Chemjobber C&EN Index: 2/22/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 6
- Postdocs: 1
- Permanent positions: 7
- Ratio of US/non-US: 7/1
Area: 163
Week to week Index trend: Down.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Flat.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 10
- Postdocs: 2++
- Tenure-track faculty: 6+
- Temporary faculty: 3
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 10++/1+
- Area (square cm): 446
Week to week Index trend: Up, slightly.

Nope, nada: Okay, there are a couple few ads, but nothing much, unless you count XEUS!

Bubble, anyone?: So what's the deal with all of these Chinese universities? I really get the feeling that they're just hiring people willy-nilly. Check out this ad from "East China University of Science and Technology" -- they're hiring folks for "biomolecular, bioprocess, bioproduct and biosystems engineering" for the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering. I have no idea what that means, but it smells awfully "omics" to me. 

Small college of the week: Fort Hays State University (Hays, KS, student population: 8,500 - SA-LUTE!)    is looking for a tenure-track position in physical, general education and entry-level chemistry courses. Sounds like fun to me, especially if you'd like to spend some time in (as it's called) Hays, America.

Daily Pump Trap: 3/1/10 edition

Good morning and happy March! Between February 25 and March 1st, there have been 24 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 13 (54%) are academically connected and 0 are from Kelly Scientific Resources.

OK Chemist needed: ConocoPhillips needs an analytical R&D manager (PhD preferred + 5 years exp.) for its Bartlesville, OK facility.

MN Chemist needed, too: 3M is looking (at ACS San Fransisco!) for a Ph.D. polymer/organic chemist. Looks to be a good position for someone. Difficult to tell if they're looking for one or more. 

Connecticut: Cytec is looking for an industrial postdoc with an emphasis in "Physical Chemistry/Mineral Processing/ Colloid and Interface Science. Basic knowledge of Colloid and Interface Science, Analytical, Organic and Polymer Chemistry." This is to be in the Mining and Phosphine Chemicals Department.

And, finally, India: Nalco is hiring a Ph.D. scientist to work in Pune, India on polymer research. Looks/sounds fun!

Daily Pump Trap: 2/24/10 edition

Good morning! Between February 19 and February 23, 32 new positions have been posted to the ACS Careers website. Of these, 17 (52%) are academically related and 0 are from our friends at Kelly.

Stalwarts: You can always count on Vertex to post jobs in the past year. They currently have 9 positions they're interviewing for at the San Fransisco ACS meeting, one of which is for a B.S./M.S. technical operations manager of oral dosage manufacture.

Be sure to wash your hands: IRIS International is apparently a manufacturer of urinalysis equipment; they are looking for a research scientist to help with product development.

XEUS!: Are you a Ph.D. analytical chemist? XEUS (how do you pronounce that, anyway?) needs one to help with developing their cellulosic ethanol technology; they'd like you to have experience with polymer chemistry. Sounds fun.

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 2/15/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 3
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 3+
- Ratio of US/non-US: 3+/0
Area: 297
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Flat.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 11
- Postdocs: 2+
- Tenure-track faculty: 4
- Temporary faculty: 6
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 13+/0
- Area (square cm): 418
Week to week Index trend: Up, slightly.

Not much here: Three industrial ads. Remember 'green shoots'? Yeah, so do I. 

Sniff, sniff: Are you a perfumer? International Flavors and Fragrances are looking for some. I've heard it's interesting chemistry, but I'm not really familiar with it. 

Yeah, that'll happen: Nature Publishing Group is looking for a publisher. So in case you've been in charge of breaking out hot new journals with massive impact factor, this position might be for you. 

Small college of the week: Bethany College (Bethany, WV, student population: 847) is looking for a tenure-track professor in organic/biochemistry. So if you're interested in living in the beautiful rolling hills of West Virginia (and not being too far away from Pittsburgh), this job might be for you!

Daily (?) Pump Trap: 2/19/10 edition

Good morning! Including February 11 through 18, there were 36 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of those, 20 (56%) are academically associated and just 1 (3%) is from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources.

W.R. Grace: They have 2 postdoctoral positions open (adhesives and polymer chemistry) and one full-time Ph.D. formulations chemist.

Bet you're a skilled beer craftsman: Novozymes Biologicals is looking for a Ph.D. scientist to work on fermentation processes. Don't know why you're looking through the ACS, but there you are.

Interesting...: Sappi Fine Paper in Portland, Maine is looking for a research scientist with "experience in the area of polymer science and radiation curable materials." Huh. That's not something you hear every day. 

Organix: Organix is a synthesis CRO that's been around a while. Each year (I think), they advertise for synthetic postdocs; this year is no exception. Any alumni want to comment? 

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 2/8/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 3
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 4+
- Ratio of US/non-US: 1/3+
Area: 63
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Down.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 7
- Postdocs: 0
- Tenure-track faculty: 2
- Temporary faculty: 7
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 9/1
- Area (square cm): 319
Week to week Index trend: Up, slightly.

Not so wonderful: Three industrial ads. One for RIKEN (in Japan), one for a company that's a Chinese import-exporter and one for a company looking for senior med-chem directors in Shanghai. Grreeeat.

Less all around: Faculty positions dropping to flat, with lots of temporary positions.

That being said: ETH-Zurich is looking for an NMR facility manager. Sounds like fun, and you get a chance to interact with some of the world's best young minds in organic chemistry. 

Small college of the week: Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME, student population: 1,723 - SA-LUTE!) is looking for visiting professors in biochemistry and physical chemistry. If you wish to work at the former workplace of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (and who wouldn't?), this might be for you!

Daily Pump Trap: 2/10/10 edition

Good evening! Between February 5 and February 10, there were 55 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of those, 10 (18%) were academically connected and none were from Kelly Scientific.

Good news?: Lots of industrially oriented jobs (more than 80%!). Hopefully this is an upward trend.

Once again: Vertex continues its trend of showing up strong. Right now, Vertex has 8 positions, mostly in preclinical-type development.

Flame chemistry?: Sandia National Labs also has a few positions. Two of them are research positions studying "the chemical structures of low-pressure flat flames." Huh -- it takes all kinds...

Brighter brights: Dow Chemical is looking for a PhD researcher to work in their Fabric & Surface Care division. While it's not saving the world from cancer, it sounds pretty interesting. They'd like you to have "a [m]inimum of three years of experience in dispersency, surfactant, solvency, and/or polymer chemistry is also required, with a strong preference of prior experience in the fabric and surface care industry." Good luck!

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 2/1/09

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US: 1/0
Area: 15
Week to week Index trend: Down.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US: 1/0
Area: 18
Week to week Index trend: Up, slightly.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 8
- Postdocs: 3
- Tenure-track faculty: 7
- Temporary faculty: 1(?)
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 8/4
- Area (square cm): 302
Week to week Index trend: Down.

One (still) is the loneliest number: Other than a "director of regulatory affairs" position (and what bench chemist wouldn't want to be one of those?!?), there's nothing here. 

Faculty, too: The faculty positions have really petered out. Well, there's gotta be a slow season sometime.

Small college of the week:  Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, FL, student population: 11,800, SA-LUTE!) is looking for a computation medicinal chemistry postdoc.  "Preference will be given to candidates with an earned Ph.D. in Computational/Medicinal Chemistry with experience in molecular modeling, particularly the area of comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA)." Well, there you are. Sounds like fun, and you get to watch a great marching band. 

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 1/25/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 8++
- Ratio of US/non-US: 8++/0
Area: 153
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Flat.
  
Academic positions:Total number of ads: 13
- Postdocs: 2
- Tenure-track faculty: 8+
- Temporary faculty: 7
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 15/2+
- Area (square cm): 805
Week to week Index trend: Up

One is the loneliest number: This particular week, only Millenium was looking. They're always looking, aren't they? This time, it's for clinical folks. Good luck to them. 

Oi!: The University of Campinas is looking for Ph.D. holders in the chemical sciences to be professors. Don't know why this ad caught my eye, but I think it might be the tag that "Brazil is a fast developing country. Be part of the progress. Come work with us." Direct - I like it. Sounds like an interesting time for some enterprising professor...

Temps galore: Pomona College, Colby College, Lafayette College and Bates College all have open one year positions for visiting/temporary assistant professors. Good luck!

Small college of the week: The University of Tampa (Tampa (duh), FL, student population: 6,291 - SA-LUTE!) is looking for assistant professors in inorganic chemistry and organic/forensic(?) chemistry. Sounds like fun - wanna be a Spartan?

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 1/18/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 2
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 2
- Ratio of US/non-US: 2/0
Area: 185
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Flat.
  
Academic positions:Total number of ads: 4
- Postdocs: 2
- Tenure-track faculty: 2
- Temporary faculty: 0
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 4 /0
- Area (square cm): 177
Week to week Index trend: Down

Not much here: It's January, there's just not much here. 

Small college of the week: Georgia Southern University (Stateboro, GA, student population: 19,086 - SA-LUTE!) is looking for an assistant professor in organic chemistry. Sounds like a lovely place, and just an hour from Savannah! 

Maybe a trend: U3, U6 unemployment down

While Big Pharma's Great Recession rolls on (with GSK layoffs, BMS salary freezes, AstraZeneca layoffs and Pfizer cutting its internal R&D budget), the bigger picture is coming a little clearer and is just a little better than last month's. These days, that's all we can hope for.

Today's BLS report indicates that the official unemployment rate (U3) for January 2010 was 9.7%, which is the lowest it's been since September 2009. It's also lower than December's rate of 10.0%. In addition, the broadest measure of unemployment (U6) is at 16.5% for January, which is lower than December's rate of 17.3% and lower still than October 2009's high of 17.5%.

One step in front of the other -- hopefully, Big Pharma will follow. Hopefully.

Daily (?) Pump Trap: 2/5/10 edition

Good morning! From January 25 to February 4, there have been 87 positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 32 (37%) are from academia and 2 (2.2%) are from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources. Lots of industrial positions this time around -- mostly chemical industry-related.

Beer pong cups free: Dart Container ("a leading manufacturer of insulated foam cups and containers") is looking for a M.S./Ph.D. polymer/organic chemist with 5 years experience in paper R&D.

Colloids: Hexion is looking for a M.S./Ph.D. chemist with experience with experience in colloidal and dispersion science.

Interesting?: Bioo Scientific is looking for a M.S./Ph.D. food/analytical chemist with experience in "with strong emphasis on development and optimization of procedures to isolate organic compounds from complex matrices such as food samples." Huh.

Aerogels: Americal Aerogel is looking for a B.S./M.S./Ph.D. formulation chemist for a position in "sol-gel processing of organic aerogel materials." That sounds interesting; don't quite know what it is, though.

Noise?: January's set of unemployment data

Earlier this month, the BLS unemployment data came out. The official unemployment rate (U3) for December 2009 was released -- it's flat at 10.0%, compared to November. The total unemployment rate (U6) for December 2009 was 17.3%, slightly up from 17.2%. That's only slightly better than October's 17.4%. Doubtless, there are many chemists in those numbers.

More in the not-so-great news vein: weekly initial unemployment claims ("1st time unemployment claims") are relatively high, the unemployment rate increased in 43 states last month and the number of job openings in the economy during November was near a record low. In the slightly more positive news front, temporary job openings are up.

More better, sooner? Let's hope so. (Much thanks to Calculated Risk, who covers breaking economic news like no other.)

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 1/11/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 2
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 4+
- Ratio of US/non-US: 4+/0
Area: 78
Week to week Index trend: Down, slightly.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Down
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 21
- Postdocs: 3
- Tenure-track faculty: 10++
- Temporary faculty: 2
- Lecturer positions: 1
- Staff positions: 3
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 16+ /3+
- Area (square cm): 1298
Week to week Index trend: Up

Well: Adesis is looking for synthetic organic chemists at all levels. I've seen this ad before (it appears to be seasonal/cyclical), but it's nice that someone's still hiring. 

Academic-wise: Still chugging along, including some really questionable ones...

Got cash to burn? C&E News will take it: Nanyang Technical University has a half-pager for its College of Engineering. So it's advertising for tenure-track positions in bioinformatics, pharmaceutical and biomolecular engineering, synthetic biology, biophysiology, remote healthcare, medical devices, electrical power and energy, hybrid power systems, materials and devices for energy harvesting and storage, environmental chemistry, green building systems and materials, risk analysis and management, protective and resilient systems, urban infrastructure, artificial or computational intelligence, digital media processing, high performance computing, machine learning and intelligent agents, systems engineering applied to transportation and healthcare, biomimicry and information security. 

See anything applicable to C&EN? Look carefully -- it's in there. 

A moment to educate me: What's the point of a lecturer position? Is it a feeder into the tenure-track system? UC Berkeley is looking for a lecturer for organic chemistry. It looks tempting, but I'd love to know what the fate of lecturers are...

Small college of the week: Reed College (Portland, OR, student population: 1,442, SA-LUTE!) is looking for a visiting assistant professor in biochemistry or analytical chemistry. Ooooh, there's a 400 MHz NMR! Actually, Reed is a lovely campus and the students are quite bright (like top in the nation bright), so far as I understand. Watch out for the non-Reedie poseurs at Renn Faire.

Daily Pump Trap: 1/25/10 edition

Good morning! From January 21 through January 24, there have been 24 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 9 (38%) are academically connected and 2 (8%) are from Kelly Scientific Resources.

Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about: Experienced pharma chemists, this one's for you. Forma Therapeutics is looking for several experienced Ph.D. chemists to do medicinal chemistry. Best of luck, folks.

Indirectly workin' for the man: SAIC (one of the largest defense contractors) also helps out at NIH, apparently. They're looking for a B.S. chemist with experience in LC and LC/MS.

Directly workin' for the man: Sandia National Labs is looking for a Ph.D. material scientist -- must be able to get a security clearance. Nanoscale, soft lithography, electrochemisty, that sort of thing.

Good hiking, too: Cargill is looking for a B.S. chemist to do analytical work in their Fort Collins, CO location. Something to do with food, I think: "analysis of oil matrices in support of frying projects."

The human costs of pharma's Great Recession

There have been a number of cases recently of pharma scientists committing acts of violence; some of these acts are believed to be connected to their layoff.

While Chemjobber is mostly dedicated to the quantifiable aspects of what is now being called the Great Recession, it's worth noting the inalterable changes that are happening because plants are being shut down and people are being laid off. There are the immediate financial consequences: lost wages, lost homes, growing debt, etc.

But the human costs are deep: the stress of finding a new job (possibly for lower wages), the potential of being forced out of the field you love, the toll that this can take on families as they try to survive and (as seen in the linked articles) the poor choices that people make when things look their bleakest.

My thoughts and prayers are with the affected, their families and, well, all of us as we try to make it.

Good news on the lab safety front

The Chemical Safety Board is going to investigate the recent lab accident involving nickel hydrazine perchlorate at Texas Tech University, which seriously injured one student. This is good news, in that CSB has a good reputation for bringing expertise to bear on chemical safety (even if they are considered to be undermanned.)

The better news, in my opinion, is that they've been paying attention to what's going on in academic labs:

“We see serious accidents in high school and university labs every year, including a tragic fatality a year ago at UCLA,” said CSB Chairman John Bresland. “I believe it is time to begin examining these accidents to see if they can be prevented through the kind of rigorous safety management systems that we and others have advocated in industrial settings.”

 Nice to know we're being heard out here.

Daily (?) Pump Trap: 1/21/10 edition

Good morning, folks. From January 14 to January 20, there have been 134 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 6 (4%) are from academia and 80 (60%) are from Kelly Scientific Resources.

Mass spec analyst wanted: Thermo Fisher is looking for a M.S./Ph.D. with experience in developing mass spectrometry devices.

One for the biologists (heh): Hospira would like a Ph.D. analytical research chemist with experience in biologics method development.

Don't mind the cold?: Carestream Health in Minneapolis looks to be the medical imaging division of the remains of Eastman Kodak. They're looking for a Ph.D. polymer scientist, M.S./Ph.D. formulator and a Ph.D. nanomaterials specialist. Good luck!

Kelly Scientific: For as many jobs as they've posted this time around, there are relatively few facepalm moments. But, as always, there are a few. Are you a chemist? Do you like chemistry? Kelly Scientific wants to see if you want to be a cell biologist, a molecular biologist or a necropsy lab manager.

Sheri Sangji, one year later

One year ago today, Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji died of her injuries from an accident with tert-butyl lithium in the laboratory of Professor Patrick Harran at UCLA. Recently, the case has been handed from Cal/OSHA to the LA district attorney for assessment as to whether there has been a crime committed.

What I hope the chemists that are reading this will remember is the importance of wearing proper protective equipment in the lab. Among the many, many things that could have changed the tragic results of the day, a cotton lab coat may have done so. And while I actually mentioned to my mother-in-law that I took pleasure in not wearing a lab coat while in graduate school, it doesn't change the fact that I was stupid and I was wrong.

So, on this day of memorial for Ms. Sangji, I implore you, bench chemists, wear your PPE and avoid working alone. Watch out for your coworkers and admonish them when needed. Professors and administrators, lab safety is a top-down function. Do your jobs, even if it makes you unpopular. (What? You're not already?) It will keep your charges safe.

Rest in peace, Sheri Sangji.

Pledge drive: Want to know the TRUE unemployment rate for chemists?

In a recent In the Pipeline thread, commenter Jose said the following:

"Any geeks want to set up a website and do a social marketing campaign to get real data on unemployed/underemployed pharma-biotech chemists? If the ACS cannot get their act together, maybe it's time someone else did??"

If you believe the ACS member survey, the unemployment rate for chemists for 2009 is 3.8%. Do you believe that? I gotta say, I'm skeptical.

Would you like to find out otherwise? I would like to do a web survey on SurveyMonkey.com, where I could invite all chemists (regardless of ACS membership) to tell me their employment/unemployment status.

Problem is, an unlimited survey on SurveyMonkey is $200/year. While I'm willing to support a good portion of the cost, it would be nice to have some help. So, would you be willing to pitch in? Pledge your support in the comments and if I can get pledges for over 40% of the cost of the survey, we'll do this thing. What do you think?

Daily Pump Trap: 1/13/10 edition

Good evening! Since January 5, there have been 146 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 23 (16%) are academically connected and 100 (68%) are from the geniuses at Kelly Scientific Resources.

There's gold there...: A precious metals refiner is looking for a BS/MS chemist with precious metals refining experience. Interesting how they don't tell you who they are -- fascinating!

One for the p-chemists: Southwest Sciences, Inc. is looking for a PhD physical chemist for bench work for developing their laser/optical systems. And living in New Mexico, you'd get to have green chile stew, too!

One can wish: When I saw that a company called "Brewer Sciences" wanted a chemist, I was thinking about beer. Well, no. But if you're a MS/PhD chemist with lots of experience in ink formulation, they want to talk to you.

Kelly Time!: While the ratio of stinkers to non-stinkers continues to improve, there still are a couple that are just ridiculous. Are you a chemist? Do you like chemistry? The morons at Kelly Scientific Resources would like to know if you want to be a "Lab Helper - General Chemistry Knowledge Required!", a biology technician or (I am not freaking kidding) a sanitation supervisor in the food industry. God help us all.

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 1/4/10

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 2
- Ratio of US/non-US: 2/0
Area: 97
Week to week Index trend: Up

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US: 1/0
Area: 210
Week to week Index trend: Up
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 14
- Postdocs: 4
- Tenure-track faculty: 7
- Temporary faculty: 5
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 13/3
- Area (square cm): 851
Week to week Index trend: Up

Winter blahs: One sales position and one NMR position (with Bruker!) Well, it is winter. Sigh. 

Academic-wise: There's still stuff out there, but it's mostly temporary faculty and postdocs. US tenure-track positions have definitely slowed. 

Small college of the week: Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, PA, student population: 2,118 - SA-LUTE!) is looking for two one-year visiting professors in chemistry, one for organic chemistry and the other, general and analytical chemistry. If you're interested in teaching at the alma mater of Spliff Star and Roy Scheider, this job might be for you! 

Don Suddaby, real (and reel) chemist

A couple of weeks ago, In the Pipeline had a thread about the most "realistic depiction of a research chemist in some sort of popular entertainment". Sili chipped in with Lorenzo's Oil, which has both Augusto Odone's rather impassioned explanation of fatty acid synthesis and best of all, the depiction of a chemist, in the twilight of his career, purifying erucic acid (the titular oil of the movie.)

Don Suddaby was the chemist that did that remarkable work and he was asked to play himself in the movie. Mr. Suddaby worked for Croda International in the UK. According to an article by Steve Herman in Global Cosmetic Industry*:

Suddaby was a chemist with extensive experience in fatty acid chemistry. Within four months, working around the clock, Suddaby (who plays himself in the movie) prepared a liter of oil. The oil stabilized Lorenzo's condition, and more oil was needed both for Lorenzo and for other boys suffering from ALD.

The synthesis process was deemed too difficult for production of the needed quantities, and Croda tried a simpler composition, which proved even better than the previous oil... The details of the extraction and purification of Lorenzo's Oil can be found in the patent issued to Suddaby and Coupland, which is remarkably readable for a legal document.

The movie portrayal of Suddaby (YouTube, part 10, 4:21) is rather lovely (I love the closeup of a seemingly working distillation later in the film) and a nice write-up of his character is in a recent article by Xconomy's Stewart Lyman contrasting the current movie portrayal of the pharmaceutical industry with that in Lorenzo's Oil.

Mr. Suddaby appears to have passed on in 1993; I'm pleased that (thanks to Hollywood), we have some acknowledgement of his contribution to human health and also a very nice portrayal of a chemist on film. Now, if only we could get some more...

*Cosmetics & Compassion. By: Herman, Steve, Global Cosmetic Industry, 15239470, Jan2001, Vol. 168, Issue 1

Daily Pump Trap: 1/5/10 edition

Evenin', folks. Including December 30, there have been 23 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. Of these, 15 (65%) are academically connected and none are from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources.

Plastic or paper?: Loparex LLC is looking for a BS/MS chemist with experience in paper science for their R&D division. Sounds like fun, with manufacturing facilities all over the world.

NMR dude/dudette needed: Bruker BioSpin is looking for a BS/MS research associate for R&D into NMR of "fruit juices, dietary supplements, chemicals, tissues, and biofluids." Huh. That's a little different - also sounds like a silly grad school prank? What's this NMR? Oh, it's the spectra of WD-40.

Are you a steely-eyed medicinal chemist?: The NIH's "Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) Program" is looking for a prominent and experienced Ph.D. medicinal chemist to run the chemistry division of the program. Um, wow. Good luck!

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 12/21/09

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Down.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Flat.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 9
- Postdocs: 1
- Tenure-track faculty: 10
- Temporary faculty: 0
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 11/0
- Area (square cm): 434
Week to week Index trend: Down.

No jobs senryu:
Industrial jobs
There's nowhere to apply to

Maybe Santa's late?

A glimpse into the future?: Emory University is looking for an assistant professor to begin staffing its NSF Phase I center in C-H functionalization. This is exciting stuff, as I've not heard of a center to look into the field (that I personally find fascinating.) 

Small college of the week: The City University of New York - York College (Queens, NY, student population: >6000 students, SA-LUTE!) is looking for 2 tenure-track professors, one in inorganic chemistry and one in pharmaceutical science or medicinal chemistry. Sounds like fun, especially like you like the big city. 

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 12/14/09

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US: 1/0
Area: 17
Week to week Index trend: Down.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 7+
- Ratio of US/non-US: 7+/0
Area: 139
Week to week Index trend: Up.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 15
- Postdocs: 3
- Tenure-track faculty: 14+
- Temporary faculty: 0
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 2
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 17+/3
- Area (square cm): 637
Week to week Index trend: Down, slightly. 

Back issue #2: Not much here, either. NREL is looking for people, but you'd be blind if you didn't know that by now. 

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 12/7/09

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 6
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 19++
- Ratio of US/non-US: 3/16++
Area: 791
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Down.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 15
- Postdocs: 0
- Tenure-track faculty: 16+
- Temporary faculty: 0
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 16+/0
- Area (square cm): 715
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Back issue #1: Not much to report, other than that WuXi AppTec that is still hiring and still DETERMINED TO SERVE YOU BETTER. That, and yeah, if you were looking for a job in the US this week, it was slim pickins'. 

Daily Pump Trap: 12/29/09

Evenin', folks. So, it's been a while, but things are slowing down. There have been 59 new positions posted on the ACS Careers website. There are 12 academically-oriented positions (20%) and there are 37 (63%) positions from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources. 

Good hands with Goodyear?: Goodyear is looking for a PhD materials scientist. Sounds like fun, and you'd get free tires, no doubt.

More consumer products!: Bausch and Lomb is looking for a MS (experienced) or PhD (less so) formulator for its lens care division. Cool.

And one for the organic chemists: Polysciences, Inc. (Bucks County, PA) is searching for an experienced synthetic organic chemist to work on specialty chemical manufacturing, specifically polymers.

Kelly Time!: One last time this year, with feeling. Are you a chemist? Do you like chemistry? Kelly Scientific Resources would like to know if you would like to be an animal handler, a glassware technician (high school degree required!) or a food quality control technician.

Daily Pump Trap: 12/17/09 edition

Good morning! There are 73 new positions up on the ACS Careers website; of those, 15 (21%) are from academia and 47 (64%) are from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources.

Better than it sounds: MEMC is looking for a "cleaning scientist". Bad titling, I think -- they're really looking for a M.S. surface chemist for developing new cleaning technologies.

A worthy challenge: Materia (the Grubbs' catalyst people) is looking for a market development head. Sounds like fun, and a chance to make a lot of money. Good luck.

Finding the peaks: Waters is looking for a PhD chemist to work on new products for separation science; sol-gel and materials experience is highly desired.

Kelly Time!: Not much objectionable, but still: why would you look for a microbiologist, a food tech or someone with a degree in nursing?

The most frightening sentence I read today

As an organic chemist, you get steeped in the traditions that started with Wohler, flowered into full bloom under Woodward and Corey and are continued in labs across the world today. On good days, that's what I aspire to. So it is with that in mind that I read this terrifying sentence about our potential futures as chemists:

One of the most painful things about markets is that they often make fools of our fathers: Sharp operators with an eye for trends often outperform those who carefully learn a trade and continue a tradition."

(from a political essay by Jim Manzi, a software CEO and a right-leaning political writer.)

It is difficult to arrive at a more succinct description of my desires as a synthetic organic chemist: to carefully learn a trade and continue a tradition. Let us hope that the markets are kind to all of us.

Daily Pump Trap: 12/11/09

Good evenin', folks. From December 4 through December 11, there have been 149 positions advertised in the ACS Careers database. Of those, 26 (17%) are connected to academia, while 74 (50%) are from our friends at Kelly Scientific Resources.

Hmmmm: A couple of positions advertised from BMS and Abbott, but not much really. A smattering of government positions...

Adventures in searching: Pfizer's Cambridge site has been searching for members of their oligonucleotide team for a long, long time. I've commented on this before, and looks like they're looking to round out the team with a BS/MS-level oligo chemist and a postdoc in the same group. Good news for those folks.

Neat!: SiPix is looking for an adhesives chemist to look for people to work on the new field of electronic paper. Uh, wow -- sounds futuristic.

Kelly Time!: Oh, our friends at KSR are back to their old, stupid tricks. Are you a chemist? Do you like chemistry? Kelly Scientific would like to know if you'd like to be a microbiologist, an animal care technician or if you're a slightly used chemist. Ugh.

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 11/30/09

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 2
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 6
- Ratio of US/non-US: 1/5
Area: 262
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 10
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 10/0
Area: 46
Week to week Index trend: Up, slightly. 
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 9
- Postdocs: 0
- Tenure-track faculty: 12+
- Temporary faculty: 0
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 8+/4
- Area (square cm): 588
Week to week Index trend: Down.

Uh, no: There's one ad for a GC-MS analytical chemist in Virginia. That's it, unless you count...

The worst ad of the year: Wuxi AppTec is one of the leading outsourcing companies in China, if I'm not mistaken. In this week's issue, there's a slightly-larger-than-quarter-panel ad for director-level positions. In 18-point font, a banner reading "WuXi AppTec is Hiring Talents". Not in copy editing, I see. In addition, there's the bottom tagline "WE ARE DETERMINED TO SERVE YOU BETTER", which is a bit of an ominous statement. 

Holiday slowdown?: Academic positions are beginning to peter out a little...

Small college of the week: The University of Wisconsin - Superior (Superior, Wisconsin, student population: 2,800 - SA-LUTE!) is looking for a tenure-track profession in analytical chemistry. You'd be asked to teach a class in the "Chemistry of Natural Waters", which would be a good thing, considering the town is on Lake Superior. If you love the idea of living on one of the Great Lakes (and who wouldn't?), this might be for you. 

New poll!

What will 2010 be like in terms of chemist employment? I think we can pretty safely say that 2008 wasn't so great and 2009 stunk.

Answer in the new poll on the left! (and in the comments, if so desired.) Your bold predictions will be saved for internet posterity!

Noise or a trend?: BLS reports lower unemployment

On Friday, the latest unemployment statistics came out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It showed that the official (U3) employment rate for November was 10%, which is lower than the 10.2% reported for October. In addition, the broadest definition of unemployment (U6) was also down from 17.5% in October to 17.2% in November.

It's rather difficult to tell what's a statistical blip and what's a trend. If you clicked on that last link, the displayed graph (above) of job losses appears to argue that losses peaked in January of 2009 and are now (relatively) close to zero. I don't claim to understand the cyclical nature of unemployment, but the potential trend is positive.

Unfortunately for the unemployed (including unemployed chemists), I am unaware of any reports of significant increases in job creation. Furthermore, most economists foresee relatively high unemployment for 2010 and this report from Goldman Sachs' economists indicate that they expect unemployment to peak at 10.75% in mid-2011. For all our sakes, let's hope Goldman is dead wrong on that one.

Chemjobber C&EN Index: 11/23/09

Industrial positions (non-academic, non-governmental):
Total number of ads: 1
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 1
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 14
Week to week Index trend: Up, slightly. 

Governmental positions (US, international):
Total number of ads: 0
- Postdocs: 0
- Permanent positions: 0
- Ratio of US/non-US: 0/0
Area: 0
Week to week Index trend: Flat.
  
Academic positions:
Total number of ads: 23
- Postdocs: 4+
- Tenure-track faculty: 26+
- Temporary faculty: 0
- Lecturer positions: 0
- Staff positions: 3
- Ratio of US/non-US positions: 26+/4+
- Area (square cm): 1672
Week to week Index trend: Up.

Well: One lousy ad for a microbiologist. There is that whole Christmas thing to consider; things get slow around then. 

But if you're thinking about being a professor...: Still lots of ads. Is anyone having any luck obtaining anything? 

Sprechen zie Deutsch?: Something called "Universitat Tubingen" (the University of Tubingen, I imagine) put a big ol' quarter-panel ad in this week's issue entirely in German. While I'm sure that it was appropriately aimed at all the German grad students and postdocs in the US, it was a little weird. Best of luck to candidates for the "Professur fur Analytische Chemie" position, which has something to do with "Chemo- und Biosensorik." 

Your stimulus dollars at work: If I had a penny for every ad looking for professors to work in areas like energy, renewable energy or superawesomesunnygreen energy, I'd be a rich fella. Good luck to these folks who get these positions -- either this will be a trend that will fade like feathered hair or we'll all be driving solar-powered Priuses in ten years. 

Small college of the week: The College of Mount Saint Vincent (Riverdale, NY, student population: 1,927 - SA-LUTE!) is looking for a physical chemist. If you want to teach college in the Bronx, this might be for you! 

Daily Pump Trap: 12/3/09 edition

Evenin', folks! From November 28 until December 3, there have been 33 new jobs posted on the ACS Careers database. Of these positions, 12 (36%) are academically related and none are from our buddies at Kelly Scientific Resources.

Hmph: WuXi makes a push for experienced group leader level positions. Good luck to the unemployed soon-to-be sea turtles out there. Genentech's fishing for young Ph.D. bench med chemist resumes again.

The happiest place on Earth: Disney is looking for a B.S. chemist for water testing in its (duh) Florida water parks. SCUBA certification and the ability to drive a forklift are desired. (No, not kidding.)

Think ink: Quad/Graphics is looking for a B.S.-level chemist with lots of experience with ink R&D. This is one of those niche fields that I know nothing about, but it sounds interesting.

And so well-defended, too!: The US Mint's West Point, NY division is looking for a chemist to analyze metals for coinage. Dude, I can't figure out what educational level they want -- when will the US government realize that their ads are unreadable?