Have a good weekend

Uh, I don't think I had a good week, even though I tried mightily to move my 300 balls forward. I hope that you had a good week, and that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

Trump: Pharma tariffs to start

Via the Wall Street Journal on Thursday: 

President Trump reiterated his pledge to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors during his Air Force One flight Thursday, but he didn't say when they would be announced.

“The chips are starting very soon,” he said. “The pharma is going to start coming in, I think, at a level that we haven’t really seen before. We are looking at pharma right now. Pharmaceuticals. It’s a separate category. We’ll be announcing that sometime in the near future. It’s under review right now.”

Well, I don't know what this all means, but I don't think it means anything good for chemists in the United States. I guess we're going to find out. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 501 research/teaching positions and 94 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 501 research/teaching positions and 94 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 April 2, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 546 research/teaching positions and 82 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. 

Celanese plant has acid spill on March 20

Via WDBJ: 

NARROWS, Va. (WDBJ) - Six people were injured Thursday morning in an acid spill at the Celanese Corporation chemical plant in Narrows. There were no fatalities, according to the company and the Giles County Sheriff’s Office.

Of the six victims, three are being treated at Carilion Giles Community Hospital; two are in critical condition, according to a Carilion spokesperson. The third is reportedly stable. One more victim was taken to LewisGale Hospital Montgomery, but has been released. The other two were not hospitalized.

Approximately 10 a.m. March 20, 2025. “a release of acetic acid vapor occurred in the Cellulose Acetate Unit at Narrows, Virginia, initially causing injuries to six employees. The release has been contained and is confined to the immediate area of the plant within the fenceline; no additional impact is expected,” according to a company spokesperson.

The Giles County Sheriff’s Office confirms, “The incident was contained to the Celanese Plant property and there no longer appears to be any danger to anyone in the area. The majority of emergency personnel have cleared the scene.”

This is a good reminder that acetic acid is pretty harmful stuff at industrial concentrations and volume. Best wishes to the victims. 

I'd love to understand how the release happened, but I'm guessing it was one of those "turned the wrong valve" situations... 

Have a good weekend

Well, this was a fun week, even as I am enthusiastic for the weekend. I hope you had a week with less driving than I did, but I can't say I didn't sign up for it. I hope you have a good weekend, and we'll see you on Monday. 

Job posting: Principal Chemist - Research, Development and Engineering (RDE), ChampionX, Sugar Land, TX

Via ACS Chemistry Careers: 

The Chemical Technologies RD&E team is seeking a Principal Chemist to support new product development related to oilfield phase separation and flow improvement. The qualified candidate will support the entire life cycle of the Oilfield Chemicals emulsion breaker, reverse emulsion breaker and flow improvers product lines. Job responsibilities include the development of new experimental products and digital solutions, field evaluation at customer sites, new product introduction, manufacturing and supply chain support, and customer-facing technical support.  The ideal candidate is highly versatile, communicates effectively, and thrives in a collaborative environment.  

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, or related technical field. PhD and < 2 years of experience, MS and 3+ years of experience, BS and +5 years of experience.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. 
• Proven innovator and problem solver
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 50%
• No immigration VISA sponsorship will be offered for this role

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience building emulsion breaker or reverse emulsion breaker formulations in a field setting is desired
• Prior experience in the oil and gas industry specifically oilfield chemicals, is desired
• Demonstrated project management and organizational skills

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Pick up the phone?

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

Reproducibility of scientific findings

I found the timing and tone of the article on reproducibility particularly interesting given the current state of politics (C&EN, March 17, 2025, page 20). But that set aside, what I did not read from the author of this article was a little simple advice, like, scientists need to pick up their phones and use them for what they were initially intended for.

This advice, which I was given by professor Peter Schultz in 1992, accelerated my trajectory through the Chemistry Department of the University of California, Berkeley, and thanks to the new friend I made at Harvard University in the process, I published an article in Science and received my doctorate degree 3 years later.

What I have found since is that there is much more to the methods section than most journals allow one to write, and thus simple but important details are left out­—and probably more than 90% of the time. So even though I do think there are some bad scientists and some findings cannot be reproduced, I also believe that 90% of scientists may be too intimidated to simply pick up the phone and get the details. If they do, maybe they, too, will make a new friend.

James Prudent 
Madison, Wisconsin

I like the idea of picking up the phone, but...

I have to say that a phone call should not be required for normal reproduction of a paper. I think it's probably better to talk on the phone than to publish something on PubPeer first, but the goal of writing a paper should be providing sufficient information to enable independent reproduction by another scientist. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 500 research/teaching positions and 93 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 500 research/teaching positions and 93 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 March 26, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 545 research/teaching positions and 82 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. 

C&EN: "Trickles of layoff plans at EPA, NIH hint at big cuts"

Also in this week's C&EN, this summary of cuts at EPA and NIH (article by Leigh Krietsch Boerner and Rowan Walrath)

Federal agencies are awash in uncertainty as details about reduction-in-force (RIF) plans, ordered by President Donald J. Trump, slowly seep out. As part of his Feb. 11 executive order to “eliminat[e] waste, bloat, and insularity,” Trump required federal agencies to prepare and submit reorganization plans by March 13 that include large-scale RIFs.

Many federal scientific agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture, have yet to share details of their RIF plans. But parts of plans at other science agencies suggest that many federal workers may soon lose their jobs. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a few details of its plans ahead of the March 13 deadline, but employees mostly remain unaware of what’s to come, according to NIH staffers. And parts of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s plans were first reported March 17 by the New York Times.

According to a portion of the EPA’s reorganization plan shared with C&EN by Democratic staff on the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, the EPA is proposing to eliminate the Office of Research Development (ORD), the agency’s research arm.

The reorganization plan reviewed by the committee’s Democratic staff says the ORD has 1,540 employees, not counting special government employees and public health officers, “of which we anticipate a majority (50–75%) will not be retained.” The remaining ORD employees will be transferred to other EPA program offices, the plan says.

This is grim news for federal scientists. If any of the RIF'd scientists are readers, please feel free to email: chemjobber -at- gmail dot com. 

C&EN: "European states push Critical Chemicals Act"

In this week's C&EN, this news (article by Alex Scott): 

Led by Marc Ferracci, France’s minister for industry and energy, eight European countries have released a series of measures they want the European Union (EU) to adopt to protect the region’s ailing chemical industry.

Called the EU Critical Chemicals Act and outlined in a joint statement by the countries, the proposed legislation is a response to the European chemical industry’s lack of global competitiveness, a situation that has led to a series of plant closures across the region.

The EU Critical Chemicals Act would protect “building block” molecules considered important to the European chemical industry, the countries state. The act would replace current state aid rules so that countries can support the modernization of strategic facilities and protect manufacturers from high energy prices and low-cost products from competitors outside the region. Additionally, the act would foster R&D.

The countries have identified 18 chemicals that are critical to the region and need protection: ammonia, benzene, butadiene, chlorine, ethylene, hydrofluoric acid, lysine, methanol, methionine, phenol, propylene, silicon, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, styrene, sulfur, toluene, and xylene.

“They form the building-blocks that are essential in the upstream to the defense, health, food, automotive, construction, green tech and other major industries—the absence of which could pose a threat to public and societal interests,” the statement says.

Pretty interesting list of chemicals. I know a lot of these are manufactured in the US, but I wonder if that's the case for the amino acids. 

(There is a weird aspect of the last ten years where government aid for private industry is going up - I wonder where it ends.) 

Have a great weekend

This has been a very long week, with a lot of ups and downs. Hopefully you had a great week. I can't wait to get home, and I can't wait to have a quiet weekend. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. See you for a (hopefully) normal week around here on Monday! 

Letters to the editor: "Federal layoffs"

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

The Feb. 24 report on the dismissal of employees from US regulatory and science funding agencies (C&EN Feb. 24, 2025, page 14) highlights ongoing concerns about the impact of antiscience sentiments. For the sake of brevity, I’ll illustrate the real-world consequences of such a misguided view by focusing on Donald J. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

During the blizzard of ’78, I struggled more than a mile uphill through an intense snowstorm, battling 50 mi/h (80 km/h) winds that were pummeling my face and body with freezing snow, and trudging through snowdrifts—some as high as my waist—to get to the laboratories of Worcester Foundation in Massachusetts. My steadfast focus was on preventing the loss of more than a year’s worth of research; missing but a single day of injecting the animals would have delayed a project that ultimately delivered a life-extending drug to women with breast cancer.

Last month, in stark contrast to the efforts above, DOGE carelessly and needlessly shut the funding spigot for medical care and research, delaying treatments for childhood cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, mental health, and diabetes research. Even worse, DOGE’s uncaring termination of the US Agency for International Development, created by John F. Kennedy in 1961, risks that highly contagious lethal diseases will spread worldwide.

It’s a simple task for one of Elon Musk’s whiz kids to lean forward in an easy chair—perhaps while sipping a brew—going about the task of slashing the US debt, giving no more thought to their actions than crushing an ant underfoot.

Quite to the contrary, both before and after my 1978 trudge, scientists have worked diligently—sometimes at great personal sacrifice—to achieve medical breakthroughs that have benefited both the US and the world.

The current administration should be carefully assessing the potential consequences of its policy changes to ensure the continued advancement of medical research and the protection of public health. It obviously is not.

The root cause of this ignorance is the underlying antiscience rhetoric. The proliferation of misinformation has become a dangerous trend, eroding public trust in scientific endeavors and undermining critical advancements. This ignorance is perpetuated by a myriad of sources, each contributing to the chaos.

We scientists must find ways to make our voices heard.  

David Allen Marsh 

Bonita Beach, Florida 

It's remarkable what sacrifices scientists make for their experiments. 

Have a great weekend

Well, I need to get more work done, but I think I will be able to manage it. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend, and we will see you on Monday. 

ACS takes down Inclusivity Style Guide for revision

Via Bluesky, the American Chemical Society worked on a very thorough style guide for inclusivity. The portions on “Gender and Sexuality” and on “Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality” were apparently recently taken down. Here is the response from Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay, the senior vice president for Inclusion and Belonging when Kelly Sheppard of Skidmore College wrote in: 

Dear Dr. Sheppard,

Thank you for reaching out about the American Chemical Society's Inclusivity Style Guide.

As part of our work to develop a new strategic plan, ACS updated one of our core values to recognize inclusion and belonging for all people, as follows: "We create environments where people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and experiences thrive."

This core value is at the heart of all ACS resources, including the Inclusivity Style Guide.

The updated core value reflects the long and transformative work ACS has done to create an inclusive environment where everyone belongs and flourishes. It builds on ACS' past work and prioritizes the ongoing achievement of certain goals, including attainment of full, authentic participation and fair treatment across all identities and experiences.

ACS remains fully committed to inclusion and belonging. We have not abandoned our core value; rather, we are refining our resources to ensure they remain impactful in current times.

We want to ensure that the guide continues be a useful and accurate tool for creating inclusive content and communications. To protect the integrity of the guide, we have paused specific sections for review and refinement, so they remain effective. Once this review is completed, we will repost the updated sections.

We understand the frustration, concern and hurt this has caused. We welcome constructive dialogue and input to ensure that our inclusivity resources meet the needs of our community. This guide is one tool in ACS' broader effort to foster inclusion.

We truly value your membership in ACS. Please let me know if you'd like to discuss this matter.

Best regards, Rajendrani (Raj) Mukhopadhyay

Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay (she/her) Senior Vice President, Inclusion and Belonging

It is both very weird and very emblematic of ACS that they would make these changes without really answering any questions about it (and pretending that it isn't about our current political climate.) I guess we'll see what the new sections look like when they come out, and then we can make further judgments. 

WB DVDs from the 2000s are malfunctioning?

Via Ars Technica, this unusual news: 

In a statement to JoBlo shared on Tuesday, WBD confirmed widespread complaints about DVDs manufactured between 2006 and 2008. The statement said:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is aware of potential issues affecting select DVD titles manufactured between 2006 – 2008, and the company has been actively working with consumers to replace defective discs.

Where possible, the defective discs have been replaced with the same title. However, as some of the affected titles are no longer in print or the rights have expired, consumers have been offered an exchange for a title of like-value.

Consumers with affected product can contact the customer support team at whv@wbd.com.

This was an interesting comment on the potential chemistry issues: 

its oxidation of the metal substrate that is encased in the plastic outer disc. The readable surface in there needs to stay sealed between the layers but eventually the bonding between them can fail and let in air which is why the rot usually starts from the inside of the disc and spreads outward. I worked on the blu-ray standard and this was a big concern when designing that format as the disc itself was even more prone to quickly degrading due to the even smaller physical indentations that designate a 1/0 on the disc media (compared to a dvd).

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the composition of optical discs: 

Write-once optical discs commonly have an organic dye (may also be a (phthalocyanine) azo dye, mainly used by Verbatim, or an oxonol dye, used by Fujifilm[4]) recording layer between the substrate and the reflective layer. Rewritable discs typically contain an alloy recording layer composed of a phase change material, most often AgInSbTe, an alloy of silver, indium, antimony, and tellurium.[5] Azo dyes were introduced in 1996 and phthalocyanine only began to see wide use in 2002. The type of dye and the material used on the reflective layer on an optical disc may be determined by shining a light through the disc, as different dye and material combinations have different colors.

Sounds like it's probably not actually the metal? Pretty interesting to think about, though. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 496 research/teaching positions and 88 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 497 research/teaching positions and 91 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 March 12, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 534 research/teaching positions and 82 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. 

Job posting: visiting assistant professor, general/organic, Murray State University, Murray, KY

Via LinkedIn: 

Murray State's Department of Chemistry is looking for a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor for the next academic year (25-26). The candidate must have a PhD in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering, and must be able to teach general and/or organic chemistry (biochemistry is also an option). MSU is an ACS accredited, primarily undergraduate department with nearly 75 majors and over 100 minors in rural western Kentucky. Research space for the candidate is also an option. Please provide CV if interested.

Email Professor Kevin Miller (kmiller38 -at- murraystate.edu) if interested. 

C&EN: "Chemical makers brace for trade war"

In this week's C&EN, this article by Alex Tullo: 

...A trade war would be disruptive to the chemical industry. Canada, Mexico, and China are the top three US trading partners generally and the three leading export destinations for chemicals. Canada imported $29.5 billion worth of chemicals, excluding pharmaceuticals, from the US in 2024; Mexico imported $27.6 billion, and China, $14.7 billion.

Over the past decade, exports have become increasingly important to the US chemical industry. Because US petrochemical makers have access to cheap raw materials extracted from natural gas found in shale, they enjoy a cost advantage over their foreign counterparts. They have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on new capacity for products sold into export markets. For example, according to the Census Bureau, US exports of polyethylene and copolymers have more than doubled since 2014, hitting $16.5 billion in 2024. New tariffs imposed by other countries on products like these would chip away at the US advantage.

The US is also a major destination for exports from Canada, China, and Mexico. It imported $24.1 billion in chemicals from Canada, $13.8 billion from China, and $7.8 billion from Mexico last year.

Many US specialty and fine chemical makers depend on chemical intermediates that are produced mainly or exclusively in China. In 2019, the previous Trump administration erected tariffs of around 25% on many Chinese imports. At the time, US specialty chemical makers were able to appeal to the Office of the US Trade Representative to secure exclusions so that the raw materials they needed wouldn’t appear on duty lists.

Fewer than 20% of the exclusion requests were granted, notes Robert Helminiak, vice president of legal and government relations for the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA), a trade group. Now there will be no such process, and US importers will have to pay the duty on all products.

“The executive order is explicit in that there are no exemptions,” Helminiak says.

It will be really interesting to see what the Chinese do in response. The Trump Administration folks seem to think that the Chinese will simply lower their prices (and there appears to be deflation in China already?). I suppose we shall see.

Have a great weekend

Well, it wasn't an entirely bad week, I felt. I hope you had a great week. I have an early Saturday - hope you have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

Reddit: Iowa State Chemistry cancels PhD admissions for international student

Via Reddit: 

The poster is an international student. 

This is the Trump Administration's doing, and it is bad for the country. 

Washington Examiner: ACS being sued for race-based ACS Scholars program

Via the Washington Examiner: 

Nation’s top chemistry group sued over race-based scholarship

By Kaelan Deese

March 5, 2025 10:45 am

EXCLUSIVE — The nation’s largest network for scientists and chemists is facing a legal challenge over a scholarship program that allegedly blocks students from applying based on race.

The American Chemical Society, or ACS, is facing a federal lawsuit claiming its ACS Scholars Program unlawfully excludes white and Asian students, reserving eligibility for “historically underrepresented” groups such as black, Hispanic, and Native American applicants. The complaint, filed in Washington D.C. federal court by the nonprofit organization Do No Harm, argues that the program violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

At the center of the lawsuit is a high-achieving high school senior who was instantly deemed ineligible after disclosing her multiracial background. Identified in the lawsuit as “Member A,” she holds a 4.34 GPA, a perfect ACT science score, and a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam. The lawsuit argues ACS shut her out solely because of her race.

Here's the text of the lawsuit. I'm probably too close to both the subject matter (college admissions) and the ACS to comment rationally, but suffice it to say that I am unimpressed with the lawsuit. I think that's the limit of what I have to say in public on the matter. 

Nevertheless, a mission of this blog is to cover the American Chemical Society with a certain level of independence and to provide analysis. As an analytical matter, I don't see ACS being willing to put up with a lot of political pressure nor being willing to spend a lot of money on this. I'm not a lawyer, and so it will be interesting to see how far this gets in the courts. 

Job posting: Senior Principal Scientist/Synthetic Peptide Chemist, Process Chemistry, Vertex, Boston MA

Via Bluesky: 

Vertex is seeking an experienced peptide chemist to join the Process Chemistry group. In this lab-based position you will be responsible for the synthesis, purification, and characterization of small organic compounds, peptides and possibly peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PPMOs). In addition, you will be responsible for any tech transfer to external CMOs for phase appropriate development and scale-up.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the synthesis, purification, and characterization of small organic compounds, peptides, and oligonucleotides under minimal supervision
• Manage relationships with external partners
• Identify and advocate for innovative synthetic strategies to project teams

Education and Experience:

PhD 6-8 years of experience, or MS degree with 9 years or experience (or equivalent education and experience) in synthetic organic chemistry or peptide chemistry Experience managing external CROs/CMOs

Experience in nucleic acid modifications and delivery of oligonucleotides are highly desirable

Experience with small- and large-scale CS-Bio solid phase peptide synthesizers (CS136x, CS936, or equivalent) in non-GMP and GMP environments

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

MLB infielder Paul DeJong's grandmother was a Dow chemist

Via friend of the blog Stephanie, this fun article: 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- It is not uncommon for Major League players to be influenced by a professional athlete in their family. In the Nationals' clubhouse, Darren Baker, Luis García Jr. and Marquis Grissom Jr. are among those whose fathers played in the bigs.

All-Star infielder Paul DeJong was inspired by his grandmother, Sharon Whipple -- an All-Star in her own field of work. Before he reached the Majors, DeJong considered a career as a doctor and graduated from Illinois State with a degree in biochemistry.

“She had some patents on reverse osmosis when she was working back in the day,” DeJong said. “... As a kid, I always gravitated towards science and math because she was a big proponent of that, and also my mind kind of worked the same way.”

Pretty fun article - read the whole thing!

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 496 research/teaching positions and 88 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 496 research/teaching positions and 88 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 March 3, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 534 research/teaching positions and 80 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. 

Postdoctoral opening: new organic ligand towards lanthanide metal complexes, Daly Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

From the inbox: 

The laboratory of Dr. Scott R. Daly in the University of Iowa Department of Chemistry is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Scholar to join an exciting project aimed at developing new organic ligands for the synthesis and separation of lanthanide metal complexes.

The Postdoctoral Research Scholar will be tasked with leading efforts to prepare, purify, and design organic chemicals and ligand targets for the proposed applications.

Qualified applicants must have experience and expertise in multistep organic synthesis, purification of organic chemicals and intermediates, and chemical analysis and characterization techniques such as NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Experience in synthetic coordination chemistry (especially with lanthanide elements) is viewed as desirable, though not required. Applicants with an expressed interest in developing these skills will be viewed positively...

Application Information

Candidates must submit a cover letter, CV (including publication history), research statement, and contact information for up to three professional references. Evaluation of candidates will begin on April 1, 2025, and continue until the position is filled. The earliest start date is June 1, 2025.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 119 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 119 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

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

Will the ACS address the Trump Administration's attack on academic funding?

I made a series of comments on Bluesky (more or less off the cuff), but I guess I'll make them here as well. I was thoroughly unimpressed with ACS' recent statement "in support of science": 

...Each year, the American Chemical Society develops a U.S. public policy agenda that outlines how the organization will work with Congress and the administration throughout the course of the year. The agenda is shared at the start of the year when both bodies are traditionally preparing for the year ahead. But the start of this year has been different with federal actions coming immediately. The resulting changes in the federal landscape have been swift, leaving many unsure about what lies ahead. 

We are seeing changes occurring that have potential impacts on the areas of research eligible for federal funding, the types of scientific data being reported, and the level of indirect costs associated with federal biomedical research grants. These are just some of the potential impacts facing the scientific enterprise, with new actions emerging each day...

We're in this moment that we don't really understand, with a real "fog of war" aspect, because the government simply is not actually talking about what they are doing. The Trump White House* appears to be attacking American scientific academia by cutting off funding from NSF and NIH, and slowing the process of grants and cutting indirect costs to the point that universities are beginning to slow PhD admissions (although things seem to be unfreezing now.) 

I've observed ACS leadership long enough to know that political courage or speed are simply not in the cards, and I recognize that they are probably trying to avoid attracting attention, and that the Trump Administration seems very likely to attack non-profits through the tax system for punishment. Nevertheless, simple acknowledgement of what is happening and the level of seeming existential alarm that is taking place in American academia does not seem forthcoming. I desperately hope to be proven wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. 

As I said, surely ACS leadership is working on a plan to petition the government for a redress of American academic chemistry grievances. I hope to see that plan, and very soon. 

*(seeing as how a lot of the ructions started well before, say, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed.) 

Have a great weekend

Well, this was a long week, but it's almost done. I hope that you had a great week. Have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

Job posting: research chemist, ExxonMobil, Baytown, TX

Via Indeed: 

ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Company has an opening for a chemist in the Organometallic Catalysis department located at our research facilities in the Houston, Texas area. This is our industry leading polymerization catalysis group. The successful candidate will join an enthusiastic group of scientists responsible for the discovery, development, and commercialization of new catalyst technology applied to the chemical industry.

What will you do

• Discover, develop, and commercialize catalyst technology applied to the chemical industry
• Develop creative independent research efforts in catalysis broadly defined

Skills and Qualifications

• PhD in Chemistry
• Deep expertise in organometallic, organic, or inorganic chemistry
• Demonstrated track record in creative research

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

C&EN: "Impacts of NSF firings come into focus as scientists weigh next steps"

Via C&EN's Krystal Vasquez: 

US scientists are figuring out their next steps and expressing mounting concerns in the aftermath of the National Science Foundation’s move on Feb. 18 to fire about 10% of its permanent workforce...

...The NSF was already understaffed, says one former program officer affected by the firings, who would speak to C&EN only under the condition of anonymity because they plan to appeal their termination from the agency.

Now those whom the firings spared are strategizing to determine how to distribute all the work that their former colleagues would have shared, says a current program coordinator, who insisted on anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

One fired NSF employee on an expert appointment and two fired program directors, all of whom would speak to C&EN only under the condition of anonymity to avoid backlash or retaliation, say the termination notice came while many were in the middle of setting up review panels, finding reviewers, or working on solicitations—all key aspects of reviewing and awarding grants.

“It’s taking an enormous amount of effort to reassign everything that these brilliant people did,” the current program coordinator says over Signal, a secure messaging service. “We are working through deep, deep grief.”

Read the whole thing. This is quite horrible. Sorry I don't have more words. Best wishes to all those affected. 

Job posting: visiting assistant professor of chemistry, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

From the inbox: 

The Department of Chemistry at St. Olaf College invites applications for a full-time, one- or two-year position at the level of Visiting Instructor or Assistant Professor, to begin August 2025. 

Teaching responsibilities will include courses in biochemistry and general chemistry. 

Salary: $59,000 - $64,000

Qualifications: Applicants should have a Ph.D. in chemistry or a relevant field or expect completion of such prior to employment.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 492 research/teaching positions and 85 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 492 research/teaching positions and 85 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 February 20, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 526 research/teaching positions and 80 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. 

Job posting: visiting assistant professor of chemistry, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

From the inbox: 

The Department of Chemistry at Colgate University invites applications for one or more one-year Visiting Assistant Professor positions beginning in the fall semester of 2025. 

The successful candidate will teach an annual five-course load with contributions to the introductory-level chemistry curriculum and the possibility of upper-level courses in the candidate’s area of expertise. Visitors will have the opportunity, if desired, to conduct research and aid in the supervision of undergraduate research students. They will also gain professional development through mentoring in teaching and conducting research at an undergraduate institution. 

A faculty member notes "We're looking for at least one, probably two, visiting professors in Chemistry or Biochemistry and we're pretty flexible with respect to subfield expertise." 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Graduate schools, including the University of Pittsburgh, are freezing PhD admissions

Via WESA: 

Amid uncertainty about frozen research aid from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Pittsburgh has put its Ph.D. admissions on ice. The school confirmed Friday that there would be no new Ph.D. offers of admission while Pitt works to understand how reduced federal aid could impact the institution.

The move comes as research universities across the country battle against the National Institutes of Health over a policy to reduce the funding cap for ancillary research expenses like building construction and maintenance as well as support staff.

The policy would reduce the cap for those indirect research costs to 15%. Pitt’s current rate is 59%. A federal judge extended a temporary pause on implementation of that policy Friday. But Pitt’s decision to halt admissions was made earlier in the week.

On Bluesky, Professor Geoff Hutchison noted that the Piit Department of Chemistry has already issued admissions and were in the midst of a visit weekend. 

[Here's a running list of schools that have confirmed that they're pausing PhD admissions, with various levels of confirmations.]

It's really hard to make predictions because we simply do not know what is going to happen from day to day with this Administration. If we have a pause in entering classes of graduate students, the effects on science will be both unpredictable (what science will not have been done?) and long-lasting (imagine if it is only this year that's affected - what would that do to the faculty job market 7 years from now?) 

It's more than a bit concerning that Derek Lowe's latest post is titled "The Continuing Crisis, Part V." Here's hoping we won't be on part XXIV by May. Best wishes to academic readers, and to all of us.

Have a good weekend

Well, this was a fun week. Didn't expect a bit of snow (that didn't impact my travel) but I'm sure might have hit a reader or two. Hope that you had a great week (always fun to meet a reader in real life, even at a trade show!) and that you have a wonderful weekend. See you on Monday. 

University of Iowa pauses graduate TA hiring

Via the Cedar Rapids Gazette: 

...Separate from that paused funding freeze, the NIH announced a change Friday in how and to what degree it will cover indirect costs associated with the research projects it funds — capping indirect coverage at 15 percent for new and existing grants, down from an average of 27 percent.

Indirect research funding, according to [UI Interim Vice President for Research Lois] Geist, supports state-of-the-art labs; high-speed data processing; patient safety protocols; national security protection; hazardous waste disposal; support personnel; and maintenance staff for cleaning and supplies.

“Simply put, the federal government provides reimbursement for real costs that are incurred in the process of safely and securely conducting high-impact research,” according to Geist. “This research has tangible benefits for the lives of Iowans.”

In response to the indirect cost cap, UI’s Geist on Monday imposed three directives:

• A pause on any new NIH grant applications;
• A freeze on graduate research assistant hiring, “unless they are already budgeted as a direct cost on a funded project”;
• And a slowing of general spending.

“Researchers and departments should exert extra caution and defer starting new activities until we have more clarity,” Geist wrote.

This obviously bears watching (and not that there are a lot of graduate TAs hired in February) but the war over the NIH is not ending any time soon... 

Job posting: Senior Scientist – Oligonucleotide Synthesis Chemist, Abbott Laboratories, San Diego, CA

Via Indeed: 

The Oligonucleotide Synthesis Chemist will work on site out of our San Diego, California office Infectious Disease division. The person hired will help lead a team of scientists responsible for oligonucleotide synthesis to help drive product development efforts, ultimately enabling commercialization of diagnostic tests as well as driving future improvements and applications. 

What You’ll Work On

• Support R&D and product development efforts by providing expertise in nucleic acid chemistry and oligonucleotide synthesis, analysis and purification 
• Identify, implement and optimize novel/new synthesis processes 
• Develop and implement analytical and biophysical methodologies to help analyze, characterize and evaluate raw materials and finished products 

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in biological or physical sciences, or mathematics; with 6 + years of progressively responsible positions in a research development environment. Or M.S. with minimum of 4 years' experience or Ph.D. in chemistry, analytical chemistry, or a closely related field.
• Minimum six years of experience working in the IVD field in an industrial setting, or in a clinical, central or core laboratory performing oligonucleotide synthesis and post-synthesis modifications as well as analytical characterization of oligos.   

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.

Interesting factlet in the letters to the editor

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

Joel Tickner’s opinion piece in January hit the nail on the head about the December 2024 Office of Science and Technology Policy Federal Sustainable Chemistry Strategic Plan. The report fails to address the barriers posed by incumbency and doesn’t inspire desperately needed “moon shot” thinking around how we should manufacture chemicals in the future. 

Part of the problem is that most of the time when sustainable chemistry is on the table for discussion, the process is too often an afterthought. When I use a tabletop air fryer instead of a wall oven, I consume far less energy. Similarly, when soft-serve ice cream is made on demand, there’s no need to store large quantities in freezers hoping to sell them. These are process innovations enabled by equipment matched to the use case­—that is, soft-serve ice cream versus hard-scooped ice cream, and a few pieces of chicken versus a 20 lb (9 kg) turkey, which would not fit in an air fryer. When the use case is correct, the cost of ownership is lower than with older technology, and the investment pays off over time. For chemical factories, we will always have many dump-and-run reactions in large, fully depreciated tanks, but we can be kinder to the planet and make many chemicals and drugs more economically with flow chemistry that reduces solvent use, cuts energy consumption and waste, improves yield, and significantly boosts safety. 

 To make real progress, we need to accelerate the adoption of new technologies that have already been proved at scale. Just one of the rapidly growing number of factories around the world using advanced continuous-flow reactors has reported publicly that it is now operating a unit taking up a mere 1 m3 of space with 10,000 metric tons of throughput per year on just this single line. Today, China is the only country to have embraced flow chemistry on a big scale, while in the US and Europe, we generate studies and reports that are not having much impact. 

Gary Calabrese 

Wilmington, North Carolina 

It seems to me that China, being relatively late to the chemical manufacturing world, would have probably gotten in on the ground floor with flow reactors back in the 1990s.

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 486 research/teaching positions and 85 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 486 research/teaching positions and 85 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 February 13, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 524 research/teaching positions and 75 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. 

Help the Polymerist find a position

Via The Guardian: 

The Trump administration’s effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices and other products were fired.

Probationary employees across the FDA received notices on Saturday evening that their jobs were being eliminated, according to three FDA staffers who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The total number of positions eliminated was not clear on Sunday, but the firings appeared to focus on employees in the agency’s centers for food, medical devices and tobacco products – which includes oversight of electronic cigarettes. It was not clear whether FDA employees who review drugs were exempted...

This bad news has impacted friend of the blog Tony Maiorana. If you can help him, please do. 

Cool profile on a medicinal chemistry professor

Via the New York Times:  

...Pebbles was not the patient Dr. Cernak had in mind when he began his career. Until 2018, he had worked at the pharmaceutical giant Merck, developing drugs for people with cancer, H.I.V., diabetes and other conditions. Along the way, he had helped develop cutting-edge approaches, involving robots and artificial intelligence, to speed up the invention of new human drugs.

A few years ago, however, Dr. Cernak decided that he wanted to use those tools to make medicines for ailing plants and animals, forging a new field he called “conservation chemistry.”

Gila monsters weren’t the only species that had inspired human drugs. There were antibiotics derived from fungi, anticancer drugs from plants and painkillers from animal venom. Dr. Cernak thought it was time for pharmaceutical chemists to give back. “To me it’s this full circle thing,” he said. “We’re attempting to solve the ultimate health inequity.”

Pretty interesting article. Here's hoping for the best of success for Professor Cernak.

Have a good weekend

Well, this was another week. I hope that you had a good week, and that you have a great weekend, with or without snow. See you on Monday. 

Job posting: 1-year visiting assistant professor, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI

Via Bluesky: 

If you're a recent (or soon-to-be) analytical chem PhD, or if you know of one...

We're hiring a 1-year VAP as sabbatical replacement. 

Link here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Job posting: Scientist I: Bioconjugation Chemist/Biochemist, Akoya Biosciences, Marlborough, MA

Via Indeed:  

We are seeking a highly motivated scientist to join the Akoya R&D Chemistry Team. You will work in a dynamic, team-oriented environment and take part in the development of multiplex fluorescent immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays and reagents for use in biological research. You will be a key contributor in a multi-disciplinary team executing scientific research and product development. You should be able to work independently and take initiative in planning, conducting, and reporting on the studies for which you are responsible. 

You will have the opportunity to interact with small teams of biologists, chemists, biochemists, image scientists, and engineers in a rapidly moving organization. 

Duties & Responsibilities:   

• Perform high throughput immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining and imaging of FFPE tissue sections.  
• Develop workflow procedures for Akoya related platforms.  
• Design analytical experiments to measure and quantify biological material and fluid transfer during workflow steps.  
• Perform fluorescence microscopy analysis and optimize settings for antibody-stained tissue samples. 

Skills & Requirements: 

• Requires a BS degree with 4+ years’ experience, MS degree with 2+ years’ experience, or Ph.D. in conjugation chemistry, analytical/organic chemistry, and peptide/protein chemistry. 
• Minimum of 2 years of practical experience in protein/nucleotide analytical assays, including analytical and preparatory liquid chromatography, gel electrophoresis, and spectroscopy.  

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.

C&EN: "Judge issues temporary restraining orders over NIH indirect cost policy"

Via C&EN's Krystal Vasquez: 

A federal judge in Massachusetts has granted two temporary restraining orders blocking the recent decision by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cap the amount that research grant recipients can receive for facility and administrative costs, payments known as indirect costs.

On the evening of Feb. 7, the health agency announced that it would limit the indirect cost rate for both new and existing grants to 15% starting Feb. 10. That rate is substantially lower than the 27–28% rate that universities receive, on average, according to the NIH memo.

Three lawsuits were filed Feb. 10 in response to the policy change. That same day, Judge Angel Kelley granted a temporary restraining order in response to the first suit, filed by 22 state attorneys general, pausing the policy change in those states. On Feb. 11, Kelley halted the policy change nationwide in response to a second lawsuit, filed on behalf of medical centers and medical schools. Hearings on both orders are scheduled for Feb. 21...

There is a raft of expert commentary out there, including Derek's. I don't have much to add, other than that this is really bad, and I made a very incorrect call. I vastly underestimated the level of hatred the right has for the NIH, and the desire to make it suffer. I would like to think that Congress will push back on this, but let's be honest - they are supine. It also seems pretty clear that the second Trump Administration is intent on running the executive branch as though it has no checks and balances. 

If you're affected by this, I'm very sorry. Best wishes to you, and to all of us. 

Indiana high school whoosh bottle incident injures teachers, students

Credit: Joe Schroeder, Fox 59

Via Fox 59: 

INDIANAPOLIS — Several students and a teacher were injured Thursday at Southport High School when a large glass bottle exploded during a chemistry class demonstration.

According to an email sent to Southport teachers and obtained by FOX59/CBS4, the incident occurred just after 12 p.m. in a chemistry lab during a “whoosh bottle demonstration.” The explosion reportedly shattered a “large glass bottle,” Principal Amy Boone wrote to teachers.

The email said the teacher performing the demonstration and multiple students received “minor injuries.” One student will reportedly require stitches, according to the email, while the rest of the injured students either returned to class or were released to a parent.

It's rather shocking to me that the teacher used a glass bottle (doesn't seem like a great idea), but I guess we'll find out more (or not.) 

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 480 research/teaching positions and 81 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 480 research/teaching positions and 81 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 February 6, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 521 researcsh/teaching positions and 72 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: 116 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 116 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

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

Have a great weekend

Well, this has been a tough week for an unexpected reason, but here's hoping things get better. I hope that you had a good week. I hope that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

Network with The Polymerist!

Friend of the blog Tony (and writer of The Polymerist) has a generous offer for any of his readers to self-promote in the comments and get to know people. (Are you familiar with The Polymerist? It is truly a great newsletter.) Hope you take the opportunity! 

There's a trademark on 'slime'????

Via Bloomberg, this funny story: 

Mack Toys Inc. asked the US Federal Communications Commission to put conditions on Paramount Global’s pending merger with Skydance Media to prevent the two media companies from controlling the word “slime.”

Paramount’s Nickelodeon kids channel has long used green slime as a gag in its programming. The 157-page filing says Paramount’s “restrictive” enforcement of its trademark on the word creates barriers to fair competition for small businesses like Mack Toys.

Mack Toys is a family-run business selling edible toy putty called Wildputty, according to its website. A photo in the filing shows the company selling a slime product from a stand.

Paramount plans to merge in a deal that would give Skydance founder David Ellison control of the combined operation. Ellison is the son of Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, the world’s fourth richest person. Mack contends Paramount’s control of the word “slime” restricts its ability to market its products.

“If the proposed Paramount Global-Skydance Media merger is approved, Larry Ellison would gain significant control over these advertising channels while also holding monopolistic control over the generic and merely descriptive mark ‘slime,’” according to the filing.

Who knew there are a thousand little chemistry kits in America violating this trademark? 

(the grown of slime as a kids' entry into science-related activities is genuinely strange to me)  

Job posting: Senior Scientist - Medicinal Chemistry, Integrated Drug Discovery, Sanofi, Cambridge, MA

Via Indeed, this posting: 

Job overview

An accomplished synthetic organic and medicinal chemist, with a good track record of being a key project contributor, to design and synthesize small molecule targets.

Responsibilities

• Design and synthesize small molecule targets to drive programs to clinical candidate nomination.
• Use reaction and reagent databases to select effective techniques/routes to maximize productivity and provide solutions to complex multi-step synthetic problems.
• Prepare and characterize high purity target compounds and intermediates to meet aggressive project timelines...

Requirements & Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree with minimum 8 years of relevant research experience in an academic or biopharmaceutical setting OR Master’s Degree with minimum 5 years of relevant research experience in an academic or biopharmaceutical setting OR PhD with minimum 3 years of relevant research experience in an academic or biopharmaceutical setting.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Politico: "Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs"

Via Politico, this news: 

One of the United States’ leading funders of science and engineering research is planning to lay off between a quarter and a half of its staff in the next two months, a top National Science Foundation official said Tuesday.

The comments by Assistant Director Susan Margulies came at an all-hands meeting of the NSF’s Engineering Directorate, according to two program managers who attended.

Marguiles, NSF and the White House didn’t respond to detailed questions about the layoffs and their potential implications.

“A large-scale reduction, in response to the President’s workforce executive orders, is already happening,” a spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management said in an email. “The government is restructuring, and unfortunately, many employees will later realize they missed a valuable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the deferred resignation offer.”

I don't have much to say about this other than the obvious: this is bad, real bad. Derek has a pretty comprehensive post that is, like so much these days, overtaken by events with this latest. Nevertheless, the last lines are good and important: 

We are in a Constitutional crisis whether we like it or not, the worst of my own lifetime by far, and the more voices that are raised against it all, the better. That's what we can do for now. If it gets worse, it gets worse, and we'll revisit the topic, God help us.

But most of all, don't give in to cynicism or apathy. That's what the people promulgating these horrible policies want - a bored, indifferent public who figures that who cares, nothing matters any more, it's gonna happen no matter what. But it doesn't have to. Never forget that: it doesn't have to happen.

Best wishes to the scientists and engineers of the NSF, and to all of us.

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 476 research/teaching positions and 80 teaching positions

The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 476 research/teaching positions and 80 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 January 30, 2024, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 513 research/teaching positions and 72 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: 116 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List (by Heather LeClerc and Daniyal Kiani) has 116 research/teaching positions and 17 teaching positions. 

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

NSF releases funding due to federal court intervention

Via Bluesky, this update on the NSF's website on Sunday: 

1. When will the Award Cash Management Service (ACM$) be restored to allow disbursements on active awards? 

Access to ACM$ has been restored and the system is available to accept payment requests as of 12:00 PM ET on February 2, 2025.

2. On Friday, January 31, 2025, a Federal Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) directing Federal grant-making agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to "...not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate... awards and obligations." What is NSF doing to comply with this TRO? 

NSF has restored access to the ACM$ system as of 12:00 PM ET on February 2, 2025 and is in compliance with the TRO...

5. Will Fellows (GRFP, et al) receive their February stipend?

Fellows must log into ACM$ and verify their payment request has been accepted. Most Fellows will have to resubmit a request.

What a mess. I'm glad this situation has been resolved (for now.) 

Dow cutting 1500 jobs

Via the AP, this bad news: 

Dow Inc.'s fourth-quarter profits came in well below Wall Street expectations and the material sciences company said Thursday that it is slashing 1,500 jobs globally in an effort to cut costs as sales stagnate.

The layoffs amount to about 4% of Dow’s workforce, according to data firm FactSet. Dow said the staff reductions are part of a broader plan to cut $1 billion in costs, citing “persistently weak macroeconomic conditions.”

Shares of Midland, Michigan-based Dow tumbled nearly 8% in morning trading.

Dow posted a loss of $35 million in the fourth quarter. Adjusted for one-time expenses, per-share profits in the period were zero. That’s down from last year’s earnings of 43 cents per share and well short of the 24 cents-per-share profit that analysts were expecting. For the full year, Dow recorded profits of $1.71 per share, down from 2023’s $2.24...

Here's hoping things turn around for the folks at Dow. Best wishes to them, and to all of us. 

Have a great weekend

Well, this week has been both great and,,, less than great. I hope that you are all doing all right. If you ever feel like you need some help and don't know who to talk to, you can always email me. I will try to do my best to help. I hope that you have a good weekend. See you on Monday. 

Science: "EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders"

This from the news division of Science: 

In a radical break with tradition, the National Science Foundation (NSF) this week began to search through billions of dollars of grants the agency has already awarded for anything touching on topics that President Donald Trump has criticized. And NSF has blocked grantees and trainees from accessing funds while the review is underway, wreaking havoc across the academic research community.

The funding freeze and vetting of research and training projects that NSF previously decided were worthy of support is a response to a slew of presidential directives since 20 January that ban all federal funding for what Trump considers to be “woke gender ideology;” diversity, equity, and inclusion; foreign aid; the green new deal; and support for nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest. For academic scientists, the list of banned activities could include efforts to increase diversity in the scientific workforce, collaborations with foreign scientists, and research on more environmentally friendly technologies...

There are reports from NSF-awarded postdocs that they have been cut off from funds. I don't really have anything intelligent to add, other than that this is the worst possible way to go about implementing this. What a horrific mess. Best wishes to those affected, and to all of us.

Job posting: Principal Scientist, Computational Chemistry, Merck, Boston, MA

Via ACS Chemistry Careers: 

We are seeking a creative, self-motivated computational chemist with exceptional interpersonal and problem-solving skills to join the Modeling and Informatics (M&I) department in Boston, MA, US. M&I is a diverse and inclusive team of approximately 50 computational chemists, cheminformaticians, data scientists and machine learning specialists who employ state of the art capabilities to drive drug design. We are an integral arm of both discovery and process chemistry and collaborate seamlessly with teams across the globe to innovate and invent better molecules faster. We are looking for a strategic thinker and accomplished computational drug hunter to take on a position that carries significant influence across our Company chemistry from target identification through delivery of clinical candidates.

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Ph.D. or M.S. in chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, or equivalent with a computational emphasis

Required Experience and Skills:

• 7+ years of professional experience with a Ph.D., or 9+ years with a M.S.
• Evidence of creative application of computational approaches to problems of pharmaceutical interest...

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

NYT at global mathematics convention

Via the New York Times, this cool story: 

The world’s largest gathering of mathematicians convened in Seattle from Jan. 8 to Jan. 11 — 5,444 mathematicians, 3,272 talks. This year the program diverged somewhat from the its traditional kaleidoscopic panorama. An official theme, “Mathematics in the Age of A.I.,” was set by Bryna Kra, the president of the American Mathematical Society, which hosts the event in collaboration with 16 partner organizations. In one configuration or another, the meeting, called the Joint Mathematics Meetings, or the J.M.M., has been held more or less annually for over a century.

Dr. Kra intended the A.I. theme as a “wake-up call.” “A.I. is something that is in our lives, and it’s time to start thinking about how it impacts your teaching, your students, your research,” she said in an interview with The New York Times. “What does it mean to have A.I. as a co-author? These are the kinds of questions that we have to grapple with.”

I feel like I've been reading the Science section of the Times for many years, but I've yet to see a dedicated story about the ACS National Meetings? Maybe we need to invite them? Anyway, read the whole thing, it's pretty cool, especially the picture of the crochet art.

C&EN: "Some chemists fear delays in NIH funding"

Via C&EN's Krystal Vasquez, this news: 

Scientists are on edge following the Jan. 22 cancellation of multiple meetings with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). There’s no tally of how many meetings were cancelled, but some included NIH study sections and advisory councils, which review grant and fellowship applications.

Chrystal Starbird, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received an email stating that her study section, which was scheduled for the following week, would be canceled. The email from the federal health agency was vague and didn’t provide any reason for the cancellation, she says.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Pompano, a professor of chemistry and bioengineering at the University of Virginia, was supposed to attend a training session that day for an upcoming study section. The training session was canceled 20 min before it was set to start.

The cancellations came a day after the new administration of President Donald J. Trump put a temporary external communications freeze on all federal health agencies, though it’s not clear if the two are related. “It’s very concerning that everything has been stopped for review, which hasn’t happened in prior presidential transitions,” Pompano says. “It tells you there’s some major changes happening.”

The communications freeze at NIH, according to CNN, extends to purchases?: 

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have been told the communications pause announced by the Trump Administration earlier this week includes a pause on all purchasing, including supplies for their ongoing studies, according to four sources inside the agency with knowledge of the purchasing hold.

The supply crunch follows a directive first issued on Tuesday by the acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services, which placed a moratorium on the release of any public communication until it had been reviewed by officials appointed or designated by the Trump Administration, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN. Part of this pause on public communication has been widely interpreted to include purchasing orders to outside suppliers. One source noted they had been told that essential requests can proceed and will be reviewed daily.

Researchers who have clinical trial participants staying at the NIH’s on-campus hospital, the Clinical Trial Center, said they weren’t able to order test tubes to draw blood as well as other key study components. If something doesn’t change, one researcher who was affected said his study will run out of key supplies by next week. If that happens, the research results would be compromised, and he would have to recruit new patients, he said.

I have a very difficult time imagining that someone in the Trump White House wanted this to happen, but nevertheless, it's happened. Here's hoping that it's only the long-term prospects of grad students, postdocs and faculty that have been affected, and that the short-term, life-and-death aspects of the patients at the NIH Clinical Center will not actually been impacted by this stupidity. Best wishes to them, and to us all.

Have a good weekend

Well, this was a more chill week than I expected, all things considered. I hope that all is well with you, and that you have a good weekend. See you on Monday. 

Help out this young PhD inorganic chemist

Via Bluesky, this sad story from r/chempros:

I had a job as a chemist for the US Government, but was let go today due to the onslaught of executive orders. (I was on a mandatory new-hire probation and my agency head decided to let all probationary employees from my division go to hopefully spare some cuts elsewhere.) I’m obviously devastated, but I have to find work to support my wife and her medical treatments. She has Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which fortunately is not a death sentence as long as treatment is consistent.

So, I’m hoping some of you fine folks out there might know of some positions that would hire a PhD inorganic/organometallic chemist with a lot of computational experience. I graduated just barely over a year ago with my PhD from a large R1 state school and have ~10 publications (3 first author and 1 co-first author). I’ve googled “chemist jobs” in every major metropolitan area in my state and adjacent states and looked on LinkedIn and Handshake. I did not find many positions for which a PhD in organometallic chemistry would be competitive. I’m not really sure how to search every open position in the country (because at this point I’m willing to relocate if necessary to gain employment), so I’m asking in earnest for help from kind strangers like you. If you know of any positions that might be available, I’d love to hear about them.

There are many people negatively impacted by the transition to the Trump Administration, but this hiring freeze is really crummy. If you can help out the OP, please do. Best wishes to them, and to us all. 

Job posting: Analytical Scientist-Synthetic Molecule Design and Development, Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN

Via ACS Chemistry Careers: 

Synthetic Molecule Design and Development has an exciting opportunity for an analytical chemist to join our development group. You will be part of a diverse team of analytical chemists, organic chemists, pharmaceutical scientists, and engineers delivering product and process understanding across a broad range of platforms (e.g. small molecule, peptides, and oligonucleotides). Top candidates for this position will be able to:

• Engage with scientists across Eli Lilly's Development and Manufacturing organizations to develop and implement robust analytical methods and control strategies
• Evaluate and/or deploy new analytical technologies/methods to advance Lilly's current analytical capabilities

The ideal candidate will possess a breadth of analytical experience, a proven track record of success in conducting laboratory experiments, and a solid foundation in analytical data analysis. Candidates should excel in technical problem-solving, demonstrate learning agility, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.

Position Responsibilities:

• Independently generate data to inform development activities using HPLC, UHPLC, GC, and LCMS
• Develop robust analytical methods (e.g., HPLC purity, potency) and collaborate with other functions or external partners to enable the successful transfer and implementation of those methods...

Basic Qualifications:

• BS or MS in Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemistry, or a related field

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Prior experience with the analysis of pharmaceutical products (e.g., drug substances, solid oral dosage forms) or similar laboratory activities
• Experience with chromatographic separations and a strong working knowledge of other techniques commonly used for the analysis of synthetic molecules (e.g., FTIR, NMR, UV-Vis, KF, ICP, DSC, TGA, XRPD)
• Deep understanding of analytical method characterization and the associated performance attributes (e.g., linearity, precision, LOD/LOQ)...

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.