I’m a staff bioinformatics scientist at an academic institution, got my PhD a few years ago and wasn’t interested in a postdoc. I get to work on a huge range of research questions and lots of different technologies. It’s great!
this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2023
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Oh that's rad! What's it like being a staff scientist at an academic institution? I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do after I graduate – I know I'm not interested in pursuing the tenure track, but I haven't decided if I should go back into industry / look into staff science positions national labs / etc.
It has its pros and cons — I work on lots of projects and help with parts of grant writing, but I’m not the one guiding the big research goal/question (I appreciate that the questions are interesting but don’t care that much about the question usually). Because I work on so many projects I usually only have <1 full day a week to work on each one, so progress can be slow and managing expectations can be challenging. I am paid more than a postdoc but less than I would in industry. It is expected that I will mentor undergraduate students and teach workshops. These things might make a big difference re: how much you enjoy the job. Folks in this type of position are sometimes called research software engineers: https://society-rse.org/
Huh, that's really interesting. I do like teaching, so that part sounds appealing (as does getting paid more than a postdoc!), so maybe it's a route I'll consider going forward. Thanks for your insight!
I'm a professor of chemistry, I mainly do organometallic research but we've been branching out into other areas.
Very cool! My only experience with organometallics is with CVD and related technologies (like we've got one machine we use called a FIB – focused ion beam – that uses an organometallic as a carrier for platinum deposited as part of the process). Mainly I think of them as "probably toxic, probably pyrophoric, treat with extreme caution" sorts of chemicals.
I'm a postdoc, working on laser-plasma/ interactions and electron accelerators. My PhD work was on ultrafast electron diffraction.
ultrafast electron diffraction
That's pretty fascinating stuff! I know a lot about electron diffraction in general (in the context of TEM/STEM/4D-STEM), but not ultrafast. What kind of processes were you studying with that method?
Our beamline is still very new (my main focus was actually on building/commissioning it), so for now, we've just been looking at relatively simple processes like the Debye-Waller effect, where the diffraction spots become weaker as the temperature rises.
The ultrafast capability comes from the electron beam having a sub-picosecond duration, which essentially corresponds to the shutter speed of a camera. By varying the delay between a pump laser and the electron probe and observing the change in intensity of the diffraction spots, we can figure out how the heat deposited by the laser diffuses through the sample, and make a "molecular movie" of this process. It's in the same spirit as other pump-probe experiments, like what @Salamander does.
It's science-y enough but I'm definitely not considered a scientist so much as a technologist. I work as a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Technologist. Previously a X-Ray Technologist.
My machine does all the science for me but it's a pretty neat concept. Using magnetic gradients and RF pulses at hydrogen protons to acquire accurate digital imaging.
Happy to have you! The science behind MRI is fascinating, and the machines themselves are really cool. Have you ever seen a magnet quench? I don't think they're really supposed to happen during normal operation, but some of the videos I've seen have been rather dramatic.
It is pretty crazy people were able to figure that all out and we are able obtain crazy detailed pictures without radiation.
No I haven't seen it! Hoping to see a controlled quench someday but also hoping to avoid needing to use it in any emergency situations; it'll have to be a damn near life/death situation to hit that button. Very costly decision. I guess there's also a dwindling supply of helium in the world so that could get interesting as time goes on.
Yeah, helium being a finite resource was something that really surprised me when I first learned about it! Better to keep it inside the MRI as much as possible for sure
helium recovery and recycling has come a long way, and the costs of helium are now justifying the extra expense of the hardware, so I think that problem should abate somewhat in the coming years.
I'm a PhD candidate too - my contract is finished now, but I am still writing my thesis. So I am currently at the awkward intersection of finishing a thesis and looking for a job.
My PhD focus is in applying time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to study the excited state dynamics of molecules. Basically, these are experiments in which a pulsed laser is used to excite the sample and a second probe light is used to measure a change in the absorption in response to the light. By measuring these changes in the absorption as a function of time, and applying quantum chemical methods to calculate the spectra of potential intermediates, one can sort of recreate a movie of what the molecule is doing after it absorbs light with a time resolution of femto to picoseconds. The materials that I study are organic dyes that are useful for microscopy, as well as molecules that respond to EUV light for applications in photonanolithography (for making the very small transistors in computer chips).
I am also an "amateur" scientist when it comes to biology, as many of my hobbies are nature-based and it's not like I can turn off the science bug when it comes to hobbies.
Well that's fascinating! The technique sounds a little bit like a cross between Raman and EXAFS/XANES? (Probably just because those are two techniques I happen to be familiar with though.)
I'm a PhD candidate in inorganic and biochemistry! Loving the chem representation here, and loving OP's username.
I studied Biology and Computer Science, have a PhD in Neuroscience and now work in an Engineering department for medical devices, where I am still in contact with Academia through students working for us in different capacities. My main occupation is Software Tester, though. :)
I'm a research professor of neurology, and my research focuses on developing novel cognitive assessments for measuring early-stage Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.
That's a field where it seems (to an outsider) like a lot has been happening recently! Glad to have you here!
You'd be correct! The new anti-amyloid drugs are very exciting, and it makes my work on preclinical Alzheimer's even more fulfilling as it can have a real impact on getting people tested and treated as early as possible.
Graduate student in ecology, just finishing up.
Congrats on (being close to) making it through!
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I work a day job in IT, have a side business doing IT, work an occasional shift at my buddy's liquor store, and sell furniture on the side.
Glad to have you 'round!
PhD in Geology. Now am a research scientist working in more general materials science/chemistry/gas adsorption. My thesis was on lunar petrology where I studied Apollo 16 samples. My current research is much less exciting. Haven't touched a rock in ages and my geologist heart hurts from it haha
Dang we gotta get you some cool rocks!
(I've always kinda wanted to thinly section some rocks with nice big grains and put them in the TEM; so many natural minerals have really interesting crystal structures!)
I'm a software developer who works on Backend/APIs/Cloud/AI.
Currently browsing Lemmy instead of actually doing work in my home office...
Currently browsing Lemmy instead of actually doing work in my home office…
Some days just turn out that way lol
I studied environmental science as a major and am working in hazardous waste site remediation, water and wastewater treatment, and dabble in assisting some civil engineering projects.
@Knickknack @realChem I graduated in chemical engineering back in '83 and found myself in wastewater treatment consulting. I gradually transitioned to industrial wastewater and then hazardous waste remediation. It was a good gig! Retired in 2001, so it has probably all changed quite a bit. Good luck to you!
That's so cool, and thank you. I often think I would have loved to study a chemistry or engineering discipline, if I had been more in touch with my abilities and interests as an 18 year old starting college. I did complete what was a newer degree at the time called environmental technology, and it was geared toward renewal energy technologies with a lot of various science based courses as backbone. But certainly, the industry has changed a lot even in the time I've been involved, starting as a hazardous waste site remediation project manager for an environmental consultant, then got water and wastewater treatment licenses in 2005 when I saw an opportunity to get in on an emerging sector in the company I was working for. Right now the industry is struggling for licensed professionals, even while regulators push ahead in requiring more and more use of the technology. Should be interesting to see how it develops over the coming years. Overall though, I had been very fortunate to truly enjoy my career and the industry I work in.
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That's very cool! One of my friends in undergrad did a co-op working with a wastewater / hazardous waste treatment company. It seemed like a surprisingly (to me at the time) vibrant field, with lots going on!
It's good to hear about people giving the industry a try! There is really so much career opportunity, and it's not going anywhere. I've weather multiple recessions, housing crises, economic booms and downturns in this industry and it is just steady, because it is so essential. I hope more people consider it as a career because the field is suffering for lack of licensed professionals.
I work at a company that makes large and small rocket engines (e.g., the ones on SLS/Artemis, and solids for a number of defense programs), and various electrical power systems (e.g., for the ISS and some of the Mars rovers). I manage the space software engineering organization.
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Development engineer working with autonomous vehicles. Worst part of it is having to interact with Tesla bros who think that they have self-driving figured out despite what experts in the field tell them.
That's does sound satisfying!
I'm pretty thankful that I'm not in a field that gets too much public attention. I think people mostly think of electron microscopy as a bit like magic. I can imagine the kinds of interactions you might have; everybody knows how to drive a car, after all, so why can't you just program it to do what they do?!
That said, I've got some ideas for how to... (/s)
I've got a PhD in nonlinear vibrations. I've left academia for the space industry though.
That definitely sounds like something that could be useful in a lot of different ways - including in the space industry!
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I'm an associate professor in computer science, currently working on stochastic algorithms (like genetic algorithms).
Until now, I've been working on quite abstract optimization problems, but I'd like to switch to more useful applications, like social inequalities or climate change.
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trained physicist with 2D materials background, turned all-round engineer with an ultrafast spectroscopy startup.
I have my PhD in physics with a background in material science and primarily work in Pharma developing early stage biologics programs (antibodies, gene therapies, etc). That means basically any of the molecules I have worked on are maybe 5+ years away from reaching the market. I don't meet many other physicists in this field, instead it is primarily chemical engineers and biochemists. Even working in industry, I still have the chance to publish and attend conferences though.
A lot of my classmates from undergrad chemical engineering went into pharma, so I'm not surprised there are a lot of them around!
I still have the chance to publish and attend conferences That's good! One of the things I've liked most about my time in grad school has been attending conferences and getting to meet the other people working in the field face-to-face. I hope that wherever I land after this will be happy to let me continue to attend conferences.
I am a welding Engineer working in a mixed role of failure analysis and research. Most of my projects are sustainability based.
Very cool! From the small bit I learned about welding in my classes it really seems like a topic with a lot of depth and nuance to it (that maybe sometimes goes unappreciated). Happy to have you 'round!
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I'm doing my undergrad in physics
Rad, glad to have you around!
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