New York Times: 

In recent months, there’s been a surge of interest in materials laced with the metal, including socks, bedsheets and coatings that can be sprayed onto surfaces. Multiple companies are marketing face coverings and masks with built-in copper linings, touting their germ-killing properties. One company even offers a “nasal wand” designed to apply “the touch of solid copper” to the hands, face and nostrils at the first sign of illness. 

But while copper does have antimicrobial qualities, Dr. Johnson and others said you should think twice before buying into many of these products’ claims.

Who knew copper was so popular? 

Merrill Lynch and Goldman estimate Q2 GDP down 33-35%

Via Calculated Risk, the latest forecasts for the second quarter of 2020:

Important: GDP is reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). So a 33% Q2 decline is around 8% decline from Q1 (SA). 

From Merrill Lynch: We revise up 2Q GDP to -35% qoq saar from -40% and 3Q to 20% from 7%, given the faster and more successful reopening. [June 18 estimate] 

From Goldman Sachs: We have adjusted our real GDP growth forecasts and now expect -33% in Q2, +33% in Q3, and +8% in Q4 (vs. -36%, +29%, and +11% previously) in qoq annualized terms. [June 18 estimate]

Well, that's bad. Here's hoping the damage isn't too deep. 

Have a great weekend

Well, I hope you had a good week - we've made it to the weekend. See you on Monday. 

Houston Chronicle: Oil field services employment approaching 4 year lows

Via the Houston Chronicle: 

Oil-field services employment in the United States is approaching its lowest point since the 2014-16 oil bust, as low crude prices continue to put a damper on drilling and completion activities, according to a report by the Petroleum Equipment and Services Association. 

The sector's workforce, which includes drilling rig crews, hydraulic fracturing fleets and equipment manufacturers, shed more than 105,000 jobs during a 12-month period ended in May, the trade group said in an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data...

I imagine this will have interesting ripple effects through the chemical industry...

Best wishes to O&G chemists, and to all of us. 

Public sector employment down 1.5 million jobs since March

Via Inside Higher Ed, this Pew Charitable Trusts report:

In the public sector, officials responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by furloughing workers at shuttered facilities and trimming payrolls in the face of substantial projected budget shortfalls. Colleges, school districts, and other areas of state and local government have shed approximately 1.5 million jobs since March, but most have been furloughs or temporary layoffs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In all, employment for the sector has fallen to its lowest levels since 2001, eclipsing the declines that followed the Great Recession. 

Private industries have generally incurred greater percentage losses than the public sector. The lifting of lockdowns across the country brings hope for the return of private sector jobs, but many governments face bleak financial outlooks that continue to leave workers vulnerable.... 

...The state government education workforce, mostly public colleges and universities, similarly suffered a substantial blow, decreasing more than 9% in the weeks since the shutdowns began in response to the pandemic.

I am beginning to wonder if the results of the COVID-19 recession will be that the academic jobs of chemistry will suffer substantially more than industry and perhaps more than government positions. 

People were buying 55-gallon drums of DCM off eBay?

Via NPR, this odd news:

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Amazon and eBay to stop selling certain pesticide-containing products, many of which claimed to fight off and disinfect from the coronavirus. 

The orders also bar the e-commerce giants from selling products that contain toxic chemicals like chlorine dioxide and methylene chloride, which is federally regulated as a toxic substance. 

Exposure to methylene chloride can cause death, but in one instance, eBay marketed and sold 55-gallon drums of methylene chloride as a coronavirus disinfectant and paint stripper, according to the EPA press release.

Here's the EPA link. I think it is quite possible that someone was selling DCM as a COVID-19 disinfectant (people do dumb things), but actually arranging for delivery? A drum weighs 600 pounds! Can't get that in a UPS truck. 

The 2020 Faculty Jobs List: 6 positions

The 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 6 research/teaching positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

In 2020-2021, we will be adding teaching professor positions, targeting positions that demonstrate an intention to renew permanently, 3 year terms and a promotion ladder and/or are titled "assistant teaching professor" or "associate teaching professor." We are adding community college positions if they explicitly offer tenure.

On June 18, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 9 positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Go to the first open thread.

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 21 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 21 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

Congress giving (more) money to US manufacturing?

Via The New York Times, moves afoot to bolster the US semiconductor manufacturing industry in Congress: 

China’s technological ambitions are eliciting rare bipartisan agreement in Washington, with lawmakers considering investing tens of billions of dollars in America’s semiconductor industry over the next five to 10 years to help the United States retain an edge over Beijing. 

A bipartisan measure introduced this week is one of several proposals that would provide substantial funding for the semiconductor industry, which manufactures chips that serve as the tiny brains or memory of electronic devices from smartphones to fitness trackers. 

The efforts reflect a shifting consensus in Washington, as lawmakers look to more expansive government intervention in private markets to help American firms compete. That includes Republicans, who have long criticized government-led industrial plans as inefficient and redolent of communism but have watched with dismay as such efforts in China have allowed it to dominate industries from steel and solar panels to shipbuilding...

It's pretty amazing to watch the moves towards the direct subsidization of American manufacturing. One imagines that this may begin to happen with the pharmaceutical industry as well, especially on the manufacturing side.* Overall, I suspect it will produce more boondoggles than be actually successful, but we shall see. I'm skeptical. 

*If the COVID-19 recession continues, maybe this will change, but I still don't see Americans volunteering to put a chemical manufacturing facility in their town, I just don't. 

Bad ways to lay people off

Via The New York Times, two ways not to do it:

One of the many unwelcome lessons we’ve already learned during this recession is just how terrible companies are at firing people. Last month, WW International, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers, laid off employees in an arpeggio of simultaneous Zoom calls lasting just three minutes each. 

A few weeks before that, Bird, the Santa Monica-based scooter rental company, lured 406 employees to a mysterious Zoom “webinar” only to have them stare at a slide that read “Covid-19” while a disembodied female voice told them their services were no longer required. “It felt like a Black Mirror episode,” said a former employee.

I don't think pharma or the chemical industry has gotten there yet...

Have a great weekend

Well, we made it another week in this crazy time. Hope you and your family are well. Have a good weekend, and see you on Monday. 

Charles Lieber indicted by federal grand jury

From Chemical and Engineering News' Bethany Halford:

Charles M. Lieber, an expert in nanoscience and former chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 9. The grand jury formally charged Lieber with two counts of making false statements about his association with China’s Thousand Talents program. He will appear before a Boston federal court to answer the charges at a later date, according to a press release from the US Department of Justice. 

Lieber was first arrested for alleged fraud on Jan. 28. He has been out on $1 million bail since Jan. 30. He is currently on leave from Harvard... 

...“The government has this wrong. Professor Lieber has dedicated his life to science and to his students,” Lieber’s attorneys Marc Mukasey and Torrey Young say in a statement. “When justice is done, Charlie’s good name will be restored and the scientific community again will be able to benefit from his intellect and passion.”

Here's a link to the Department of Justice press release, and the actual indictment. I still predict no prison. The charges have penalty of "...a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors."

(I suspect DoJ has Professor Lieber dead to rights - I wonder what they will want? For him to resign his position? Pay a fine? I dunno.) 

Well, it's official: NBER calls it a recession

Via The Associated Press: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy entered a recession in February as the coronavirus struck the nation, a group of economists declared Monday, ending the longest expansion on record. 

The economists said that employment, income and spending peaked in February and then fell sharply afterward as the viral outbreak shut down businesses across the country, marking the start of the downturn after nearly 11 full years of economic growth. A committee within the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit group, determines when recessions begin and end. It broadly defines a recession as “a decline in economic activity that lasts more than a few months.” 

For that reason, the NBER typically waits longer before making a determination that the economy is in a downturn. In the previous recession, the committee did not declare that the economy was in recession until December 2008, a year after it had actually begun. But in this case, the NBER said the collapse in employment and incomes was so steep that it could much more quickly make a determination. 

“The unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions,” the NBER panel said.

Best wishes to all of us.  

31 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 17 new positions for June 7 and 14 new positions for June 4.

Don't forget to check out the Common Organic Chemistry company list, a very helpful resource for organic chemists looking for potential employers. 

"Science was being the only black person in the program for four years."

The above is a remarkable story of a Black student in biochemistry, Brandon Taylor. He speaks gorgeously about his love for the details of science, so I recommend listening to the whole thing. He also speaks of his alienation in his graduate program due to the fact that he was the only Black graduate student. He doesn't work in science anymore (he's a writer and a novelist). He writes beautifully in his Buzzfeed essay on the same topic:

Science was being the only black person in the program for four years. Science was saying nothing because I was tired of being corrected about the particulars of my own experience. Science was being told that I should consider moving to the other side of town where more black people live. Science was someone suggesting that I find a church in order to find community. Science was having my hair stroked and touched. Science was being told that I was articulate. Science was watching people’s eyes widen slightly in surprise when I told them what program I was in. Science was the constant humiliation of wondering if I had justified my presence or if I had made it harder for the next black person to get admitted. Science was having to worry about that in the first place. 

Science was a place I ultimately left, not so much because I wanted to, but because I had to. Science is not being able to say that because I reflexively feel the rebuttal waiting on the other end of that sentence: You could have made it work if you wanted it enough. Science is not knowing whether I wanted it enough.

Read the whole thing.

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 5 positions and first open thread

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 5 research/teaching positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

In 2020-2021, we will be adding teaching professor positions, targeting positions that demonstrate an intention to renew permanently, 3 year terms and a promotion ladder and/or are titled "assistant teaching professor" or "associate teaching professor." We are adding community college positions if they explicitly offer tenure.

The 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List finished with 557 positions and 80 teaching professor positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This will serve as the first open thread.

This thread closed at 12:00 PM Eastern on November 11, 2020. Click on the "load more" to see more. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 20 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 20 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

USP decides to stick with horseshoe crabs for endotoxin testing

Via the New York Times, sucks to be a horseshoe crab: 

For decades, drug companies have depended on a component in the blood of the horseshoe crab to test injectable medicines, including vaccines, for dangerous bacterial contaminants called endotoxins. 

Conservationists and some businesses have pushed for wide acceptance of an alternative test, to protect the horseshoe crabs and birds that feed on their eggs. Earlier this year, these people seemed to be on the brink of success as the nongovernmental group that issues quality standards for such tests moved toward putting the alternative test on the same footing. 

But on Friday, that organization, the U.S. Pharmacopeia, announced that the alternative test known as rFC (recombinant factor C) requires significantly more study. Pharmacopeia representatives said they have 30 years of data on the current test and only two years on the new test so they needed more information. Internationally, the European Pharmacopeia has approved widespread use of the alternative test.

The debate has been widely monitored as demand has grown for testing new vaccines against the coronavirus. Billions of vaccine doses would eventually require endotoxin testing.

This is only one of the likely hundreds of supply chain challenges that COVID-19 vaccines will face, but I regret the horseshoe crabs will be on the short end of the stick... 

BASF a leading recipient of UK coronavirus aid

From The Guardian: 

The German chemicals company BASF has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the Bank of England’s emergency coronavirus loan scheme, borrowing £1bn in cheap government-backed funding. 

Threadneedle Street revealed for the first time the names of 53 big companies that have borrowed £16.2bn between them, amid rising pressure on the government to place tougher conditions on firms that receive state-backed support. 

The list of businesses benefiting from the cheap funding, which is designed to help businesses weather the economic storm caused by the coronavirus pandemic, included many with a sizeable carbon footprint.... 

...BASF employs about 850 people in Britain at eight plants across the country, producing farming pesticides and chemicals for the car industry.

That's a surprisingly few people, especially for 8 plants. 

(It seems to me that the whole point of initial coronavirus funding was that it needed to be shoveled out the door/dropped from helicopters quickly, so the fact that some large firms got money initially isn't the end of the world in my opinion. Presumably, it could be clawed back?)

Have a good weekend

We've made it another week - I hope you and your family have a good weekend. (The artist is Anthony McGill, the principal clarinet chair at the New York Philharmonic.)

45 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 20 new positions for May 31.

Don't forget to check out the Common Organic Chemistry company list, a very helpful resource for organic chemists looking for potential employers. 

"Injustice contaminates everything"

Going to let Derek Lowe speak for me:

But we’ve had an equal-protection-under-the-law disaster for a long time, as evidenced by the number of times black men (in particular) get this kind of treatment. Anyone who might have been willing to look away from all that (because they’re not black themselves?) should realize that injustice contaminates everything, and that a state that’s willing to apply such brutal, unequal treatment can apply it to anyone they feel like. Look around you. This country has a lot of things that need to be fixed, and recent history has made that more obvious than ever.

Recent Twitter posts on the paucity of Black/African-American chemists, including the fact that of 2018's 1711 chemistry Ph.D. graduates from the US who were citizens or permanent residents, just 77 (4.5%) of them were Black or African-American.

Google Meet?

This year, I'd like to do a Google Meet with people who used this year's faculty jobs list (and may be interested in next year's list?) for suggestions on improvements, and to tell me your experiences. If you're interested, send me an e-mail: chemjobber@gmail.com 

Two new faculty lists

Over on the Chemistry Reddit, a list of faculty movements and hires for the 2019-2020 season.

Via Twitter, a Chemistry Bumper Cars account, including a Google spreadsheet. 

The 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 557 research/teaching positions and 80 teaching faculty positions

The 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 557 research/teaching positions and 80 teaching assistant professor positions.

This will be the last post for the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List.

Want to add a position? Here's a Google Form to enter positions. In 2019-2020, we will be adding teaching professor positions, targeting positions that demonstrate an intention to renew permanently, 3 year terms and a promotion ladder and/or are titled "assistant teaching professor" or "associate teaching professor." As of 9/20/19, we are adding community college positions if they explicitly offer tenure.

See an error? Please contact us at chemjobber@gmail.com

On May 28, 2019, the 2019 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 586 positions.

Open threads: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth. The current thread is the eleventh.

Can't see additional comments? Look for the "load more" button underneath the comment box.

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 20 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 20 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:

• Full-time STAFF positions in a Chem/Biochem/ChemE lab/facility at an academic institution/natl lab
• Lab Coordinator positions for research groups or undergraduate labs 
• and for an institution in Canada or the United States

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

Want to chat about staff scientist positions? Try the open thread.

Job posting: polymer chemist, Nalas Engineering, Centerbrook, CT

From the inbox, a polymer chemist position:

Nalas Engineering is looking for polymer chemist with an interest in energetic polymer chemistry. Work will focus on designing, preparing, and characterizing new energetic monomers and polymers. 

Qualifications: 

Candidates must have a PhD in Chemistry with a focus or emphasis on polymer chemistry. The ideal candidate would bring experience in the development of new polymers to our team. Energetic material experience is not required, although interest in the topic would be beneficial. 

Interested candidates should send their resumes to matthew.burk@nalasengineering.com

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Stories from the job front

Via The New York Times, a readout of the job market for experienced people: 

Craig Stacey was vice president of marketing at McKesson, the health care company, until he was let go last September amid a reorganization. He immediately began searching for a new job, and said he was a finalist for several senior marketing roles. 

“Silver and bronze medals are good in the Olympics, but not in the job market,” said Mr. Stacey, 52, of Minneapolis. 

He started interviewing for two jobs in early March. After the virus hit, one company told him it was suspending the search; the other simply stopped communicating with him. 

“I was ghosted,” he said.

Here's a (dubious) approach to the issue:

Ms. Nazem recently joined a 14-week “virtual networking and development cohort” called the Grand Quest. For $1,200, she will join biweekly Zoom meetings with other job seekers who are looking to identify their career goals and pursue new opportunities. 

The hope, she said, was that the group would provide “an opportunity to join a supportive community that understands career transitions for entrepreneurs while facing these unprecedented challenges.”

Best wishes to them, and to all of us.

Unusual career path: chemistry professor-turned-State Department intelligence official

In Chemical and Engineering News, interesting profile of a chemistry professor and former State Department employee by Cheryl Hogue:

Rod Schoonover doesn’t fit easily into a particular academic niche. He spent a dozen years as a chemistry professor, yet his published papers are in physics journals. A career twist then landed him working in the US intelligence community, where he spent a decade focused on climate change, environment, health, and other scientific issues. 

“I’d never planned on doing this,” he says. “The idea that someone like me would end up in the intelligence community did not seem likely.”

Read the whole thing.