View From Your Hood: deer edition

From an anonymous reader: "Doe and two fawns, Morris County, NJ"

(got a View from Your Hood submission? Send it in (with a caption and preference for name/anonymity, please) at chemjobber@gmail.com; will run every other Friday.)

This week's C&EN

A few of this week's articles:

• Cover story on bioethics and genomics (article by Rick Mullin)
• "Is machine learning overhyped?" (article by Sam Lemonick)
• BASF collaborating with UC schools (article by Marc S. Reisch)
• Love this idea of a project to get veterans into science careers (article by Bethany Halford)
• "India to combat fake drugs with blockchain" (article by K. V. Venkatasubramanian)
• Very cool: "Mass spectrometry measures chemical exposures in e-cigarette users’ mouths" (article by Carmen Drahl) 

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs List: 182 positions

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs list (curated by Joel Walker and myself)  has 182 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions, but if you want to do the traditional "leave a link in the comments", that works, too.

Want to chat about medchem positions? Try the open thread.

Positions I'm not including: positions outside the United States, computational positions (this will likely change), academic positions (likely never.)

Welcome to The Analytical Chemistry Jobs List: 3 positions

The Analytical Chemistry Jobs List has 3 positions; this is curated by the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry. Want to help out? Fill out this form. 

The Computational Drug Discovery Chemistry Jobs List: 25 positions

The Computational Drug Discovery Chemistry Jobs List has 25 positions. This list is curated by Joel Walker. 

The Process Chemistry Jobs List: 204 positions

The Process Chemistry Jobs List has 204 positions.

Want to help? Here's a form to fill out.

Want to chat process jobs? Try the open thread. 

Did you witness the Mirkin/Levy contretemps?

Did you witness the Mirkin/Levy contretemps at ACS Boston? (Here's Dr. Levy's account.) Want to talk to a science journalist (who is not me) about it? E-mail me at chemjobber@gmail.com before noon Thursday ET.

Picky, picky

In this week's C&EN, a funny letter:

I carefully read all the articles on shrinking mass spectrometers and think they were very good and well presented. 

However, what ruined it for me was the announcement for the cover story (C&EN, May 28, page 36) in the table of contents. Irregardless [sic] of what the confused minds of the C&EN production staff may think, there ain’t [sic] no such thing as mass spectroscopy. As you well know, spectroscopy involves the study of the absorption or transmission of energy associated with the electromagnetic spectrum. There is no such thing associated with mass spectrometry. All spectroscopies are spectrometries, but all spectrometries are not spectroscopies. 

The reason I make an issue of this is that I feel it is important to use good communication in science and correct terms. This is why you would never see a scientific peer-reviewed article with “ain’t” or “irregardless” in it. 

O. David Sparkman
Antioch, Calif. 

Editor’s note: Brackets in original.

Nothing gets the mass spec types riled up like calling them spectroscopists.  

Job posting: Field Application Scientist, Perkin Elmer Informatics

From the inbox, via friend of the blog Philip Skinner:

We have an open position in our Field Application Scientist group in the US which we would prefer is filled by either an organic chemist, either in medicinal chemistry or in the broader materials science area (specialty chemistry, advanced materials etc.). We would prefer someone based either on the US East Coast or MidWest. These positions involve demonstrations and other presales support for our software applications including ChemDraw, Tibco Spotfire and Signals Notebook. Experience using these or similar applications is important along with scientific expertise, a willingness to travel and an affinity for customer focused interactions. 

We have a similar role in Europe also available albeit for this one we want someone with biology expertise. Although I assume this isn’t your core readership perhaps you have readers who have crossed over, or work in molecular biology or another adjacent field. 

These opportunities are great for someone who loves science but want to work in a more commercial setting and not in a laboratory and are highly personable. We help scientists be successful through our software and the role is essentially to help scientists envision how our software can specifically help them.

Best wishes to those interested. Contact Philip at philip.skinner-at-perkinelmer-dot-com

The 2019 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 167 positions

The 2019 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 167 positions.

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

On August 29, 2017, the 2018 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 171 positions.

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

Otherwise, all discussions are on the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List webforum.

Job posting: assistant professor, Davidson College, Davidson, NC

From the inbox, a position at Davidson College: 

Tenure-Track Faculty Position at Davidson College 

The Department of Chemistry at Davidson College seeks to hire a tenure-track faculty member at the Assistant Professor level beginning July 1, 2019, with research interests in emerging or highly interdisciplinary fields of chemistry. A Ph.D. in Chemistry or related field is required. Demonstrated or potential teaching excellence is essential. Postdoctoral experience is desirable but not required.  A successful candidate will teach courses at the foundational level as well as in an area of specialization. Inquiries may be directed to Durwin Striplin, Chair of Chemistry, dustriplin@davidson.edu.   

Qualified applicants should apply online at http://employment.davidson.edu and provide the following application materials:  a cover letter, a detailed curriculum vitae, a description of research plans and anticipated equipment needs, a statement of teaching experience and philosophy, and a 1-2 page diversity inventory that outlines how your teaching, research, and/or service might contribute to Davidson’s institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.  

The Academic Staff Jobs List: 20 positions

The Academic Staff Jobs list has 20 positions.

This list is curated by Sarah Cady. 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.

Columbia lawyers argue that postdocs are not employees, they're trainees

Via Gary McDowell, (amidst Columbia University's recent postdoctoral unionization drive), a rather shocking and candid statement from their legal team and research administration:

If provided an opportunity to present evidence to show that postdoctoral trainees at Columbia are not employees under Section 2(3) of the Act, the University will present witnesses including, but not limited to Michael Purdy, Executive Vice President for Research. Dr. Purdy will testify to the following facts to show that postdoctoral trainees are not employees under Columbia University:  

(1) Postdoctoral trainees are merely "trainees" who, despite having a PhD degree, still require significant education, mentoring, and training in order to learn how to successfully conduct independent research....
...(5) Unlike other employees of the University, postdoctoral trainees are not "hired" based on their skills and ability to perform specific job tasks. Instead, the University appoints postdoctoral trainees to research positions based on their fit within a particular lab or with a particular principal investigator and their prior experience conducting mentored research....
(6) The tasks performed by postdoctoral trainees are fundamentally educational and are part of their training.... 

...Similarly, here, postdoctoral trainees seek such positions not to earn a living but to learn - for a temporary period of time - how to conduct independent research under the educations instruction and mentorship of a principal investigator. The trainees conduct research and perform tasks as part of the learning process. Their compensation is also generally fixed and does not vary based on the extent of services rendered. 

As I said on Twitter, I'm sure that the likeliest response is "well, this is language cooked up by our lawyers and we greatly value our important postdoctoral employees trainees..." Also, what does (1) mean for Columbia Ph.D.s and their ability to perform independent research without postdoctoral training? Surely some PUIs expect a research component and are willing to try out a freshly-graduated Ph.D? (not many, granted.)

ACS Boston Career Fair: 62 jobs, 539 job seekers

Numbers reported to the ACS Council on Thursday, August 23 (link goes to Powerpoint):

Number of Employers: 48
Number of Jobs Posted: 62
Active Job Seekers: 539
Career Counselor Interactions: 544

As I recall, that's a pretty good ratio, although I suspect that the number of available positions is down somewhat. It's surprising to me that there weren't more positions for Boston, but I suppose that if I were a Boston-based employer, it's not clear to me that I would be exhibiting at the ACS National Meeting, instead of just holding an open house...

Short e-mail apologies

A list of small, useful things (links):

• The latest from Stellen für Chemiker
• The latest from All Things Metathesis
• Practical Fragments at ACS Boston
• Th'Gaussling writes wonderfully about life on a farm
• Nice piece on Lab Without Benches about, among other things, retirement savings
• Sustainable Nano on computational chemistry
• Kat Day, on carbon dioxide
• Fascinating post at Retraction Watch on a recent decision that may affect all federally-funded scientists

An open invitation to all interested in writing a blog, a hobby that will bring you millions thousands hundreds tens of dollars joy and happiness. Send me a link to your post, and I'd be happy to put it up.

Have a good weekend!

Position: researcher (temporary), Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan

From the inbox, an interesting temporary position:

The Researcher position is available for one year under the “Sulfone substituted complex cyclopropanes and linear hydrocarbons via catalysis” project under the direction of Dr. Eugene Khaskin) at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). 

The major focus will be on the economic scale up of the earlier disclosed cyclopropanation reactions as well as employing the reaction towards new sulfone, alcohol, and other substrates compatible in the reaction. Basic responsibilities involve screening of catalysis conditions; synthesis, separation, and characterization of cyclopropane and linear sulfone substrates; and testing new catalysts and reaction conditions. Some of the work will be carried out in cooperation with the Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis unit, about which more details can be found at the unit webpage: https://groups.oist.jp/cccu 

Qualifications (Required)

• Master's or Ph.D. in Chemistry
• Experience in one or several of the following fields: organic chemistry methods development, organic chemistry total synthesis, organic chemistry heterocycle synthesis, organometallic chemistry catalysis.
• Extensive experience in reaction screening, as well as basic organic chemistry techniques such as separating substrates via column chromatography (and/or HPLC), TLC, etc... 
• Familiarity with NMR, GC (FID or MS), and HPLC instruments.
• Have a strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals
• Good communication skills in English
• Ability to work independently as well as a part of a team

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Event: Harvard Biotech Club Career Fair, August 28

From the inbox, an event in the Boston area:

This event at Harvard Medical School on 8/28 is an opportunity to meet hiring managers and recruiters at a number of interesting biopharma companies. Several of them are actively hiring for chemistry and chemical biology positions including Celgene, Alnylam,  Novartis,  AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen,  Arrakis Therapeutics, AstraZeneca and more. RSVP is required and registration is only $10. The event includes keynote, panels, company presentations, and career fair.  

http://thebiotechclub.org/schedule/ 

The GSAS Harvard Biotech Club is a student organization founded almost twenty years ago whose mission is to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The Club hosts free events and provides educational services for those interested in the business of biotech and pharma.  

If you need to email anyone for more info: the email address is harvardbiotechclub@gmail.com

The keynote speaker is Jay Bradner, which is cool. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs List: 173 positions

The Medicinal Chemist Jobs list (curated by Joel Walker and myself)  has 173 positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions, but if you want to do the traditional "leave a link in the comments", that works, too.

Want to chat about medchem positions? Try the open thread.

Positions I'm not including: positions outside the United States, computational positions (this will likely change), academic positions (likely never.)

The Computational Drug Discovery Chemistry Jobs List: 25 positions

The Computational Drug Discovery Chemistry Jobs List has 25 positions. This list is curated by Joel Walker. 

7 new positions at Organic Chemistry Jobs

Over at Common Organic Chemistry, there's 7 new positions posted for August 18.