Job posting: NIST physical scientists

From the inbox: 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is recruiting scientists and engineers to join an interdisciplinary team developing a new spectroscopy for intermolecular interactions. The team anticipates the need for several physical scientists or engineers in the following areas: 1) on-wafer device fabrication; 2) nonlinear electrical measurements; 3) molecular dynamics simulations; 4) density functional theory; 5) NMR spectroscopy.

The positions have an education requirement and are located at the Gaithersburg, MD, and Boulder, CO, campuses of NIST. Prior experience relevant to the technical area is required. More detailed project descriptions are posted here: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/electric-acoustic-spectroscopy-intermolecular-interactions-solution.

Interested applicants should send their resume or CV and a cover letter to Dr. Megan Harries (eas-ims-jobs@nist.gov) specifying which of the above opportunities they are interested in. Review of applications will begin on December 21 and continue until all positions are filled. 

The identified candidate may be hired as a Physicist (1310), Chemist (3120), Chemical Engineer (0893), Material Scientist (0806), Electronics Engineer (0855) or similar, at the level of ZP-III (GS-11/12 equivalent) with a salary range of $70,181 - $109,358. 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology of the Department of Commerce is an Equal Opportunity Employer. When a position is available, a vacancy announcement will be posted on WWW.USAJOBS.GOV.

Best wishes to those interested.  

Bloomberg Businessweek: Eastman subsidiary was selling methylamine for meth manufacture in mid-2010s

Via Bloomberg Businessweek's Cam Simpson, this rather remarkable story: 

One November morning in 2015, a lawyer named Clark Jordan rose sheepishly from his chair to face the judge in a federal courtroom in eastern Pennsylvania. Jordan, then 51, had spent most of his adult life in corporate law, but this day was different. As a vice president of Eastman Chemical Co., he was appearing for Eastman’s board of directors to enter a guilty plea in a drug case. The six-count criminal information charged that an Eastman subsidiary, Taminco U.S. Inc., had knowingly violated federal narcotics laws. Before that morning, Jordan had thought this would be “no big deal,” he later recalled. But in the solemnity of the courtroom, the gravity of the moment sank in.

Taminco, which Eastman had acquired 11 months earlier for $2.8 billion, was one of the world’s top producers of a chemical called monomethylamine, or MMA. Legally used to make pesticides and pharmaceuticals, it’s also an essential ingredient for Mexican cartels cooking the cheapest and most potent methamphetamine ever sold on American streets. Federal drug laws contain a set of crimes for U.S.-based companies that fail to control the sale and distribution of every liter they make. Requirements include verifying the legitimacy of any customer worldwide. Even contractors that pour the chemical into barrels must be licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Taminco was pleading guilty to illegally selling more than 22,000 gallons of MMA to two shadowy Mexican companies without conducting even basic checks of their bona fides. One of the companies may have never existed; the other was controlled by Taminco’s own Mexican sales rep, who was selling to himself before reselling to unknown buyers. In the first six months of 2010 alone, Taminco sold the two Mexican companies enough MMA to make nearly 100,000 kilograms of meth, or more than 11 times the total amount of the drug seized by U.S. law enforcement that year...

I seem to recall there was an episode of Breaking Bad where Walter White had to steal a large quantity of the stuff - little did he know he could just order it from Taminco!

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 228 research/teaching positions and 22 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 228 research/teaching positions and 22 teaching assistant professor positions.

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

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

On December 17, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 500 research/teaching positions and 39 teaching faculty positions.

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

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search?  Go to the second open thread. Click here for the first open thread, which closed on November 11, 2020.

Postdoctoral opening: Sues Lab, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

From the inbox: 

A postdoctoral position is available in the Department of Chemistry at Kansas State University. The successful candidate must have a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the time of appointment. This position will require the synthesis/characterization of organometallic complexes, as well as the quantitative evaluation of catalytic reactions using spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. Duties would include planning and conducting synthetic procedures, as well as writing and editing manuscripts/articles. 

The position requires the individual to display critical thinking and independent judgment as it relates to ongoing and new research in the field, with guidance from the Primary Investigator. Candidates must have considerable experience synthesizing air-/moisture-sensitive transition metal complexes. Previous experience in organometallic synthesis and kinetic investigations of catalytic systems is preferred. This is an opportunity to join a growing research team and explore exciting new projects in the field of olefin metathesis.

Here is the full ad. Deadline to apply is January 1, 2021. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 47 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 47 positions. It is curated by Lilian Josephson (@lljosephson).

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

The open thread is found here. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 71 positions

 The Academic Staff Jobs list has 71 positions.

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

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

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

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

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has begun to be released

Via the New York Times, the vaccine is getting out there: 

FARGO, N.D. — Trucks and cargo planes packed with the first of nearly three million doses of coronavirus vaccine fanned out across the country on Sunday as hospitals rushed to set up injection sites and their anxious workers tracked each shipment hour by hour.

The distribution of the first federally approved vaccine marked the start of the most ambitious vaccination campaign in American history, a critical, complicated feat that one top federal official compared to the Allied landings at Normandy during World War II. Now, the United States is trying to turn the tide of battle against a virus whose out-of-control spread has killed nearly 300,000 people, ravaged the economy and upended millions of lives.

Early on Sunday, the first boxes of a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech that received emergency approval from federal regulators were packed in dry ice at a Pfizer plant in Kalamazoo, Mich. Workers applauded as the first truck left the plant, the earliest wave of vaccines bound for distribution sites across all 50 states...

Here's hoping that we can all get vaccinated before long. Best wishes to all of us, and all of our families. 

I lost a bet: Chemical manufacturing employment is up since December 2013

Credit: Bureau of Labor Statistics

In October 2014, I made a bet with Rob Westervelt of Chemical Week where I claimed that chemical
manufacturing would not grow in the 10 years after December 2013. 

We decided on a $100 charity bet. About once a year, I'd check it, and I would see that I was well behind. I am not sure anyone could have seen the pretty large fall-off that happened in 2020 due to the pandemic. Over the weekend, I decided to cut my losses and I donated $100 to Rob's designated charity, which was City Harvest. Rob was incredibly magnanimous, and graciously asked me to designate a charity, which I did (ACS' Project SEED.) 

I am a little more optimistic about what the numbers for American chemical manufacturing employment might be post-pandemic. Here is hoping that things keep moving in the right direction. 

Have a good weekend

  

Well, we made it through the week. Hope you're doing all right, and that you and your families are safe. Have a good weekend, and see you on Monday. 

Chemical explosion at a plant in Belle, WV

Via the New York Times, an explosion on Tuesday: 

A large explosion at a West Virginia chemical plant killed one person and injured at least two others late Tuesday night, throwing debris more than a mile away and forcing a nearby highway and some schools to close, officials said.

There were three chemical operators in the building at the time of the explosion, according to Optima Belle, the chemical company that owns the plant. Two operators were evaluated at a hospital and released, but the third operator died, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Separately, a county official had said that four people had been hospitalized. Officials told residents within a two-mile radius of the blast in the town of Belle, about 15 miles southeast of Charleston, to shelter in place. Classes at more than a dozen schools were canceled on Wednesday as a precaution.

The authorities were investigating the cause of the explosion, which apparently involved dry chlorine and methanol, Kent Carper, the Kanawha County Commission president, said early on Wednesday. Firefighters worked to stabilize the blast, which settled into a controlled flare through the night, he said...

...The explosion occurred at about 10 p.m. in a manufacturing area owned by Optima Chemical, which operates in a complex in Belle owned by the Chemours Company, Optima Belle said in its statement.

“Preliminary information indicates that a 1,200-gallon metal dryer became over pressurized during a chemical product drying operation,” it said. “The material in the dryer was a compound used for sanitization.”

I'd like to understand what happened here. It makes sense that methanol would be flammable, but it doesn't make sense that it would be in a dryer? (maybe it was product wet with methanol?) 

Best wishes to the families and coworkers of those killed and injured. 

Job posting: NIST physical scientists

From the inbox: 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is recruiting scientists and engineers to join an interdisciplinary team developing a new spectroscopy for intermolecular interactions. The team anticipates the need for several physical scientists or engineers in the following areas: 1) on-wafer device fabrication; 2) nonlinear electrical measurements; 3) molecular dynamics simulations; 4) density functional theory; 5) NMR spectroscopy.

The positions have an education requirement and are located at the Gaithersburg, MD, and Boulder, CO, campuses of NIST. Prior experience relevant to the technical area is required. More detailed project descriptions are posted here: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/electric-acoustic-spectroscopy-intermolecular-interactions-solution.

Interested applicants should send their resume or CV and a cover letter to Dr. Megan Harries (eas-ims-jobs@nist.gov) specifying which of the above opportunities they are interested in. Review of applications will begin on December 21 and continue until all positions are filled. 

The identified candidate may be hired as a Physicist (1310), Chemist (3120), Chemical Engineer (0893), Material Scientist (0806), Electronics Engineer (0855) or similar, at the level of ZP-III (GS-11/12 equivalent) with a salary range of $70,181 - $109,358. 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology of the Department of Commerce is an Equal Opportunity Employer. When a position is available, a vacancy announcement will be posted on WWW.USAJOBS.GOV.

Best wishes to those interested.  

19 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Common Organic Chemistry is resolving some technical difficulties, but has ported over the list to Google Drive for now. There are 19 new positions for December 8.

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

Russia pumping out helium

Why is this room full of MRIs? 
Credit: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

Via the New York Times, interesting article on Russian helium production in Siberia, and its geopolitical
impact:

...Still, after ramping up to full production in the middle of this decade, Russia expects to produce 25 to 30 percent of all helium used worldwide.

It will do so without breaking a sweat, so vast are its reserves, analysts say. In fact, Gazprom has the ability to reserve extracted helium in Siberia by injecting it back into the natural gas fields — essentially taking its helium off the market — which is one reason for concerns about price manipulation in the future. Gazprom declined to comment for this article.

In other commodity markets where Russia has a finger on the scale of prices, such as natural gas in Europe, a complicated mix of politics and economics influences the Kremlin’s decisions. Its Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project, intended to connect Russian gas fields to Germany, for example, has been fiercely opposed by the White House as a means of stoking dependence on Russia....

I don't quite know what to make of all of this, but more sources of helium are a good thing one presumes. Will be amused to see if there will be a HPEC someday...

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 219 research/teaching positions and 21 teaching faculty positions

 The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 219 research/teaching positions and 21 teaching assistant professor positions.

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

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

On December 10, 2019, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 493 research/teaching positions and 36 teaching faculty positions.

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

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search?  Go to the second open thread. Click here for the first open thread, which closed on November 11, 2020.

Job posting: visiting assistant professor, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas

From the inbox: 

The Department of Chemistry at the University of North Texas invites applicants for a post-doctoral teaching and research position at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor. This non-tenure track position will be for one year with the possibility of renewal for up to two additional years, with a planned start date of September 1, 2021. The primary responsibilities of the position include components of both research and teaching. Research responsibilities include conducting chemistry education research to explore the way undergraduate students interpret, understand, and use chemistry representations. The candidate will closely collaborate with the PI of the Chemistry Education Research Group at the University of North Texas, Dr. Molly B. Atkinson, and will be supervised by the Department Chair. Teaching responsibilities include teaching one course section each Fall and Spring semester within the Department of Chemistry at the undergraduate introductory level (either general or organic chemistry, depending upon the candidate’s expertise and departmental needs).

Review of applications will begin on January 15, 2021. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Please direct any questions to Dr. Molly B. Atkinson (Molly.Atkinson@unt.edu).

Required Documents:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter*
• A writing sample (e.g., published journal article)
• Statement of Teaching Philosophy
• Unofficial copies of all undergraduate and graduate school transcripts
• A list of 3 professional references, with their contact information, who are willing to be contacted directly by the PI to request letters of recommendation

*The cover letter should explain the applicant’s interest in this position and why they are a good choice for this position, based on alignment with the required minimum qualifications and any other desirable or preferred qualifications (e.g., past experience relevant to the job responsibilities). The cover letter should also specify when the applicant expects to receive their Ph.D. if they have not yet received it at the time of application.

 Best wishes to those interested. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 47 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 47 positions. It is curated by Lilian Josephson (@lljosephson).

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

The open thread is found here. 

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 70 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 70 positions.

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

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

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

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

Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2019 edition

From the NSF's Survey of Earned Doctorates, the latest data, which is for the class of graduates during the 2019 calendar year. First, the demographic data (tab 58): 

All doctorate recipients (number): 2,941

Sex (%): Male 60.9 / Female 39.1 / Unknown 0.0

Citizenship (%): U.S. citizen or permanent resident 60.6, Temporary visa holder 36.4, Unknown 3

Marital status (%): Never married 48.9, Married 32.2,  Marriage-like relationship 7.5, Separated, divorced, widowed 1.2, Unknown 10.2

Bachelor's in same field as doctorate (%): 73.2

Master's earned (%): 37.2

Age at doctorate (median years): 28.9

Time to doctorate (median years): From bachelor's 6.3, From graduate school start 5.8, From doctoral program start 5.3

Now, their destinations (tab 59): 

Definite postgraduation study: 982 (36% of respondents to this question)

Definite employment: 788 (29% of respondents to this question)

Seeking employment or study: 878 (33% of respondents to this question)

Other: 63 (3% of respondents to this question)

Definite postgraduation study (%): Postdoc fellowship or research associateship 96.9, Other or unknown 3.1

Definite employment (%): Academe 16.2, Government 4.4, Industry or business 75.8, Nonprofit organization 1.0, Other or unknown 2.5

Primary activity (%): R&D 70.4, Teaching 14.0, Management or administration 3.7, Professional services 11.2, Other 0.7

Median starting salaries for those employed (does not count postdoctoral appointments) (tab 49): 

Total: $95,000

Academe: $54,000

Industry or business: $102,158

Government: $80,000

Nonprofit organization: $81,000

Other or unknown: $50,000

Last year's data, in case you're interested. (most dramatic changes were to this year's salaries, which were all up) 

BLS: Unemployment rate for November was 6.7%; payrolls rose 245000 positions

Credit: Calculated Risk

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the national unemployment rate fell to 6.7%, and payrolls rose by 245000 positions in November.

The broader U6 measurement of unemployment was 12.1%, down from 12.2% in October.

The chemical manufacturing subsector saw a drop in positions from 835700 in October to 833800 in November, a drop of 1900 positions (seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate of college graduates was 4.2% for November 2020, while by contrast the unemployment rate for people without a high school diploma was 9.0%. 

Have a good weekend

 

Well, we've made it through another week. This week, I learned that some musicians don't enjoy playing this song. Well, to each their own. Have a good weekend, and see you on Monday.