Common Organic Chemistry is resolving some technical difficulties, but has ported over the list to Google Drive for now. There are 22 new positions for November 18, and 12 for November 16.
Don't forget to check out the Common Organic Chemistry company list, a very helpful resource for organic chemists looking for potential employers.
From the inbox, a position at the National Science Foundation:
The Division of Chemistry (CHE) is responsible for programs with a total annual budget of more than $200 million. These programs support research and education that expand the knowledge base of the science of chemistry through single investigator and collaborative research programs (catalysis; life processes; measurement and imaging; structure, dynamics and mechanism; environmental chemistry; macromolecular, supramolecular and nanochemistry; synthesis; and theory, modeling and computational chemistry), Centers for Chemical Innovation, Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Research Instrumentation and Facilities, and Special Projects. The mission of the NSF Division of Chemistry (CHE) is to support innovative research in chemical sciences, integrated with education, through strategic investment in developing a globally engaged U.S. chemistry workforce reflecting the diversity of America.
Within the Division, the Deputy Division Director works with the Division Director in providing leadership and management to the Division’s programs and assists the Division Director in carrying out Division-wide responsibilities such as the preparation of budget submissions for Congress, oversight and management of the Division budgets, and the recruitment of scientific staff. The incumbent also supervises and provides leadership and guidance to administrative and support personnel within the Division. Externally, the Deputy Division Director represents the Division in a variety of MPS-wide, NSF-wide and interagency activities related to research and education, and in interactions with the community. The Deputy Division Director assumes the Division Director’s role in the absence of the Division Director.
Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.
I am reaching out today to share the news that we will hold our spring 2021 ACS meeting entirely virtually April 5-16, 2021. Meeting virtually for ACS Spring 2021 will enable the meaningful sharing of scientific information, while ensuring everyone’s safety.Originally planned as an in-person event in San Antonio, TX, in March 2021, the meeting was transitioned to a virtual event as a result of the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases locally, nationally, and globally, and predictions for worsening conditions throughout the winter season. The virtual format was chosen out of concern for the health and safety of our members, meeting attendees, staff and residents of San Antonio.We are committed to ensuring that the virtual meeting will give participants the most robust and rich experience possible. We have lengthened the footprint of the meeting to allow for a maximum amount of science to be shared with the widest possible audience. The program will include 10 weekdays of live sessions followed by two weeks of on demand content, at the presenters’ discretion.The window for abstract submissions will open on December 16, 2020, and close on January 18, 2021. Abstracts questions can be directed to abstracts@acs.org. Registration will open in January for the virtual meeting with fees set at $99 for ACS members, $149 for non-members, and $29 for students. Unemployed member and 50-year emeritus members will be able to attend at no cost.
I think this is a pretty logical move - even with vaccines, it's hard to imagine that people would be meeting in March 2021. Friend of the blog Harry Elston had a good question - what will three consecutive virtual meetings do to early career researchers in chemistry?
I'll be honest and say that I don't know. In discussions of the National Meeting, there is always a lot of chatter about how these venues aren't nearly as good as smaller meetings, such as Gordon Conferences. I broadly agree. At the same time, I think there is genuine value in the breadth of the meeting, and also far more opportunity for serendipitous meetings of old friends and colleagues in other subfields, and new ones as well. The virtual meetings offer some good points: the price is much, much lower (especially with the lack of travel) and that offers an opportunity for students of all institutions to participate.
I think it's unlikely that there will be a measurable impact to the careers of students who were not able to stand awkwardly in front of their Sci-Mix posters for 3 hours, and participated virtually instead. Still, for those of us who are in the middle of our careers, it bears some amount of consideration and watching.
Via the New York Times, a group of manufacturers thinking about a quality product and technology transfer:
The bright-white sticks drop one by one into the whir and clatter of a weatherworn piece of machinery, where they are stamped with the most celebrated name in chalk: Hagoromo.
The early stages of the process look a lot like food production. The ingredients in what the company’s owner calls a “recipe” are dumped into a mixer originally designed for bread dough, and what comes out is fed into a kneader originally intended to make udon noodles.
Of the thick grayish mass that emerges, four ingredients are known: calcium carbonate, clay, glue and oyster shells. The other three are a secret. In a video posted to YouTube about the chalk, an American fan offers a guess as to one of them: angel tears.
Hagoromo chalk is a cult favorite of elite academics, artists and others around the world who praise it for its silky feel, vibrant colors, scant dust and nearly unbreakable quality. Mathematicians in particular are prone to waxing poetic about it, and buying it in bulk.
Despite its renown, Hagoromo is still produced on a relatively small scale, using custom-made equipment, much of it run by two laborers who are identical twins — a throwback in a high-tech era where interactive displays are replacing chalkboards.
It's hard not to get romantic about the glory of manufacturing, where a high-quality product is made for adoring customers. Good story, very enjoyable. Read the whole thing.
The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 178 research/teaching positions and 16 teaching assistant professor positions.
Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Fairfield University seeks a Visiting Assistant Professor beginning January 1, 2021. This appointment and its possible renewal through the 2021-2022 academic year are contingent upon final approval of funding. The successful applicant will have the ability to teach lecture and laboratory classes in General Chemistry, as well ability in one or more of Chemical Analysis Laboratory, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Instrumentation Laboratory and/or Biochemistry Laboratory. A PhD is required, as is a commitment to innovation and demonstrated excellence in using technology in the classroom. Fairfield University is pursuing in-person instruction. Individuals seeking remote employment should not apply. Review of applications will begin immediately.
For full consideration submit a cover letter, a CV, and graduate school transcripts, a statement of teaching philosophy to the University portal by November 23, 2020. Three letters of recommendation should also be sent directly to chemistryVAP@fairfield.edu.
Best wishes to those interested.
Rowan University is seeking an innovative and entrepreneurial leader to serve as the Dean of the College of Science & Mathematics (CSM). The Dean will lead the development of a new vision for CSM in collaboration with faculty, staff, and students which advances the University’s mission to provide access to an affordable, quality education for a diverse student body, to create new knowledge to serve humankind, and to serve as an economic engine for our region and the state of New Jersey. We seek a candidate who will lead the CSM community in our scientific, technological, and educational response to society's challenges in sustainability, climate change, and social and environmental justice.
As the chief academic and administrative officer of CSM, the Dean’s responsibilities include: (1) oversight, enhancement, and development of high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs including stackable and micro-credential programs; (2) expansion of the college’s research endeavors; (3) recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty and student body and promotion of an inclusive environment; (4) fundraising, development of new revenue sources, and budgetary oversight; (5) alumni relations, and (6) enhancing the visibility and reputation of the college. The Dean will work closely with the Provost and fellow deans to support Rowan University’s distinctive identity, while moving towards Carnegie 1 research status.
Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.
The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 39 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 Academic Staff Jobs list has 51 positions.
This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:Via the New York Times, this bizarre news:
It was supposed to be a fun family summer trip to Yellowstone National Park. Two cousins, a neighbor and their families packed two chickens, canoed about eight hours and hiked to the Shoshone Geyser Basin, where they decided to cook their chickens in a hot spring.
But dinner didn’t go quite as planned. In fact, it led to three of them pleading guilty to petty offenses. They were sentenced to two years’ probation, banned from the park for that period and fined between $500 and $1,200, according to court documents.
“A ranger responded and found two whole chickens in a burlap sack in a hot spring,” she said. A cooking pot was also found nearby. When Mr. Romriell went to check on the chicken — the group was bathing in the river nearby — he found the park ranger, who then questioned him and the rest of the group of 10 people about it. The next day, the ranger returned to the men’s campsites and issued them citations requiring a mandatory court appearance.
In September, the three men pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Casper, Wyo., to foot travel in a thermal area, according to court records. Mr. Romriell also pleaded guilty to the additional charge of having food in a thermal area...
So there are a bunch of dumb questions to ask, like:
Well, we've made it through another week. I hope you have a good weekend, and we'll see you on Monday.
...Pfizer is making the vaccine at facilities in Kalamazoo, Mich., and Puurs, Belgium. The doses distributed in the United States will mostly come from Kalamazoo. In Kalamazoo, vaccines will go into vials (five doses per vial). Vials will go into trays (195 vials per tray). Trays will go into specially designed cooler-type boxes (up to five trays per box). Pfizer plans to have about 100,000 of the coolers by the end of this month and more than double that total by March.The reusable boxes, each toting between 1,000 and 5,000 doses and stuffed with dry ice, are equipped with GPS-enabled sensors. Pfizer employees will be able to monitor the boxes’ locations and temperatures as FedEx and UPS transport them to hospitals and clinics nationwide.The boxes “will have eyes on them at all times,” Ms. Alcorn said.Representatives of UPS and FedEx said they had been planning to play a major role in distributing vaccines and were ready to go.Once the Pfizer coolers reach their destinations, hospitals or pharmacies will have a few choices of how to store the vaccine. The easiest option is using ultracold freezers, but not many sites have them. Otherwise, the facilities can stash the trays in conventional freezers for up to five days. Or they can keep the vials in the cooler for up to 15 days, so long as they replenish the dry ice and don’t open it more than twice a day.
Good times for dry ice manufacturers!
Common Organic Chemistry is resolving some technical difficulties, but has ported over the list to Google Drive for now. There are 14 new positions for November 11, 16 for November 9 and 16 positions for October 21.
Don't forget to check out the Common Organic Chemistry company list, a very helpful resource for organic chemists looking for potential employers.
From the inbox, a position at the National Science Foundation:
The Division of Chemistry (CHE) is responsible for programs with a total annual budget of more than $200 million. These programs support research and education that expand the knowledge base of the science of chemistry through single investigator and collaborative research programs (catalysis; life processes; measurement and imaging; structure, dynamics and mechanism; environmental chemistry; macromolecular, supramolecular and nanochemistry; synthesis; and theory, modeling and computational chemistry), Centers for Chemical Innovation, Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Research Instrumentation and Facilities, and Special Projects. The mission of the NSF Division of Chemistry (CHE) is to support innovative research in chemical sciences, integrated with education, through strategic investment in developing a globally engaged U.S. chemistry workforce reflecting the diversity of America.
Within the Division, the Deputy Division Director works with the Division Director in providing leadership and management to the Division’s programs and assists the Division Director in carrying out Division-wide responsibilities such as the preparation of budget submissions for Congress, oversight and management of the Division budgets, and the recruitment of scientific staff. The incumbent also supervises and provides leadership and guidance to administrative and support personnel within the Division. Externally, the Deputy Division Director represents the Division in a variety of MPS-wide, NSF-wide and interagency activities related to research and education, and in interactions with the community. The Deputy Division Director assumes the Division Director’s role in the absence of the Division Director.
Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.
The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 165 research/teaching positions and 14 teaching assistant professor positions.
Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 38 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 Academic Staff Jobs list has 51 positions.
This list is curated by Sarah Cady and @nmr_chemist. It targets:Via the New York Times, a fun article by Caity Weaver about a $590 scratch-and-sniff luxury T-shirt delved into the pioneer of this technology:
...Scratch-and-sniff is a feature, a deed and a technology derived from the experiments of Gale Matson, a chemist who grew up in a small town in Minnesota and later went to work for his local global manufacturing conglomerate, the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. One of Mr. Matson’s first tasks after joining the company was to refine the practice of producing ink copies of documents without the use of messy black carbon paper. While tweaking a manufacturing technique known as microencapsulation in 1966, he invented what we now know as scratch-and-sniff.
Its basic concept is this: A bunch of itty-bitty plastic-coated balls, filled with scented substance, can be made to rupture with light physical contact (Mr. Matson suggested “fingernail pressure”), releasing their scent into the air.
Mr. Matson’s patents describe how he created capsules filled with “one part perfume oil and two parts diethyl phthalate,” and coated them onto a sheet of paper. The paper remained odorless until the capsules were scratched open....
...Gale Matson died in 2004 after more than 30 years at the company, which is known today as 3M. Its scarlet logo appears on products ranging from neonatal monitoring electrodes to helicopter blade repair paste to Scotch tape.
“He loved working at 3M,” Mr. Matson’s son Tim recalled. “They say you bleed 3M red.”
“I never got to see where he worked, because it was in a secure location,” he added. “Until they patented something and disclosed the inventions, it was all trade secrets and tight security.”
Surprisingly, there’s not too much information on the internet about the life of Dr. Matson, although his obituary notes that he was a 50 year member of the ACS. I wonder if he knew that his legacy in chemistry to the world would be to be known as the inventor of scratch-and-sniff?
(3M didn't have like "Family Day" or something where people got to tour the workplace?)
Well, we made it to Friday, mostly in one piece. I hope you all have a great weekend. See you on Monday.
So it's November now, and we should be in the middle of the fall hiring push for industrial chemists. What is the feeling out there? What's your opinion on how the process is moving along? Slow? About as fast as normal? Are you seeing posting being suddenly pulled, or offers disappearing due to budgets?
Readers, what do you think?
