ACS 245th National Meeting in New Orleans

 We are excited for the imminent ACS 245th National Meeting in New Orleans, La. Technical symposia, networking and fun awaits!  Do you know about all the events where you can receive professional development, learn about various careers, and meet and network with peers and established chemists? Check out the new Graduate & Postdoctoral Chemist Magazine for more detail.

Here are 3 top things you don't want to miss...

 

1. Career Workshops

The ACS will be offering workshops and symposia to help chemists identify careers off the beaten path for chemists, advice on achieving a dream job and being self-employed. At the ACS Career Fair, several Career Pathway workshops are being held from April 7-10. A few interesting workshops include, Foreign-National Scientist Obtaining a Job in the U.S., Acing the Interview and Working for Yourself; but this just a sprinkling of the workshops offered—there are plenty more to choose from! For those of you who are considering chemistry careers that are less common, two symposia may be of interest to you: Food for Thought: Alternative Careers in Chemistry and Beyond the Bench: Nontraditional Careers in Chemistry. Both spotlight jobs that you may not have thought of, and feature successful professionals who discuss their career journey.

2. Webcasts - A good chance to participate in the meeting if you will not be able to attend

Beginning on April 8, multiple live Webcasts will be available. Attendees of the National Meeting are able to participate in the audience, and those who are unable to join the fun can do so by viewing through their computer screens. There will be a cooking demo to deconstruct egg science, an overview of new research about benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, and more.

3. Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Reception - Delicious food and even better networking opportunities

The National Meeting is not all work and no play! Amusing events are aplenty and offer opportunities to meet and network, too. The Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Reception, which occurs on Monday evening from 7:00 – 8:30 PM, is open to all registered graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Participants are able to gather with scientists of their chemistry discipline, enjoy free food and beverages, and have the chance to win an iPad and ACS t-shirts. For your best shot at receiving a prize, don’t linger and arrive at 7:00 PM.

 

Throughout the meeting, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the latest updates and information for graduate students and postdocs. We will be trending with the hash tag, #ACSGPSCommunity. We hope to see you in the Big Easy. Safe travels!

Where to Find ACS Funding

By Stephanie Prosack

Your grad school and postdoc experience is made successful by hard work. Did you know the American Chemical Society offers funding in multiple areas to help you professionally expand? As part of my responsibilities in the ACS Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Office, I research and communicate financial assistance opportunities to save you some extra time and cash. Traveling to an ACS meeting? Apply for a travel award. Searching for a fellowship? ACS has got you covered there, too. 

ACS Funding

Division Travel and Fellowship Awards

Transportation costs to ACS meetings may be supplemented through travel awards through ACS technical divisions. Awards range from a couple of hundred to a thousand dollars per meeting, and fellowship awards are as much as $26,000 a year. Be sure to read the fine print; you may need to be  presenting research at a division-sponsored oral or poster session, and have technical division membership in addition to the Society to qualify.

Society Fellowships, Grants and Scholarships

The Society offers an array of funding opportunities for you as a grad student or postdoc. Whether your interest lies in public policy or international research experience, there are plenty of opportunities to pick. The qualifications for each prospect are different, and some may require recommendations from an advisor or previous intellectual property and research efforts. Nevertheless, these possibilities are an impressive mode to gain experience and expand your C.V. or resume. Some examples are:

•   Irving S. Sigal Postdoctoral Fellowship
•  ACS Science Public Policy Fellowship Program
• ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Energy
•  ACS Global Research Experiences, Exchanges and Training Program (GREET) Program
• ACS Division of Chemical Information (CINF)Scholarship for Scientific Excellence

An easy way to learn about the latest awards and opportunities is by connecting with us. Awards and other financial possibilities are regularly posted on Facebook pages devoted to chemistry graduate students and postdocs, and on our Twitter feed @ACSGradsPostdoc. The ACS Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Bulletin, a monthly e-newsletter, highlights opportunities of all genres—competitions, fellowships, grants, and travel— in each issue. Past editions can be viewed here, and you can subscribe to the Bulletin by sending an email to GradEd@acs.org with “subscribe” in the subject line.

Stephanie Prosack is an education assistant in the Graduate & Postdoctoral Scholars Office at the American Chemical Society. A graduate of Hollins University, she has extensive communications and international experience, and has contributed to communications outreach efforts at the American Chemical Society and public television..

Partners in Safety

By the time I completed my doctorate, I had lived in five different states and traveled to ten different countries. But the biggest culture shock of all was leaving graduate school and starting work as a researcher for a petrochemical company.

Instead of locking labs for security, our labs were door-less, so that people could leave quickly in an emergency. Not only did I have to confine my work wardrobe to slacks, I also had to make sure my shoes were all-leather, had low heels, and covered my whole foot. (By the way, try finding good work shoes when strappy sandals, ballet flats, and platform heels are all the rage.)

And don’t even get me started on all the procedures for ordering, handling, and disposing of chemicals. At first, I was convinced there was no way to do any actual chemistry at our research facility.

In the years that followed, however, I learned that the safety procedures my company used were part of a culture of safety that permeated the organization. While it could seem overly paranoid (we had signs in the stairwells reminding us to use the handrails), we also did not have any work-related injuries the entire time I worked there.

Which is why I was so happy to read C&EN’s report on The Dow Chemical Company’s partnerships with the University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. These partnerships bring together industry professionals, undergrads, grad students, postdocs, faculty, and academic safety staff to implement industry-level safety practices at the universities.

In the true spirit of partnership, Dow and university representatives tour each other’s facilities, identify needs, and see what they can offer. Students and faculty get the resources they need to beef up their safety culture; Dow knows where to look for future employees that possess a true appreciation for safety.

The reviews from the students and faculty are great. Instead of finding the safety culture restrictive, they feel it makes their research more efficient, more effective, and, yes, safer. Safety is becoming an integrated practice, rather than one more chore. And with the universities adopting standard operating procedures, stringent housekeeping practices, and incident reporting systems, the academic labs are starting to mirror the industry and government labs where, statistically, about 40% of their graduates will end up. No more culture shock.

Now if only Dow could do something about women’s shoe fashion. (Platform heels? Really? Wouldn’t it be easier to just break my ankles now?)

Author: Blake Aronson, Ph.D., has worked in industry, academia, and (currently) the ACS Office of Two-Year Colleges. Her views do not represent those of the office or ACS, but they are occasionally shared by others. 

Job Seekers: What would you like to know from a hiring manager?

Here's your opportunity to ask! Chemical & Engineering News is working on an upcoming employment article seeking to demystify the hiring process. If you have a question you've always wanted to ask a hiring manger but were afraid to, or didn't have an opportunity to, here's your chance. Send your questions to senior editor Linda Wang, and she will pose these questions to a panel of recruiters and hiring managers. Email your questions to: l_wang@acs.org

Things I Wish I Knew 4 years Ago: Reflections on choosing and making the most out of your advisor selection

Author: Your local 5th Year Ph.D. Student

So here I am in the last year of my Ph.D. studies (theoretically!). Graduate school has been long and challenging. I’ve grown in many ways and there is no way I could’ve predicted the person I would become and the things that would interest me. When I started my degree, I was 100% sure that I wanted to become a pharmaceutical researcher. Now I have begun applying for management consulting, pharmaceuticals, chemical manufacturing, and even semiconductor manufacturing jobs! Before I even started at my university, I knew who I wanted my advisor to be. It’s interesting to take a look back now 4 years later and see how things have changed and what I’ve learned. 

How I chose my advisor

Before I started grad school, I wrote to 2-3 professors at each school I was interested in attending, and asked about their research and let them know a little about me. This helped because my department required new graduate students to interview several professors before listing our top 3 choices and being matched. Since I already had a head start, my advisor of interest already knew about me! He introduced me to one of his colleagues and they became my co-advisors. Both advisors had very large lab groups. In speaking to current members of each group, I got the feeling that since the groups were so large that the working style of each advisor was more hands off and that you should be self-motivated and self-directing. I thought this would be fine for me!

Some things I learned

Four years later, I think I may have done better being in a small group with more one-on-one attention from my advisor. This could have provided me with more mentoring and direction in the process. Being in a larger group makes it easier to get lost in the crowd. It’s something I see now, but I don’t think I could’ve really known until it was experienced. Sometimes I feel like my experience was like being thrown in a pool and then having to teach myself to swim...it took me a while, but I figured things out. I’m still figuring some things out.

Knowing your work style can really help you. I had participated in several research internships during my undergrad years as well as extracurricular leadership activities so I thought I knew, but it ended up working out differently in the case of my graduate research. However, I eventually figured out a way to “survive”:

1. Identifying friends in my lab that I could go to with questions
   Even if they couldn’t always solve my problems, I still had people I could ask for suggestions and sometimes point me to literature I hadn’t seen myself. 
2. Developing a supportive group of friends outside of my lab that I could go to to vent
   This is valuable regardless of whether you are in a small or large group. Even when the outside of the lab group of friends aren’t in your field, I’m sure you’ve noticed many of us go through the same trials and it’s always helpful to be reminded that you’re not the only one. 
3. Developing relationships with professors outside of my lab as mentors
   I was lucky to have professors I took classes with or met through extracurricular activities that I could check in with once in a while and let them know about my progress and ask questions about proceeding through the Ph.D. in general. They spoke more candidly than my advisors so it was great to be able to hear from others who had already made it through.
4. Consciously keeping visible within my lab
   I made sure that when it was my turn to present in group meetings that I did my best to communicate effectively both my results and sometimes what obstacles I was facing (something most graduate students are afraid to admit). My advisors would make rounds through the lab at certain parts of the day or week so I would make sure to be in my office or in the lab at those times. I would also arrange meetings with them sometimes to update them on my progress and ask questions. More regular meetings probably would have been even more beneficial.

One thing that could’ve helped was if senior members of my group could’ve let people know their expertise so that they could be available as resources. Choosing a lab group is almost as important as choosing an advisor. They are the people you will be spending the most time with on a daily basis and the ones more closely experiencing what you’re going through! They will be your resources and in some cases your competition. Choose wisely!

Affirmative Action: Friend or Faux?

By Stephanie Prosack

The United States of America, the wonderful land where all men are created equal. Is this sentiment true in higher education? Affirmative action was created to give scholars of all backgrounds an equal chance of obtaining a college degree in an ethnically diverse environment. Presently, the need for affirmative action is debatable, commonly viewed as a process that helps disadvantaged pupils and creates diversity, or an antiquated concept that is academically hindering students and institutions alike.

Affirmative action is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women; also a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons.” Frequently, it is used as one criterion to evaluate candidate application admittance to higher education institutions. People have recently argued that affirmative action is unconstitutional because it allows applicants with lower test scores and grades who are of a minority race to be admitted into institutions when other applicants with higher grades and tests scores of a different race are denied admittance. Yet others feel that affirmative action is essential by allowing campuses to be diverse learning environments.

Although the intentions of affirmative action were initially positive, demographic dynamics have changed in recent years. Racial groups once underrepresented in academic institutions, such as Asian-Americans, for example, are now prevalent in American schools, as stated in this intriguing article. Asian-Americans contribute to 5 percent of the U.S. population and this percentage is increasing. Students born in Asian countries also attend U.S. institutions. However, with affirmative action, the number of admitted applicants of this increasing ethnic group is capped off to keep academic settings diverse.

In addition to monitoring applicant ethnicity, the evaluation of socio-economic factors could make the process more diverse with less of an emphasis on race alone. Jane*, Ph.D. and former chemistry faculty member, believes the admissions process would be fairer to focus on tangibles such as poverty levels or leadership opportunities. To support this theory Jane referred to a recent conference where a representative from a science organization discussed “how some states now have colorblind admission processes, and minority rates at campuses have increased.” “A policy that targets at-need individuals and not groups, would be more effective than broad affirmative action plans,” agrees Tom*, a current chemistry graduate student.

Not only does affirmative action affect higher education admittance, it also influences academic employment. It is common to see institutions to identify as an organization that adheres to affirmative action procedures when filling vacant faculty positions. Try the search terms “chemistry faculty affirmative action” to view institutions that currently follow such protocol. 

If all applicants were admitted based solely on grades and test scores, campuses would potentially be dominated by one ethnic group and lead to fewer ideas and points of view—aspects crucial for a well-rounded education. Fewer applicants from minority ethnic groups would be present on campuses. This begs the question: How much more important is diversity over academic standing?

Please, share your experiences and thoughts!

This post is neither supporting nor repudiating affirmative action, and does not represent the beliefs, ideas or thoughts of the American Chemical Society.

*=Names have been changes to protect identity

Hurricane Sandy

I came to work this morning with an odd feeling. Like much of the East Coast, ACS was closed on Monday and Tuesday. So much has happened in the last few days, and yet everyone seems ready to carry on with work as usual. I was in south Jersey when the storm landed on the Jersey coast. Many people just north and south of me lost power, and many experienced severe damage to their homes and businesses.  I am wondering what happened to all the people we met at the ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia who were from the East Coast. On the news I saw portions of the Atlantic City boardwalk ripped to shreds, apartment buildings defaced, homes burned, and businesses destroyed. I am wondering about universities and colleges on the East Coast. In many places classes were canceled and in some students were evacuated.  Today many are returning to see the extent of the damage.

How are they? How are you?

Our thoughts go out to everyone who was affected by Sandy.

Do you have any pictures or stories you would like to share about how Hurricane Sandy affected you? Please feel free to share them with us at acsgrad.postdoc@blogger.com (please include your name and university so we can give proper attribution) or on Twitter @ACSGradsPostdoc.

-Corrie K., Ph.D.

Future Jobs with Your STEM Skills

By Stephanie Prosack

STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education is a hot topic in the education world. I was invited to attend an ACS Congressional Briefing last week to hear its relevance to chemistry graduate students and postdocs. STEM skills have created innovative inventions, however, in the United States, STEM education leading to novel ideas is lagging behind that of foreign countries’ and is producing fewer students educated with this knowledge. Further information was provided at this discussion by an array of STEM education experts including Sylvester James Gates, Jr., theoretical physicist; Eunice Heath, senior director for government affairs (northeast) and corporate citizenship for STEM education, The Dow Chemicals Company; Mark Rosenberg, president, Florida International University; and Linda Rosen, chief executive officer, Change the Equation.

In the United States, STEM skills are typically taught at lower levels beginning at pre-kindergarten classes through college-level courses. The lack of STEM education in the United States has created a hindrance to keep the United States competitive, intellectually and economically. Approximately 57% of students who are taking a college math course in the U.S. are taking one “that is not internationally recognized as a college-level course,” says Gates. Despite the lower-pedigree of STEM courses, technology derived from STEM skills is becoming more needed in everyday life. Cell phones and electronic applications make life more convenient for people in western countries, and societies rely on these technologies to function. Additionally, the United States will have a large demographic out of the work force in the upcoming years as baby boomers retire. The combination of the lack of STEM education, increased requisite of STEM skills, and a large group of employees leaving the employment market creates a job gap.

Although, this may seem detrimental to some, people with STEM skills, which, many of you have as chemists, are becoming more vital. According to Rosen, “job seekers outnumbered online job postings by 3.6 people to one job,” yet “STEM jobs outnumbered unemployed people by 1.9 jobs to one person.”  The gap between qualified STEM employees to STEM jobs is bound to keep increasing as technology evolves and older generations retire from working.

If you are curious about the future of STEM education in the U.S. and the views of U.S. Presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, here is an interesting article summarizing each party. This is a useful pictogram displaying unemployment rates in some of the country's metropolitan areas. How does your town compare?

What have your experiences been and what are your views about STEM education in the United States?

Lab Tales: How A Chemistry Lab Experiment/Explosion Changed My Life

I was grateful for Dr. Robert Hill's insightful article "Creating Safety Cultures in Academic Institutions" in this month's issue of the Bulletin.

Why I am interested

Whenever I hear about lab accidents it makes me feel a little nauseous. This is because I have several inches of permanent scar tissue on my arm and a smaller scar on my face to remind me how chemical burns can have a lasting impact. I don't think about it most of the time until someone I am talking to or waiting in the elevator with fixates on my arm and then turns away like they weren't looking.

Long story short

 It happened one night some years ago when I was a third year grad student. I needed to do a deprotination to make an alpha hydroperoxy. I had flushed out the system using Argon. I had carefully set up the drop-wise addition of a pyrophoric compound via cannulation. All at once, a bright flash, loud sound and extreme pressure and heat invaded my senses. I remember being stunned and gazing into the glass hood where I could see the hair near my forehead was on fire. I ran to the shower—like I had seen in too many different lab class introduction videos as a T.A.—stripped off my lab coat and shirt, and pulled on the shower knob. I saw some of the skin was peeling off my left arm. A postdoc in the next door lab gave me his jacket, helped me over to his car and proceeded to drive me to the hospital emergency room. Another postdoc helped clean up the water on the floor (thank you kind postdocs!). The drive to the emergency room only took minutes but felt like an eternity. I kept asking the postdoc driving the car if my face was 'real bad.' I knew my arm was scarred but I was more worried I had permanently scarred my face. At the hospital I was treated for second and third degree burns to my arm and my graduate adviser arrived. Luckily there were mostly only first degree burns on my face but I did look like I had a severe case of acne for a while. (Nothing is quite the same kind of awkward as sitting with your very distinguished adviser in the middle of the night with burns over your arm and face while dressed in a hospital gown in the emergency room.)

Why any of this matters

 You might wonder if and how I was irresponsible that night of the accident, what I could have done to prevent it, or what I could have done differently. All I know for certain is that my view on the importance of safety training in academia has changed greatly since then. After the accident, I no longer see any part of lab safety training as just a theoretical discussion or mandatory obligation.

When in the lab, there is so much at stake. We have not only our immediate safety to think about (avoiding fires, spills, etc.), but also potential repercussions to our future-permanent scars, cancers, reproductive systems, etc. It is so important to take advantage of the safety resources we have.

Side note: Other than my dissertation, my most prized possession that I took from the lab is an old pair of safety goggles I wore that night. It has a big white splotch where there was back-splash from the explosion just over the lens that was protecting my right eye.



-Corrie K. Ph.D.