Mexican acetic anhydride

Via random clicking, this remarkable Bloomberg article:

...Acetic anhydride has legal uses in laboratories and factories—the most common use is in the production of cigarette filters. But under international drug laws it’s one of the most strictly controlled “precursor and essential chemicals” for the production of illegal narcotics. For 30 years the U.S. government has aggressively pushed almost every nation in the world to sign on to global treaties and pass domestic laws to keep potential drugmaking chemicals away from narcotics syndicates. Acetic anhydride was placed in the highest category of control in 2001. Yet the acetic anhydride seized that morning in Sinaloa was bottled, branded, and sold in Mexico by a $12.3 billion publicly traded U.S. company, Avantor Inc. 

During the decade-long U.S. heroin epidemic, Avantor has cultivated a remarkable line of business: selling acetic anhydride across Mexico in containers that are big enough to make lucrative quantities of illegal narcotics but small enough to load into the trunk of a car. Sales come via a network of distributors, online sellers, and stores spread across the country...

It sounds like there are a lot of different things to blame here, but it's pretty clear that Avantor knows that it is selling acetic anhydride to manufacture heroin (i.e. someone would have been asking 'why are we selling acetic anhydride in such large quantities in 5 gallon containers?') 

Have a good weekend

I read C.S. Forester's "The Good Shepherd"*, and there is so much discussion about the (World War II destroyer) captain's enjoyment of a fresh pot coffee as he struggles through ~48-72 hours of intense convoy defense and battling against U-boats. So, of course, my favorite song about coffee.

Hope everyone has a good weekend, and see you on Monday.

*yes, inspired by the recent Tom Hanks film (which I have not seen yet)

Job posting: associate chemist, IsleChem, Grand Island, NY

From the inbox:

IsleChem LLC, an analytical, process development and chemical manufacturing service company, is searching for an Associate Chemist to work with PhD's in Process Development of new products. Previous experience in experimental design, construction, operation, and data collections is beneficial. Send resumes to careers@islechem.com  

Best wishes to those interested. 

August 2020 Chemical Activity Barometer up 2.5% (3MMA)

From the American Chemistry Council:

WASHINGTON (August 25, 2020) – The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), rose by 2.5 percent in August on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis following a 3.0 percent gain in July. On a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis, the barometer was down 6.1 percent in August. 

The unadjusted data show a 1.8 percent gain in August following a 1.5 percent gain in July and a 4.1 percent gain in June. The diffusion index rose from 41 percent to 59 percent this month – the first time since January that it has been above 50 percent. The diffusion index marks the number of positive contributors relative to the total number of indicators monitored. The CAB reading for July was revised upward by 1.08 points and that for June was revised upward by 0.77 points. 

“With four consecutive months of gains, the latest CAB reading is consistent with recovery in the U.S. economy, which is likely to be slow,” said Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC. “The August reading is only 5.8 percent below its pre-coronavirus level, and the indicator appears to be improving at a fairly good pace.”

Good to see things are slowing coming back; I imagine this augurs relatively well for chemical industry employment for the rest of the year. 

23 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 23 new positions for August 24.

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

What if the boss wants you to drink?

This stuff was awful - do not recommend

Via the New York Times, a classic problem, but a Chinese version: 

The new guy did not drink. 

During a company dinner in Beijing on Thursday, his boss at Xiamen International Bank demanded that he order an alcoholic beverage. When he refused, he said, another executive slapped him. It was the slap heard around the country, prompting broad reflection on a professional drinking culture in China that rewards excessive drinking and alienates those who do not imbibe.

But the lawyer, who is abstinent, said he had never been coerced into drinking against his will. Many social crowds are formed based on drinking habits, he noted, and dinner banquets can be divided into two tables: one for those who love to drink and another for those who do so moderately or not at all. 

“If you can drink and make professional connections, that will help,” he wrote. “But if you don’t have this ability, you can still make a good lawyer.” 

...Banquets can be an especially intimidating environment for young working women in China, who are often seated next to older executives and are expected to laugh at their jokes while being plied with alcohol, experts say. Some employees have dealt with the pressure to drink by resorting to discreet tricks, like pouring one’s drink on the floor.

A story I once heard was that Frank Sinatra would keep up his reputation for heavy drinking by taking a sip from any drink he was given, and then he would set it down. Probably won't work for these salarymen.

Thankfully, I have never worked in an organization that valued heavy drinking. I'd like to think that I could put up with the peer pressure, but I've never been subjected to it. If my paycheck (and my future paycheck) depended on it, it's hard to say. It's worth noting that Chinese corporate culture is probably a lot more gotta-hang-with-the-team-and-the-boss than the United States. There just really isn't anything like one of these banquets in American culture.*

Happily, the drinking culture in the American chemical industry seems to be at a dull roar. If you were a non-drinker by contrast, I imagine that it would be a little more difficult. Readers, what do you think?

*maybe there is? but banquets (even in non-COVID times) seem like once a year events...

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 55 research/teaching positions and 6 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 55 research/teaching positions and 6 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 August 27, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 181 research/teaching positions and 3 teaching faculty positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

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

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 7 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 7 positions. It is curated by Lilian Josephson (@lljosephson).

From Dr. Josephson: This year we will try to utilize the list further by circulating among the professors, as well as using the hashtags #facultychemEjobs and #MeettheCandidatesChE2020.

The open thread is found here. 

Job posting: faculty search, Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN

Via Twitter:

The Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CBT) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital invites applications for Two Open Rank Faculty positions in Chemical Biology. We seek creative applicants with bold vision and demonstrated excellence in research at the interface of Chemistry, Biology and Medicine. 

The faculty rank of candidates will be commensurate with their experience. 

St. Jude offers generous start-up packages, including full salary for faculty and support staff; equipment funds; state-of-the-art chemical and computational facilities; and access to cutting-edge institutional shared resources. For additional information visit: https://www.stjude.org/research/departments-divisions/chemical-biology-therapeutics.html  

A curriculum vitae, concise summary of research contributions with links to three publications, well-articulated research plan (3-5 pages), and names and contact information of three references (for assistant member positions) should be submitted directly online.

Full posting here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 39 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 39 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.

Do you know where your ammonium nitrate is?

Via the Washington Post, bad news about the state of ammonium nitrate storage around the world: 

Ports around the world are working to remove potentially dangerous chemicals, sometimes stored in huge quantities, following an explosion in Beirut this month that left at least 180 people dead, thousands injured and hundreds of thousands displaced. 

Officials in Dakar, Senegal’s capital city, announced Thursday they had requested the removal of almost 3,000 U.S. tons of ammonium nitrate from the city’s port — a larger volume of the chemical compound that caused Beirut’s explosion. 

Last week, Romanian officials at the Black Sea port of Agigea said they had found a single warehouse illegally holding about 5,000 tons of ammonium nitrate. A further 3,800 tons of the compound had been found in raids across the country, police said in a statement. 

...Other ports have seen similar problems. In India’s Chennai, port officials acknowledged this month they had been storing more than 800 tons of ammonium nitrate since its seizure in 2015. Some of the load was moved to Hyderabad via trucks last week. According to newspaper the Hindu, 10 containers were taken, accompanied by guards and the trucks equipped with dry chemical powder fire extinguishers.

I like the idea of giving the trucks fire extinguishers - yes, that will take care of it.

(So here's what I don't get: suppose that you seize a kajillion tons of ammonium nitrate - now what? Where are you going to put it? How will it actually be consumed/gotten rid of safely? Isn't that the problem with the Beirut situation, i.e. now you have it, it's in your warehouses, and you can't figure out where to put it?) 

(Also: does anyone know why ammonium nitrate is the fertilizer of choice? Is it just sheer low cost, or is it a combination of low cost and high nitrogen content? Any chance for us to figure out a safer way to deliver nitrogen to the soil?)

Have a good weekend

Well, we've (maybe just barely?) made it another week. Hope you're having a good one. See you on Monday.

*someone crashed into my parked car, which sucks

Swiss chocolate factory emissions are powdery, brown

At least it's not bits of a reactor!
Credit: Olten

From The Guardian:

But residents of a Swiss town got a bit of a shock when it started snowing particles of a fine cocoa powder after the ventilation system at a chocolate factory malfunctioned. 

The Lindt & Spruengli company confirmed local reports on Tuesday that there was a minor defect in the cooling ventilation in an area making roasted “cocoa nibs” in its factory in Olten, between Zurich and Basel. The nibs, fragments of crushed cocoa beans, are the basis of chocolate.

Combined with strong winds on Friday morning, the powder spread around the immediate vicinity of the factory, leaving a fine cocoa dusting. The company said one car was lightly coated, and that it has offered to pay for any cleaning needed.

I imagine that a plant manager will have pages and pages of paperwork to do, and maybe a maintenance manager to chew on... 

Job posting: safety leader, IsleChem, Grand Island, NY

From the inbox: 

Safety Leader 

IsleChem, LLC, an analytical, process development and specialty chemical manufacturing services company located in Grand Island, NY is seeking an individual to become our new Safety Leader.  Due to growth, IsleChem split safety responsibility out from an existing position to create a position dedicated to safety and other regulatory aspects.  Key responsibilities of the position included but are not limited to:

• Education of personnel on safety and other regulatory aspects
• Implementation of company safety systems 
• Facilitation of safety improvements
• Facilitation of solutions to safety incidents
• Leadership of safety committee
• Facilitation of mandatory reporting 
• Safety Assessment of chemical and production processes
• SDS development
• Fluent in MXS Office products

The successful candidate will work closely with, and be mentored by, senior staff experienced in safety and regulatory. 

Please send resumes to careers@islechem.com

 Best wishes to those interested. 

32 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 23 new positions for August 19 and 9 new positions for August 16.

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

Neat sour beer video from ACS

Via Laboratory Equipment:

...“Scientists are very interested in beer and especially sours because they are such complicated systems,” says Teresa L. Longin, one of the project’s principal investigators. “There have been several prior studies of the components in finished sour beers. What makes our study different is that we’ve been able to get samples of beer in progress from many different batches.” Their findings could help brewers make better products. 

Longin was drawn into the study by her husband and co-PI, David P. Soulsby, and both are at the University of Redlands. When Soulsby began the project a couple of years ago, he reached out to Bryan Doty, a master brewer at nearby Sour Cellars. Doty was eager to learn what was going on in his beer and has provided a series of samples from the same barrels as the beer has aged. 

Soulsby and undergraduate student Alexis Cooper examined each sample using NMR spectroscopy coupled with a new analysis method for quantitating the data. They used this approach to track the levels of acetic acid, the main component of vinegar; lactic acid, which gives sourdough bread its distinctive taste; and succinic acid, which is found in broccoli, rhubarb and meat extracts. They found that each acid stabilized at similar concentrations in the different batches, though some batches had greater variability.

I'm not really a sours guy myself, but it's interesting to see the various compounds that can derive from the fermentation...

Survey indicates pharma/biotech employees have mixed outlook on 2020 and 2021

Via FiercePharma: 

Pandemic woes have workers fearing for their jobs across the U.S., but at least so far, the life sciences industry is largely immune. Pharma and biotech employees are feeling secure in their employment and salary prospects, according to a new study from EPM Scientific recruiting consultants. 

Fifty percent of those surveyed said they're confident or very confident they will keep their jobs over the next six months. That said, they recognize the economic downturn means a new position might not be easy to find: 41% said they're negative or very negative about the current job market. 

A similar dichotomy was repeated around compensation: 56% predicted a worsening economy over the next year, but 43% said their own compensation is likely to increase during the same timeframe.

I downloaded the survey and wasn't exactly bowled over with excitement about the robustness of the survey (140 people), but it feels vaguely reflective of what most people are feeling, I suspect... 

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 43 research/teaching positions and 6 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 43 research/teaching positions and 6 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 August 20, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 152 positions.

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

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 6 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 6 positions. It is curated by Lilian Josephson (@lljosephson), who says:

The new cycle has begun for the chem e's! This year we will try to utilize the list further by circulating among the professors, as well as using the hashtags #facultychemEjobs and #MeettheCandidatesChE2020.

 This post will serve as the open thread for this year's search. 

Job posting: assistant professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

From the inbox:

Tenure-stream faculty position in Biological Chemistry 

The Department of Chemistry invites applications for appointment to a tenure-stream Assistant Professor position from outstanding candidates with expertise in Biological Chemistry, especially candidates with interests that complement the strengths of our department (https://www.dal.ca/faculty/science/chemistry/research.html). This position is part of the Dalhousie Academic Renewal Incentive Program and is restricted to candidates who self-identify as a member of one or more equity-seeking groups. (See below.) 

The position requires a PhD degree, postdoctoral experience and an exceptional research track record. This appointment will be made at the rank of Assistant Professor. The successful candidate will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate classes in chemistry and to develop vigorous and creative research programs with external funding. The anticipated start date is July 2021 or as negotiated. 

Review of applications will begin November 1, 2020, and continue until the position is filled. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 36 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 36 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.

Momentive closing New York plant

Also in this week's issue of C&EN: (by Michael McCoy)

As part of a major corporate overhaul, the silicone maker Momentive Performance Materials plans to shut its basic chemicals plant in Waterford, New York, leaving Dow as the only US producer of the key raw materials needed to produce silicone fluids, sealants, and elastomers. 

Momentive says the shutdown will take place over 2 years, eliminating roughly 300 of its 1,000 employees in the Waterford region. At the same time, Momentive says it will spend $15 million to expand production of silicones for electronics in Waterford. And the company will sell Henkel its business in consumer sealants sold at hardware stores and home improvement centers. The consumer business has annual sales of about $120 million, roughly 5% of Momentive’s total sales. 

The shutdown will also affect Evonik Industries, which produces fumed silica in Waterford using a by-product generated by Momentive. Evonik says it will “explore all options” for the silica facility, which employs about 30 people.

Best wishes to those affected.  

This week's C&EN

A few articles in this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

• Cover: The Talented 12 Issue
• "Rapid COVID-19 testing breaks free from the lab" (by Mark Peplow)
• "Chemists simplify aniline synthesis" (by Leigh Krietsch Boerner)
• "Kodak loan to enter drug business is put on hold" (by Michael McCoy)
• "Astatine is a chemistry puzzle that shows anticancer promise" (by Sam Lemonick)

Have a great weekend

Well, we've made it another week. Have a great weekend! See you on Monday. 

13 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 13 new positions for August 10.

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

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 34 research/teaching positions and 5 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 34 research/teaching positions and 5 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 August 13, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 126 positions.

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

Job posting: assistant professor, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

From the inbox:

Princeton University Department of Chemistry Assistant Professor  

The Department of Chemistry at Princeton University invites applications for a tenure- track assistant professor position. The department is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through their strong commitment to research, teaching, and mentoring. The search is open to all areas of chemistry, with an emphasis on catalysis, broadly defined, in areas including synthetic organic, inorganic, materials and biological chemistry. We strongly encourage women and minorities to apply. Candidates are expected to have completed the Ph.D. in chemistry or a related field at the time of appointment. Applicants should submit a description of research interests, curriculum vitae, a list of publications, and contact information for three referees online at https://www.princeton.edu/acad-positions/position/16881  

The deadline for applications is October 15, 2020. Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This position is subject to the University’s background check policy. 

Best wishes to those interested. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 32 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 32 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.

2750 tons of ammonium nitrate in one place...

What a tragedy:

BEIRUT (AP) — At least 10 times over the past six years, authorities from Lebanon’s customs, military, security agencies and judiciary raised alarm that a massive stockpile of explosive chemicals was being kept with almost no safeguard at the port in the heart of Beirut, newly surfaced documents show. 

Yet in a circle of negligence, nothing was done — and on Tuesday, the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up, obliterating the city’s main commercial hub and spreading death and wreckage for miles around. 

...Daher, the customs department head, told the AP before his detention that between 2014 and 2017, he and his predecessor sent six letters to the judge warning that the stockpile was dangerous and seeking a ruling on a way to remove or sell it. Daher said it was his duty to alert authorities of the danger but that was the most he could do. He said he never got a reply. 

Earlier this year, State Security, after investigating the stockpile, issued a five-page report saying the material must be gotten rid of. It said the ammonium nitrate could explode and warned terrorists could steal it, saying one wall of the warehouse had a hole in it and a gate was open....

For those of us who deal with chemicals on the ton scale, this is a good reminder of the importance of knowing what's in our inventories, their hazards and the importance of addressing them in a timely fashion.

(God help me if I were ever stuck with 2750 MT of someone else's potentially explosive material.) 

BLS: Unemployment rate for July was 10.2%; payrolls rose 1.8 million positions

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the national unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, and payrolls rose by 1.8 million in July.

The broader U6 measurement of unemployment was 16.5%, down from 18.0% in July.

The chemical manufacturing subsector saw a drop in positions from 829700 in June to 825200 in July, a drop of 4500 positions (seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate of college graduates was 6.7% for July 2020, while by contrast the unemployment rate for people without a high school diploma was 15.4%. 

Have a good weekend

Well, we've made it another week. Hope you have a good weekend, and we'll see you on Monday. 

New executive order on drug manufacture

Via STAT, this news: 

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the federal government to buy certain drugs solely from American factories. 

The so-called “Buy American” order could represent a seismic shakeup of the drug industry: No one knows exactly how much of the American drug supply chain is produced abroad, but some experts insist up to 90% of critical generic drugs are made at least partially abroad. 

It remains unclear, however, how broadly the order will be implemented — the executive order does not specify what drugs it covers. Instead, the order directs the Food and Drug Administration to decide which medicines will be subject to the new requirements. Certain drugs can also be exempted from the executive order if they’re too expensive to make in the U.S. or the U.S. isn’t already making them...

Direct manufacture of chemicals isn't a major driver of chemical employment, i.e. there are (I suspect) 3 or 4 research-oriented chemists for every one production-oriented chemist in industry. That being said, if this executive order (language here) succeeds in moving more chemical manufacturing to the United States from China and India, that cannot help but impact employment. Developing...

40 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there are 14 new positions for August 4 and 26 new positions for July 31.

For the month of July, 104 jobs were posted. There is not much evidence of a slowdown in hiring in industrial organic chemistry jobs as measured by this list for the COVID-19 recession.

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

Beirut ammonium nitrate (?) explosion?

Via the New York Times:

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The blasts came within seconds of each other. 

First, an explosion in Beirut’s port, possibly from a fireworks warehouse, sent a plume of smoke billowing over the capital skyline early Tuesday evening. 

Then a much larger explosion from a building nearby shot a chrysanthemum of orange and red smoke into the air followed by a massive shock wave of whitish dust and debris that rose hundreds of feet and spread out for blocks. 

The seaside capital rocked like an earthquake. Cars tumbled upside down and bricks rained down from apartment buildings. Glass flew out of windows miles away and roofs collapsed...

According to some reports, there were 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate in the warehouse. If you haven't seen some of the video, it's pretty remarkable.

(Pretty clear to me that governments should attempt to track and regulate storage of ammonium nitrate, but that seems like something that would be difficult to administer and would end up neglected.) 

Warning Letter of the Week: dancing festival edition

Via a comment at In the Pipeline, this funny missive from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research to the director of Centurion Laboratories Private Limited (emphasis mine):

3. Your firm failed to follow written procedures for cleaning and maintenance of equipment (21 CFR 211.67(b)). 

During the inspection, our investigator observed that equipment used to manufacture more than one product was inadequately maintained and cleaned. 

For example, our investigator observed in the [redacted] room a [redacted] identified as “cleaned.” However, this [redacted] was found to have visible product build-up inside the [redacted] and [redacted] of the [redacted]. Furthermore, the air filter of the equipment was damaged with multiple holes. This equipment was used to manufacture finished drug products shipped to the United States such as [redacted] tablets, [redacted] tablets, [redacted] tablets, and [redacted] tablets. Additionally, a memo provided during the inspection stated these cleaning and equipment maintenance deficiencies were because of a shortage in manpower related to a nine-day dancing festival and government holiday. Inadequately cleaned and maintained equipment can lead to cross-contamination and variability of drug products.

Must have been a good time. 

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 28 research/teaching positions and 5 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 28 research/teaching positions and 5 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 August 6, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 88 positions.

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

Job posting: adjunct inorganic faculty, United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND

From the inbox, United Tribes Technical College (Bismarck, ND) is searching for an adjunct inorganic professor.

Summary of Duties:

• Instructs students based upon the curriculum as approved by the Department Chair, the Curriculum Committee and the Vice President of Academic Affairs. 
• Adjusts lesson plans and other course materials to meet the needs of students. Faculty must be sensitive to the cultures of the students they teach, learn about those cultures, and integrate culturally-appropriate and culturally-relevant material when appropriate.
• Evaluates students’ progress and communicates with the student’s academic advisor when problems or issues arise.
• Monitors and reports student attendance and academic progress in the Jenzabar system on a weekly basis throughout the semester.
• Participates fully in the Jenzabar Early Alert Retention Module system by alerting, referring, and providing interventions that ensure student success.

Best wishes to those interested. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 27 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 27 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.

More charges for Charles Lieber

Via Inside Higher Ed: 

A Harvard University chemistry professor was indicted Tuesday on federal tax-related charges for allegedly failing to report income earned from the Wuhan University of Technology, in China. 

The Harvard professor and former chemistry department chair, Charles Lieber, was previously charged with making false statements to federal authorities. Prosecutors say he lied about his contract with WUT and his participation in a Chinese government-sponsored talent plan. 

Federal authorities allege WUT paid Lieber a salary of up to $50,000 per month and living expenses of up to $150,000 and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT.

Doesn't look good for Professor Lieber... 

This week's C&EN

A few of the articles from this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News:

• "Do we know enough about the safety of quat disinfectants?" (by XiaoZhi Lim)
• Career Ladder: Joyce Nethery (by Bethany Halford)
• "Adapting hijabs for lab safety" (by Benjamin Plackett)
• "Jesús Estrada, Merck chemist, on forging a career in science as an undocumented immigrant" (by Linda Wang)
• "Sandoz to shore up Europe’s last antibiotics plant" (by Michael McCoy)
• "Kodak wins US loan to enter pharmaceutical chemical business" (by Michael McCoy)