Have a good weekend

This was a busy week, but I think I got most of what I needed to do done. I hope that you had a sufficiently accomplished week, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. See you on Monday! 

Reuters on the Chinese-Mexican illicit chemical trade

Via Reuters, interesting details on the fentanyl manufacturing supply chain: 

...Javier said the Chinese supplier sends some precursors by air in small packages to Mexico City’s international airport. Many are piperidines, compounds at the core of fentanyl’s structure. A little goes a long way. Javier declined to go into details about where the packages go immediately after clearing customs. He did say they’re often flown out of the capital on small planes to Sinaloa.

Chemicals needed in greater volumes, such as propionyl chloride, often come via cargo ship. Javier said his group moves “tons” of precursors through the Port of Manzanillo each year. In addition, he says his team pays millions of dollars in bribes annually to officials at the port — including to customs agents and, more recently, naval officers — to ensure the goods exit the port smoothly.

“We spring the chemicals out without problems,” Javier said.

Interdiction efforts when significant bribery is in play is probably pretty tough. 

Job posting: AI Agents Engineer Molecule Discovery, Lilly, Indianapolis/San Diego

Via C&EN Jobs, this interesting position: 

The Discovery Chemistry Research and Technologies (DCRT) organization within Lilly Research Labs is a small-molecule drug discovery organization with responsibilities spanning target identification to candidate selection for clinical studies. We are looking to grow our diverse team of scientists.

Position Summary

We seek a motivated researcher with expertise in Large Language Models and an interest in planning and decision-making algorithms to join Lilly’s Discovery Chemistry Research and Technologies (DCRT) organization. You will evaluate commercial and open-source AI agentic platforms to determine their applicability and effectiveness in optimizing chemistry and bioinformatics workflows. Your work will accelerate our medicine discovery processes by identifying and integrating the most suitable AI tools.

This position offers the opportunity to work at the forefront of AI-driven drug discovery, collaborating with experts across AI@Lilly and Tech@Lilly. Your efforts will directly impact the development of life-changing medicines.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess and compare commercial and open-source AI agent frameworks for optimizing chemistry and bioinformatics workflows
• Contribute to engineering systems that enable cross-disciplinary agentic system development
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate selected AI agent frameworks into existing workflows.

Basic Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Computational Chemistry, Bioinformatics, Engineering or a related field
• Familiarity with agent-based modeling and agentic frameworks in scientific domains
• Demonstrated experience in LLM engineering through coursework and portfolio projects
• Familiarity with developing on cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure)

Additional Skills/Preferences

• Proven experience with training, fine-tuning, and deploying large-scale transformer-based models.
• Understanding of chemistry or bioinformatics multi-modal data
• Experience deploying AI-based chemistry workflows (e.g., REINVENT, chemprop, etc).

"The anticipated wage for this position is $63,000 - $92,400." Full ad here. Seems a little low, but it also seems like there's a solid chance this position won't exist in 3 years when LLMs go away as the flavor of the month, but hey, maybe I'm wrong. 

A Christmas letter for your family

A Chemjobber Christmas tradition, updated for 2024. Send a PDF to your family - try it, it works! 

December 17, 2024

Dear family member:

This holiday season, your relative is in his or her fifth/sixth/seventh/_______ year of graduate school in chemistry. This is a delicate time in your students’ lives -- please make interactions smooth for all by following these simple suggestions:

1. Please supply lots of fresh fruit and vegetables -- they are in short supply. 

2. Do not offer pizza, which is an all-too-common part of their diets. 

3. Sleep is a rare commodity in graduate school; please turn down sheets and fluff pillows. Be prepared to see them about 24 hours after they get home.
   
   

In attempting to communicate with your graduate student, please avoid asking the following questions: 

1. When are you going to finish? 

2. What can you do with your degree? 

3. Will you be the kind of doctor that helps people? 

4. Can you make Mounjaro? I heard there’s a shortage. 

5. There's a clinical chemistry department at my hospital -- can you get a job there? 

6. Why do you need a postdoc? Haven't you gone to enough school? 

7. Did I hear Elizabeth Bik posted about your research?

8. MEGABIOGENE has opened a facility nearby -- can you get a job there?  

9. Can you write your thesis with chatGPT?

10. I see [insert high school rival here] has finished medical school -- how much will they be
    making? 

11. Have you thought about teaching? I heard professors have a stable job. 

12. When are you going to finish? 

In following these simple suggestions, I trust that you, your graduate student and your family will have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Very sincerely,

Chemjobber 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 449 research/teaching positions and 69 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 449 research/teaching positions and 69 teaching positions. 

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

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

On December 19, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 481 research/teaching positions and 60 teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This is the link to the second open thread. This is the link to the first open thread.

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 113 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 113 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

C&EN: "University of Akron proposes cuts to polymer program"

Via C&EN, this grim news (article by Krystal Vasquez): 

Faced with a budget shortfall, the University of Akron (UA) is proposing to merge its department of chemistry; department of chemical, biomolecular, and corrosion engineering; and School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering and to cut up to 15 faculty positions across these disciplines.

If the the Ohio public research institution moves forward with the proposal as is, 10 of the cuts are slated to come from the polymer school, says Toni Bisconti, president of the Akron chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the union that represents the university’s full-time faculty. The school currently has 19 full-time faculty members.

The planned cuts, first reported by Signal Akron in November, are being proposed through a process known as retrenchment, which allows the university administration to eliminate faculty positions in the event of a significant financial crisis. The retrenchment follows several other cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures that the university recently implemented to reduce the $27 million deficit it expects to carry into 2025.

The chemistry department chair in the C&EN piece indicates that there are no cuts forthcoming, which is good, but cold comfort to the polymer program. It strikes me that the polymer program at Akron is prominent, and therefore, it is surprising to me that the UAkron administration is participating in seemingly destroying a world-class program. Best wishes to all of those affected, especially the graduate students and postdocs. 

Have a great week

Well, this was a super fun week. I hope that you had as much fun learning as I did, and I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. See you on Monday. 

Help out C&EN's World Chemical Outlook

Via friend of the blog Krystal Vasquez of C&EN: 

Every January, C&EN publishes a collection of articles that predict how upcoming business and policy trends might affect the chemistry community. For 2025, we'd like to hear from students and researchers working both inside and outside the US to learn how they might be affected by immigration policies that might be proposed by the new US presidential administration. 

Please note that all or part of your responses may be used in this upcoming article. If you would like to contribute anonymously or provide background information, please contact Krystal Vasquez via email (k_vasquez@acs.org) or on Signal (@kvasquez.12).

The link to the survey is here.

Job posting: Scientific Director, Analytical Chemistry, BR&D, Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN)

Via the new (old/new) ACS Chemistry Careers, this position at Lilly: 

The Bioproduct Research and Development (BR&D) organization delivers new medicines to patients through the development and commercialization of insulins, peptides, oligonucleotides, monoclonal antibodies, novel therapeutic proteins, and gene therapy systems. BR&D is a multidisciplinary group with deep technical expertise that works collaboratively with our discovery and manufacturing colleagues. Located in Indianapolis, IN, scientists have full access to Lilly's deep pharmaceutical development expertise and engineering capabilities.

In this role, we are seeking experienced, innovative, and motivated candidates to apply their strong foundation in analytical sciences and experience in pharmaceutical development to enable clinical trials, regulatory submissions, and new product commercialization. This role offers the opportunity to lead drug substance and/or drug product analytical efforts within a multidisciplinary team while offering access to word-class capabilities for pharmaceutical development.

Top candidates for this position will be expected to:

• Possess prior experience leading analytical efforts focused on pharmaceutical drug substance and/or drug product development and commercialization, as well as demonstrate familiarity with applicable regulatory requirements and emerging trends in the industry.
• Demonstrate a depth of knowledge in concepts relevant to drug substance and drug product commercialization, including developing analytical methods, justifying specifications, designing stability studies, authoring regulatory submissions and addressing questions from global regulatory agencies.
• Drive the implementation of technical solutions and analytical strategies to enable drug substance and drug product process design.

Basic Requirements:

Ph.D. in analytical chemistry or bioanalytical chemistry, or a related field with 5+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry after earning degree or alternatively a B.S. in chemistry with 15+ years (or M.S. in chemistry with 10+ years) of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Additional Preferences:

• Experience with technical transfer of analytical methods into manufacturing operations.
• Experience developing global regulatory strategies including authoring regulatory submissions, responding to regulatory questions, and/or registering products across global markets.

Full ad here. Posted salary: "The anticipated wage for this position is $144,000 - $250,800." Best wishes to those interested

C&EN on the EPA ban of TCE and PCE:

In C&EN, this news (article by Britt Erickson): 

Most uses of the solvents trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) will be banned within 1–3 years under final rules released Dec. 9 by the US Environmental Protection Agency. But in response to pushback from some industries, the agency carved out longer phase-out times for certain applications.

The EPA’s crackdown on solvents under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is part of the agency’s push to finalize proposed regulations before the administration of Donald J. Trump takes over Jan. 20.

TCE and PCE are 2 of the first 10 chemicals the EPA evaluated under the revisions to TSCA made in 2016. The agency proposed restrictions on both of them in 2023. Asbestos and methylene chloride are the only others for which final rules have been released.

TCE was once widely used as a solvent in cleaning products, degreasers, brake cleaners, lubricants, adhesives, coatings, and many other consumer and industrial products. The EPA considers the chemical “extremely toxic” and says it causes liver and kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and a host of other health effects, even at low concentrations.

The obvious response to this is "I am terribly curious was EPA Administrator-Designate Lee Zeldin has to say about this", so I guess I will go with that. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 436 research/teaching positions and 66 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 436 research/teaching positions and 66 teaching positions. 

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

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

On December 12, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 476 research/teaching positions and 55 teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This is the link to the second open thread. This is the link to the first open thread.

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 113 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 113 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

The 2023 ACS Form 990

full PDF here

Chemistry needs math, and math is hard

In this week's C&EN, this interesting letter: 

I would like to commend Leigh Krietsch Boerner’s article “Are Undergraduate Chemistry Programs in Crisis?,” as the article has pointed out many things that I’ve seen with my own eyes. I’m an associate professor of chemistry at a predominantly undergraduate state institution in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I have noticed similar trends in enrollment, cost, and graduation rates at my own institution.

The article points out that biology enrollment is in line with other undergraduate enrollments, while the chemistry enrollment shows a large decline. Further, the article points out that the number of undergraduate chemistry degrees awarded has plunged the fastest over the last 3 years relative to other disciplines. This too, I’ve seen.

However, I feel that a major contributing factor behind these numbers has been overlooked. Over the last 20 years, I’ve seen student math preparedness plummet. This trend was in full swing before COVID-19, and the pandemic exacerbated the problem. I’ve seen many students in my first-year general chemistry course switch from chemistry to biology because the math requirements in chemistry were just too hard given the level of math preparedness of the students. I’m not referring to the log base 10 operation of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation but rather the simple task of converting grams to moles, which is an exceedingly difficult operation for a quarter to a third of the students in front of me. Chemistry is enjoyable if you have a rudimentary understanding of math, a nightmare if that understanding has never been developed.

I had hoped that the trends that I’ve seen were specific to my institution alone, but colleagues at similar institutions have reported to me similar experiences. Fortunately, math preparedness doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem at our nation’s elite schools, but can these few schools produce the army of chemists needed to carry an advanced industrial society?

The development of a mathematical intuition is needed to succeed in chemistry. Why that intuition is not being developed on a broad scale needs to be addressed, as more than the fate of a few chemistry departments is at stake.

Dwayne Bell

Framingham, Massachusetts

I guess I don't really know what to say about this, other than math is an important skill, and it's hard to imagine getting through (I dunno) the first semester of general chemistry without a pretty decent sense of how to do basic algebra. 

Have a good weekend!

 

A busy but not too relaxed week, so I'll take it as a win. I hope that you had a good week, and that you will have a less busy weekend than I. We'll see you on Monday!

Job posting: Senior Process Chemist III, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, Shelton, Connecticut

From the inbox: 

MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, a business of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI), is renowned worldwide for its commitment to revolutionizing the electronics industry. With a legacy spanning over a century, we have continually set new benchmarks for excellence, reliability, and sustainability in electronic materials.

Who are we looking for?

The selected individual will be responsible for transforming compounds and chemistries developed by the R&D team into commercially viable products. Key objectives include: (1) developing scalable production methods to enable larger batch quantities—initially for testing, followed by commercial manufacturing—and (2) establishing synthetic routes that prioritize safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. This role requires a balanced mix of theoretical expertise and hands-on experience. 

The ideal candidate will split their time between laboratory and production environments, conducting small-scale testing and reaction evaluations in the lab and facilitating successful large-scale implementation in the plant. Close collaboration with chemists, engineers, and operators is essential to drive innovation in product and process development. Additionally, this chemist will oversee the transfer of new products to the Pilot Production Laboratory and support the scale-up to High Volume Manufacturing (HVM), ensuring a seamless path to market.

Who are You?

• PhD degree > 3 years and or MS > 7 years of relevant experience, preferably in chemistry, or related field.
• > 3 years of formulation experience in electroplating or other wet process is preferred, especially in the Semiconductor or Printed Circuit Board industries.  
• Strong experience in chemical separation/purification such as filtration, evaporation, distillation, chromatography, and chemical characterization techniques (such as GPC, HPLC, LC-MS) that are used to analyze separated species. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. Contact person for this posting: Shannon Bria (Shannon.Bria@elementsolutionsinc.com)

NYT: China bans exports of gallium, germanium other materials to the United States in retaliation

Via the New York Times, this news: 

China said on Tuesday that it would begin banning the export of several rare minerals to the United States, an escalation of the tech war between the world’s two biggest powers. The move comes a day after the Biden administration tightened Chinese access to advanced American technology.

The ban signals Beijing’s willingness to engage in supply chain warfare by blocking the export of important components used to make valuable products, like weaponry and semiconductors.

Sales of gallium, germanium, antimony and so-called superhard materials to the United States would be halted immediately on the grounds that they have dual military and civilian uses, China’s Ministry of Commerce said. The export of graphite would also be subject to stricter review.

China is central to many global supply chains, but it generally refrained from clamping down on its own exports during the first Trump administration, preferring instead to take more limited actions like buying soybeans from Brazil instead of the United States. But senior Chinese officials are worried that President-elect Donald J. Trump plans more stringent policies during his coming term in office.

According to the article, tungsten is among the "superhard materials." I don't know where those 1 inch tungsten cubes come from, but I suspect they're going to get more expensive. 

WTOL: "Perrysburg High School teacher placed on administrative leave following chemical mix-up in science experiment"

Via WTOL in Toledo, OH: 

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A Perrysburg High School teacher has been placed on administrative leave following a chemical mix-up in a science class that led to several students experiencing symptoms requiring medical attention.

Perrysburg schools said during an activity Monday, the teacher "mistakenly provided ammonia instead of the intended vinegar for an experiment." The district said this resulted in multiple students "ingesting a small amount of the substance."

According to the district, some of the students experienced symptoms and were evaluated by a school nurse before being advised by Poison Control to seek further medical attention as a precaution.

The teacher has been placed on administrative leave, which I presume will end in their dismissal. I genuinely don't understand how this happened (i.e. why was anything in a chemistry lab ingested?) but I hope we will get some follow up with an answer as to what exactly happened. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 428 research/teaching positions and 65 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 428 research/teaching positions and 65 teaching positions. 

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

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

On December 5, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 472 research/teaching positions and 49 teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This will be the second open thread. This is the link to the first open thread.

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 112 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 112 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

NYT: "Mexican Cartels Lure Chemistry Students to Make Fentanyl"

Via the New York Times, this story: 

American law enforcement officials also said that many young chemists had been swept up in arrests at Mexican fentanyl labs in recent years. The arrested chemists told the authorities that they had been working on developing precursors and making the drug stronger, according to the officials.

A chemistry professor at a university in Sinaloa State said he knew that some students enrolled in chemistry classes just to become more familiar with skills needed to cook synthetic drugs. The professor, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said he had identified students who fit that profile by their questions and reactions during his lectures.

“Sometimes when I am teaching them synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs, they openly ask me, ‘Hey, professor, when are you teaching us how to synthesize cocaine and other things?’” he said.

...But as the cartels gain greater control of the fentanyl supply chain, U.S. officials say, it will become more difficult for law enforcement in both countries to stop the industrialized production of synthetic opioids in Mexico.

The cartels “know we are now focused on the illicit trafficking of these precursor chemicals around the world,” said Todd Robinson, the State Department’s assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Those efforts are driving the cartels “to try to bring this thing in-house,” Mr. Robinson said. “The practical result of that is their ability to more easily and quickly transfer those drugs to the United States.”

That the cartel is hiring chemists and chemistry students isn't news, I suppose, but I do think it is interesting that they are attempting to recruit undergraduate students for this work (especially the practical and economic manufacture of fentanyl precursors.) The cartel seems to have a fairly sophisticated ability to perform chemical manufacturing in Mexico*, so it seems to me that they would not be so naive as to be hiring brand new students into such economically important work for them. My gut feeling tells me that the cartels are consulting more experienced chemists. 

*I can't find the link to the evidence that they've been using catalytic techniques to epimerize their discarded D-methylamphetamine to a mixture that can be re-resolved to the tartrate salt.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Every year, I am incredibly thankful for my family, my friends, my community (physical and online) and my job. This year, I'm thankful for my coworkers and I'm really looking forward to a fun and interesting next year. 

I am still incredibly thankful for you, my readers and commenters. Thank you for your reading, your advice, your e-mails and your brilliant, insightful comments. I am genuinely grateful and touched that you folks are still reading this tiny little corner of the internet, and I hope that I will continue to earn your readership. 

This year, I am particularly thankful for Bluesky, where I have made a comfortable new home. If you ever liked Twitter in 2010 or so, it is that experience these days on Bluesky. What I like most about it is that it is a straight chronological timeline with only the folks that you follow. Join me on chemsky there.

[An additional note: if you would ever like to meet for a cup of coffee or a beer, please reach out to my e-mail address. I hope to find myself in many different places in 2025 (including Houston :-), and I love to meet readers of the blog.] 

My family and I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving and if you're not in the United States, a happy Thursday and Friday! 

Job posting: Senior Process Chemist III, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, Shelton, CT

From the inbox: 

MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, a business of Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI), is renowned worldwide for its commitment to revolutionizing the electronics industry. With a legacy spanning over a century, we have continually set new benchmarks for excellence, reliability, and sustainability in electronic materials.

Who are we looking for?

The selected individual will be responsible for transforming compounds and chemistries developed by the R&D team into commercially viable products. Key objectives include: (1) developing scalable production methods to enable larger batch quantities—initially for testing, followed by commercial manufacturing—and (2) establishing synthetic routes that prioritize safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. This role requires a balanced mix of theoretical expertise and hands-on experience. The ideal candidate will split their time between laboratory and production environments, conducting small-scale testing and reaction evaluations in the lab and facilitating successful large-scale implementation in the plant. Close collaboration with chemists, engineers, and operators is essential to drive innovation in product and process development. Additionally, this chemist will oversee the transfer of new products to the Pilot Production Laboratory and support the scale-up to High Volume Manufacturing (HVM), ensuring a seamless path to market.

Who are You?

• PhD degree > 3 years and or MS > 7 years of relevant experience, preferably in chemistry, or related field.
• > 3 years of formulation experience in electroplating or other wet process is preferred, especially in the Semiconductor or Printed Circuit Board industries.  
• Strong experience in chemical separation/purification such as filtration, evaporation, distillation, chromatography, and chemical characterization techniques (such as GPC, HPLC, LC-MS) that are used to analyze separated species. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 418 research/teaching positions and 61 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 418 research/teaching positions and 61 teaching positions. 

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

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

On November 28, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 461 research/teaching positions and 49 teaching positions.

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

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 112 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 112 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

CSB update on the BioLab fire in Conyers, GA

Via NBC, I see that the CSB has released its preliminary update on the Conyers, GA fire: 

Washington D.C. November 22, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released an investigation update into the chemical reaction and toxic gas release on September 29, 2024, at the Bio-Lab, Inc. facility in Conyers, Georgia, that resulted in a massive fire and plume of toxic smoke that threatened the surrounding community and the metropolitan Atlanta area.

The reaction involved materials stored in a warehouse that generated heat, which led to the  decomposition of the product, the release of toxic vapors, and fires.  The primary substances involved in the reaction were trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCA), along with bromochloro-5,5-dimethylimidazolidine-2,4-dione (BCDMH).  The resulting massive plumes of toxic smoke contained chlorine and other hazardous substances and caused significant offsite impacts. 

No major root cause updates as of yet, but the brown/red smoke is most likely from the bromo compound. Full report here.

Have a great weekend

Well, this turned out to be a darn good week, so I'm not going to complain about the medical procedure I have heading my way, lol. I hope that you had a good week, and that you do not have any procedures heading your way any time soon. I hope you have a great weekend, and we'll see you on Monday. 

Washington University (St. Louis) chemistry professor accused of sexual harassment

Via a Google News search for "chemistry", this news via Student Life, the newspaper of Washington University: 

Amidst allegations of inappropriate, non-consensual touching from multiple students, Associate Professor of Chemistry Jonathan Barnes is no longer teaching his section of organic chemistry for the rest of the semester, as of Nov. 14. 

Student Life spoke to four students who allegedly experienced non-consensual touching from Barnes on the arms, lower back, and upper thigh. Three of the students are currently enrolled in Barnes’ organic chemistry class, and one took the same course two years ago. Barnes has taught the class three times prior to the Fall 2024 semester since his hiring in 2016. 

Three of the four students have been granted anonymity due to concerns for their safety. Sources referred to throughout the article exclusively by their first name have been given pseudonyms to protect their identities. 

According to Barnes’ attorney, Christopher Combs, Barnes was temporarily relieved of teaching duties, following University policy, in order to “ensure all parties feel safe and supported,” but Barnes is still employed by the University and is continuing to carry out his research with students. Neither the University nor the Chemistry Department wished to comment on why Barnes, who was given tenure last year, is not teaching the organic chemistry course anymore.

Read the whole article here.

Postdoctoral posting: Experimental Investigation of Reactivity of Solid/Liquid Interface, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN

Via C&EN Jobs: 

The Geochemistry and Interfacial Sciences (GIS) Group in the Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) invites outstanding applications for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct experimental research focused on reactivity of solid-liquid interfaces, including on mineral nucleation and growth from aqueous solutions as well as interaction with carbon dioxide.

You will conduct experiments while making in situ observations as well as elevated temperature and pressure and analyzed ex situ. Experimental techniques might include X-ray/neutron scattering, atomic force microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis with mass spectrometry, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation measurements, optical profilometry, scanning electron microscopy, or other techniques.

The GIS group functions as a team, so you are a team player who enjoys collaborating with the other personnel in the GIS group, as well as personnel at ORNL’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), the Spallation neutron source (SNS) and the high-flux isotope reactor (HFIR).

Major Duties/Responsibilities: 

• Conduct independent research using experimental techniques and multi-modal microscopy characterization, which will include developing/optimizing methodologies for mineral analyses.
• Perform mineral nucleation, growth and carbonation experiments.
• Collaborate with ORNL researchers on the design and execution of microscopy and X-ray/neutron scattering experiments and subsequent characterization.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Colorado state water quality lab reports problems with metals testing

Via KUSA: 

DENVER — The EPA has revoked a testing certification for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) water quality lab, after an investigation found a chemist intentionally disregarded protocol in a method that tests for traces of metals, 9NEWS Investigates has learned.

The investigation into the chemist’s actions began in February, according to the state health department, but wasn’t made public until 9NEWS Investigates started asking questions about it last week. State health officials said the data problems may impact as many as 3% of the state’s 2,000 public water systems...

...According to the health department, in February, a managing chemist discovered anomalies in test results relating to one water quality method, method 200.7, which tests for metals and trace elements of barium, copper and chromium in drinking water. When the anomalies were discovered, the acting chemist was removed from all laboratory testing and the department launched an investigation, according to Hope Shuler, interim communications director for the department.

But CDPHE had not notified the EPA of the lapse until early April, according to a letter from the EPA to the state health department revoking CDPHE’s certification to test for that method. The letter from mid-April also noted that CDPHE did not have a timeline to determine the scope of the investigation or a communication plan to let the impacted water systems know about the issues with the testing data...

It's hard to know what happened here, but another report has a comment from the state about an "intentional disregard of protocol." I suppose we'll have to wait for more reporting before we'll know what happened...

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 415 research/teaching positions and 58 teaching positions

 The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 415 research/teaching positions and 58 teaching positions 

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

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

On November 21, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 455 research/teaching positions and 47 teaching positions.

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

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 111 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 111 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

C&EN: "Is Europe running out of chemistry teachers?"

Via Chemical and Engineering News, this surprising article (article by Vanessa Zainzinger): 

...In the 2023–24 school year, schools in England were able to recruit only 65% of the teaching staff they needed for chemistry, according to NFER research based on UK Department for Education data. That’s a lot better than staff recruitment for physics, which reached only 17% of its target, but worse than biology—an outlier among science subjects—for which schools recruited 93% of the teachers needed.

Young chemists have many reasons to avoid a teaching career. The most obvious one, Worth says, is that chemistry graduates can earn more money in the chemical industry. On average in the UK, entry-​level chemistry teaching positions start at £32,500 ($42,000) per year. That matches the average starting salary in the chemical industry, but a gap between career paths forms after a few years.

“The starting salary might be relatively attractive, but teachers reach the top of the scale after about 5 years,” says Andy Harvey, national officer for education at the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), a union that represents educators in Scotland. Young teachers soon find themselves without opportunities for promotion, Harvey says. “The thing with chemistry teachers is, they do have marketable skills. They can get better pay elsewhere.”

Unions like the EIS are unimpressed by some widely publicized UK government recruitment schemes, such as grants of up to £28,000 ($36,000) for those enrolling in chemistry teacher training courses and an extensive “Get into Teaching” media campaign. These efforts might lure people to the classroom, but they won’t make them stay, Harvey says. Retention rates are terrible. EIS’s most recent school survey found that 40% of chemistry teachers working in Scotland are considering leaving the profession within the next 5 years.

I guess I don't think about teacher numbers in the UK or Europe (in chemistry or otherwise), but I didn't know the situation wasn't particularly great. It doesn't sound like things are much better in Germany, either. Read the whole thing. 

Have a good weekend

This was a fun week, but you never know what you might find in an Indiana cornfield. I hope that you had a great week, and I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. See you on Monday. 

Sad news from Corteva

Multiple sources have indicated that Corteva Agriscience chemistry (both process and discovery) has suffered a pretty large layoff. That's pretty bad news, and I'm sorry to hear that, especially since Indianapolis does not offer many chemists the opportunity to get a new job without moving. 

Best wishes to all affected. 

Job posting: Associate Research Scientist, Dyes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York

Via C&EN Jobs, this position: 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

As the Associate Research Scientist, you will perform analyses and conduct research on natural and synthetic dyes as found in textiles, drawings, prints, paintings and other works of art in the Museum’s collection.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Analyze works of art in collaboration with conservators, curators, and colleagues in the Department of Scientific Research, with a particular focus on natural and synthetic dyes.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to conduct research on dyes, their history, provenance, and their degradation mechanisms.
• Develop analytical methods to improve sensitivity and minimize sample size for dye analysis.

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ph.D. in chemistry or equivalent experience (required).
• 2-4 years experience in analytical chemistry (required).
• Experience working in museum environments, specifically, either with or in proximity of art objects (preferred).
• Experience in gas and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (required).
• Experience implementing advanced statistical analysis methods on scientific data (preferred).

Salary: $105,000 - $110,000. Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Large explosion at Louisville, KY food coloring plant

credit: Michael Clevenger / Courier Journal 

Via WHII, this news: 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A large explosion was reported Tuesday afternoon in Louisville's Clifton neighborhood, and it wasn't the first time the factory experienced a hazardous materials incident.

MetroSafe confirmed a large explosion occurred in the 1900 block of Payne Street at about 3 p.m. 

Louisville Metro police advised the public to stay away from the area.

The business located at the address is the Givaudan Sense Colour company was formerly known as D.D. Williamson Company. It's known for producing the caramel color in soft drinks. 

D.D. Williams and Company started in 1865 and was bought by Givaudan Sense Colour in 2021. 

Givaudan Sense Colour also has facilities in the US, Ireland, and UK but they are headquartered in Louisville.

The Tuesday explosion is not the first time the plant on Payne Street has had issues.

In April 2003, one person was killed at the plant after a catastrophic vessel failure, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

That building sure looks like it was a pretty bad explosion. I'd love to know what caused such a large explosion, but I suppose we'll find out eventually. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 408 research/teaching positions and 54 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 408 research/teaching positions and 54 teaching positions 

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

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

On November 14, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 440 research/teaching positions and 40 teaching positions.

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

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 107 research/teaching positions and 15 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 107 research/teaching positions and 15 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

C&EN: "The chemical enterprise braces for a second Trump presidency"

In this week's Chemical and Engineering News, this summary (article by Leigh Krietsch Boerner and Rowan Walrath)

With the dust settling after the US elections, chemists are trying to work out how a second Donald J. Trump presidency will affect their work and lives.

Scientists in many corners are concerned—about their funding, about the politicization of their research areas, and about their intellectual freedom. Jennifer Jones, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, says scientists in federal and state governments who work in politicized fields like climate change are worried that “their name is going on a list.”

“President Trump has promised to fire government scientists and to dismantle scientific agencies,” Jones says. “Without strong federal science, historically marginalized communities bear the brunt of policies that benefit corporate profit over people and communities.”

A scientist in the federal government, who spoke to C&EN on the condition of anonymity because they fear retribution, worries that some government scientists “might just choose to throw in the towel.” That would leave the federal government without the staff needed to assess data and enact evidence-based policies, the person says.

It will be fascinating to see if the BIOSECURE Act is passed, and if it is signed in the lame duck session. I would expect yes, but we shall see. 

Give your instruments to the museums?

Also in this week's C&EN, this letter to the editor: 

We read with much interest the article discussing options of what to do with old laboratory equipment and instruments (C&EN, June 17, 2024, page 16). The article describes an ad hoc approach to dealing with surplus equipment, which is not dissimilar to our experiences at other institutions.

The author points out that less attention tends to be paid to expensive instruments after they have been superseded, and she lists three options: “Sell, donate, or scrap.” We would like to propose a fourth option: consider archiving old documents and equipment. Science and medicine museums, such as the Wellcome Collection and Science Museum in London, are considered national treasures in the UK: 89% of adults surveyed earlier this year said museums are important to UK culture. Museums attract visitors. The Science Museum, for example, attracts nearly 3 million visitors per year and appeared in the top 10 visitor attractions in the UK in 2013 and 2023.

People experience and learn science in many different places and ways, not just at school, and science museums are informal learning experiences that help broaden people’s perception of science and medicine. They also have the potential to inspire a broader range of people and bring about more diversity in the field.d

Please consider archiving documents and equipment, and remember that a beaker or an ordinary piece of kit today might constitute a precious artifact tomorrow.

Sami A. Al-Ani and Ilaria Scaglia 

Birmingham, England

Uh, I think that the available old scientific instruments could easily overwhelm museums. But hey, you can ask! 

Have a good weekend

Well, this week hasn't gone exactly the way I'd like. I hope that your week was better? I am very much looking forward to the weekend. I hope you have a great one. See you on Monday! 

Thinking about a second Trump Administration

Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States. I’m not happy about that. 

But this is not a blog about my personal feelings about politics; it is a blog to help chemists find jobs, and to help understand how to measure the quality of the job market. 

We have a couple of months before he takes office. I plan to spend some time between now and then making predictions as to actual Trump Administration policy, and how it might impact the readers of this blog. 

Five topics I can think of immediately: 

• Immigration: What will immigration policy be under the second Trump Administration? 
• Tariffs: How will Trump’s threatened tariffs impact American chemists? 
• Regulation: How will the EPA and the FDA be impacted under their new leadership? 
• Academic science: How will US academic science be impacted, in terms of funding for NIH and other federal funding agencies? 
• Employment: How will this change the long-term trajectory of employment for American chemists? 

What topics do you suggest I tackle? Please respond in the comments with specific topics and NOT predictions. (Please avoid posting lengthy political opinions in this thread. If you must post your political opinion, I ask that each person limit themselves to the same number of words as me - 6 words.) E-mails welcome: chemjobber@gmail.com 

Job posting: forensic drug analyst, Ministry of Health, Government of Bermuda

Via C&EN, this position: 

The Government Analyst works under the direction of the Senior Government Analyst to provide Forensic Drug Chemistry and technical analysis to assist in crime detection and associated reporting and presentation of evidence in court.

Applicants must possess BSc in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry or a related science degree together with a wide knowledge in Forensic Science and three (3) years relevant experience in Forensic Science or related Laboratory Science is required. In lieu of the requisite years of experience, consideration will be taken into applicants whom possess a Post-graduate degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Forensic Science along with at least one (1) years relevant experience.

This post is offered on a three year contract. Qualified persons wishing to be considered for the post may apply online at www.govtcareers.gov.bm by the specified closing date of 27th November, 2024.

Salary:  PS28 $93,610.96 (=US$ Equivalent)

Curious what the standard of living is on Bermuda (probably quite pricey). Best wishes to those interested. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 396 research/teaching positions and 45 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 396 research/teaching positions and 45 teaching positions 

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

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

On November 7, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 424 research/teaching positions and 40 teaching positions.

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

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 102 research/teaching positions and 14 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 102 research/teaching positions and 14 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

Harvard Crimson: Charles Lieber to visit Beijing for "employment networking"

Via the Harvard Crimson, this unusual news: 

A federal judge gave former Harvard Chemistry professor Charles M. Lieber permission to visit China for “employment networking” and give a lecture in Beijing — nearly three years after Lieber was convicted for lying to federal investigators about his relationship to China.

Lieber is currently serving a 18-month term of supervised release after completing six months of house arrest.

Lieber has been actively searching for employment in China since at least June, when he asked a judge if he could visit the University of Hong Kong the next month “to discuss potential faculty appointment and employment opportunities.”

In July, Lieber requested to attend the International Beijing Brain Conference in August to deliver a keynote speech and “discuss research and potential collaborations with local students.”

All three of Lieber’s requests were approved by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper. The most recent request, which Casper signed off on last week, did not specify Lieber’s planned dates of travel.

In the requests, Lieber’s attorneys wrote that they had sought approval for Lieber’s travel from the Chinese consulate but had not heard back.

The Crimson could not determine whether Lieber has visited China yet, and neither Lieber nor his attorneys responded to requests for comment. In August, he told the South China Morning Post via email that he had “not yet visited Hong Kong, but may do so this fall.”

In some sense, this is reasonable, i.e. China pays significant money to be associated with prominent academics, and Charles Lieber is certainly very prominent. Also, I presume that he needs employment. However, it was his past associations with Chinese academia that got him into trouble, and in that sense, this move is rather surprising. I guess we'll see where Dr. Lieber ends up. 

C&EN on horseshoe crab blood testing

In the latest issue of C&EN, this fascinating feature by Laurel Oldach:

At a recent meeting of the Parenteral Drug Association, where industry microbiologists discussed ways to make drugs without a trace of unwanted biological material, photos of horseshoe crabs danced across a screen between sessions. The sediment-snuffling arthropod with a dozen legs and a shell like a helmet may seem like an unlikely pairing with the sleek, highly engineered robotics of a pharmaceutical production line. But estuaries teeming with life and clean rooms where it should be all but absent are linked by their dependence on this animal.

That is poised to change. In November, US regulators will formally announce their acceptance of alternatives to a key test that ensures drug products are not contaminated. The new tests will use proteins produced in bioreactors rather than in wild horseshoe crabs.

The change was hard fought. Arguments played out in the technical literature and in expert committee meetings. The stakes included hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales for the company with the most to lose from a switch and the professional reputations of a group of industry insiders who were fired from their volunteer jobs. Now it appears that the tide may be turning on endotoxin tests made from horseshoe crab blood—but it hasn’t gone out just yet.

This piece is pretty long and detailed, but it is definitely worth it, as it explains the rather labyrinthine process of changing USP standards, and how it is its own bureaucratic battlefield. Read the whole thing. 

Have a great week

This has been kind of a wild week, but here I am, I guess, with a larger project due. At least I got a couple of decent meals out of it. Hope you had a great week, and have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

Meet a candy scientist and their IP

Via the Wall Street Journal, this fun bit of intellectual property trivia: 

...Taste testers wanted more flavor and felt the chewing experience wasn’t gummy enough, so Ferrara made the product even tangier and tweaked the crunch-to-chew ratio. 

In the summer of 2020, the candy company and the inventor of Nerds Gummy Clusters, a Ferrara scientist named Sean Oomens, filed for a patent on a “dual-textured confectionery” with a “chewy center” and “crunchy coating.” 

The details in the application, which is pending, included an exact definition of gummy (“a springy, resilient character with varying degrees of firmness”) and a less exact shape of the cluster (“generally ovoid, spherical or bean-shaped”). 

...Ferrara’s experiments with Gummy Clusters did result in batches of soggy Nerds, according to a person familiar with the process. The patent on Gummy Clusters suggests that Ferrara’s candy scientists solved their problem with additives such as gum arabic, an additive that prevents moisture from the chewy center from seeping into the candy pebble’s coating...

I bet it's a lot of fun to be a candy scientist, but you probably have a serious salt tooth at the end of a work day... 

makes you wonder who the PHOSITA for candy science would be... 

Job posting: Head of R&D, Sironix Renewables, Seattle, WA

Via BlueSky, this position: 

About us: We’re a startup company with proven technology developing eco-friendly and bio-renewable surfactant chemicals for consumer products, such as laundry detergents and personal care products. Sironix has invented and developed a series of new surfactant molecules that will make our consumer products work better and benefit our environment. We have received over $7M in government investment and partnerships along with recent venture funding. We are searching for an applicant who can help us refine and scale our surfactant manufacturing process, overcome barriers to technology commercialization and achieve a more responsible future for the cleaning and personal care industry.

Summary: As Head of Research and Development at Sironix Renewables, you will be joining a company at the forefront of green chemistry, bio-renewables, and product development. You will be aiding the development and scale-up of surfactant production methods as we transition from pre-pilot toward commercial scale manufacturing. Responsibilities primarily involve coordinating with contract and chemical manufacturers to de-risk and scale manufacturing processes, designing and implementing experimental plans to meet customer product specifications, supporting R&D efforts as they relate to intellectual property and grants management, as well as performing equipment maintenance as required. 

They will lead a small team of full-time research scientists while managing relationships with contract engineers. Quality control, including use and maintenance of chromatography, spectroscopy and surfactant performance test instrumentation, will be an important focus to assure our product continues to meet our standards as scaling continues. Tasks require management of simultaneous research projects, effective communication with customers, collaborators, and other team members, as well as auxiliary technical tasks outside of typical lab work to help grow our business. As is the nature of research, creative problem solving is required in order to ensure consistent and confident data. The working conditions and fellow employees are relaxed, but we are motivated and determined to build a name for ourselves and change the way the world cleans!

Salary: A starting salary of $110,000 to $150,000 per year is expected.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, or related Engineering discipline with 2 years of relevant industry experience, or M.S. with 4 years of relevant industry experience, or B.S. with 6 years of relevant industry experience required
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working independently to design and implement chemistry experiments in the laboratory, including demonstrated wet chemistry skills as well as analytical and problem-solving skills to interpret and refine results
• High mechanical aptitude and knowledge of mechanical concepts needed to maintain, troubleshoot and repair mechanical equipment and electrical device

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

C&EN: Chemistry undergraduate enrollment falling faster than all programs

Friend of the blog Leigh Krietsch Boerner has a great feature in Chemical and Engineering News tackling the problem of undergraduate enrollment in chemistry. The whole article is worth reading, but this analysis by Leigh is the most important: 

...According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, enrollment at 4-year colleges in the US has dropped 3.2% since 2019. Enrollment in chemistry programs, meanwhile, has tumbled 23.2% over the same period.

In contrast, undergraduate enrollment in biology fell about the same amount as all undergraduate enrollment since 2019. And at a time when college enrollment is dropping and students are opting out of higher education, the number of biology degrees has actually increased since 2019. According to C&EN’s analysis, the number of undergraduate degrees awarded in biology has gone up 7.5% since 2019. During the same period, the number of bachelor’s degrees in all disciplines dropped by 2.6%, while chemistry degrees were down 14.1%.

As of the end of the 2023–24 academic year, only a few hundred more schools offered degrees in biology than in chemistry. And in the past 5 years, the number of programs in each discipline has fallen at about the same rate. But according to C&EN’s analysis, US higher education institutions awarded 132,465 biology degrees in 2023, compared with 12,567 chemistry degrees. And schools don’t seem to be ending their biology programs.

It seems reasonable to conclude this isn't going to do great things for chemistry as a field in the United States, nor chemistry employment (for chemists) nor for the number of non-R1 chemistry faculty positions. Here's hoping that we see a turnaround. Read the whole thing. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 378 research/teaching positions and 41 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 378 research/teaching positions and 41 teaching positions 

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

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

On October 31, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 415 research/teaching positions and 38 teaching positions.

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

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Are you having problems accessing the Google Sheet because of a Google Documents error? Email me at chemjobber@gmail.com and I will send you an Excel download of the latest sheet. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 95 research/teaching positions and 14 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 95 research/teaching positions and 14 teaching positions. 

Here is a link to the open thread for the year.

C&EN: "Rigoberto Hernandez elected 2025 ACS president-elect"

Via C&EN (article by Sara Cottle), this ACS news:

Rigoberto Hernandez has been elected the 2025 American Chemical Society president-elect by ACS members. Hernandez will serve as society president in 2026 and immediate past president in 2027. These roles include serving on the board of directors from 2025 to 2027.

ACS members also elected four other people into ACS governance positions, including the first-ever International District director.

...In other election news, Katherine L. Lee, executive director and head of scientific planning and operations in the Inflammation and Immunology Research Unit at Pfizer, was re-elected District I director for 2025–27, defeating Matthew Grandbois, vice president of business development at AirJoule.

Silvia S. Jurisson, a professor of chemistry and radiology at the University of Missouri, was elected District V director for 2025–27, defeating two other candidates, Lisa M. Balbes, independent consultant at Balbes Consultants, and Mark C. Cesa, retired from Ineos Nitriles.

David Wu, director and research fellow at the Institute of Chemistry at Academia Sinica, was elected ACS’s first ever International District director for 2025–27, defeating Hooi-Ling Lee, an associate professor at the School of Chemical Sciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia. The petition creating this position was approved by the ACS Council and Board of Directors in August 2023 and ratified by the members in November 2023.

Natalie A. LaFranzo, vice president of strategy at the Linus Group, was re-elected director-at-large, defeating Sergio Nanita, a senior principal investigator at Incyte.

Best wishes to ACS President-elect Hernandez and the other new BoD members.