From the lab to the border

The next  ACS webinar is about the US Customs and Border Chemists and what they do:

From Lab Hoods to Front Lines: Chemists at U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Since the United States Tariff Act of 1848 US Customs and Border Protection chemists and scientists have been critical in classification and valuation of imported goods, enforcing trade laws, performing forensic science, and providing expertise in technical security programs. This talk will discuss the history and role of chemists at CBP, including both traditional “wet chemistry” work at lab hoods to front-line field work in support of CBP’s mission.

What You Will Learn

• The broad scope of work conducted by CBP chemists for trade enforcement
• Field Laboratory specialties, including Intellectual Property Rights, Country of Origin Determinations, Textile Analysis, and Forensic Analysis
• How CBP Chemists work on the front-lines of the United States’ borders in support of CBP’s mission
• And much more…

Webinar Details

Date: Thursday, April 4, 2013

Time: 2:00-3:00 pm ET

Fee: Free

Snapshots of Alternative Careers

The 2013 ACS Meeting this spring has not one but TWO alternative career sessions:

CINF (Chemical Information Division) is organizing “Food for Thought: Alternative careers in chemistry”  and

CHAL (Chemistry and Law Division) is organizing “Beyond the bench: Non-traditional  Careers in chemistry”

There is also a complete career fair with other talks of various aspects of making career choices.

And it is in New Orleans!  SO no excuse  not to go…

 

 

WIll there be a job once you finish your PhD??

Turns out that as a PhD chemist your chances are better than as a biosciences PhD.  Seems that 15,000 bioscience PhDs are produced each year versus 2000 chemistry ones!

The ACS recently had a webinar on this topic : http://acswebinars.org/doctoral-glut  (soon available as an archived broadcast)

Forbes wrote an article based on the the webinar: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2012/11/12/chemistry-job-market-likely-to-rebound-before-biosciences/

And some bloggers also had a podcast discussion on the same topic after the webinar: http://chemjobber.blogspot.ca/2012/11/podcast-doctoral-glut-see-arr-oh-and.html

Well worth pondering if you are in a PhD or postdoc position. One remark that stands out is that it is the student’s responsibility to pay attention to job prospects and make sure that they know all the possibilities that are out there.  Not getting a professorship is not a failure -there are many more types of careers for PhDs that you think!

NATURE | CAREERS | FEATURE

Food science: A smorgasbord of opportunity

Alla Katsnelson
Nature 491, 149–150 (01 November 2012)
doi:10.1038/nj7422-149a    Published online    31 October 2012

With the big focus on food shows and chef contests, along with the massive success of the Modernist Cuisine books, jobs for food scientists are now trendy and more plentiful.

This article highlights some types of research and some of the pitfalls that may occur to the unwary…

different patent jobs – in the patent office, a law office or in a corporation

Careers for Scientists in the Patenting World – Science Careers – Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers

In the “nothing will stop me” category

People sometimes find a lot of excuses as to why they cannot do something instead of just trying it.
Here is one story of someone who thinks anything is possible even with a disability!

Student has no trouble visualizing a doctorate in chemistry
By Ed Fletcher (efletcher@sacbee.com)
Published: Monday, Sep. 12, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1B

Even the most adept chemistry student will spend an evening hopelessly staring at models of double helixes, polypeptides and ribonucleic acids.

Not Henry Wedler.

Blind from birth, Wedler, who is working on his doctorate in organic chemistry at the University of California, Davis, sees these complex structures in his mind and occasionally with his hands.

I note that he is hedging his bets too by having a second undergrad degree in History and minoring in mathematics. Who knows what his career path will be.

Inspiring for anyone who doubts themselves!

alternative careers are burgeoning!

The Guardian comments on a paper that states that one half of all STEM grad do not get a job in science.

I like that this comment ends with:

…what’s the problem if Stem graduates end up in careers outside science and engineering? If anything, we need more of it. We’re crying out for more scientists and engineers to teach in schools, get into politics and the civil service, and become involved in running companies. The scientific method should be more embedded in society, not less.