Alexandra Brumberg
@nanobrumberg.bsky.social
assistant professor of chemistry at Drexel University | structural, optical, electronic dynamics of inorganic (nano)materials | she/her
I had my students do exam corrections after our first midterm. They were allowed to use whatever resources they needed (me, their classmates, the internet/AI) to correct their mistakes.
Seeing some of them still not get the right answer hurts my soul 😭😭
Seeing some of them still not get the right answer hurts my soul 😭😭
November 4, 2025 at 3:08 AM
I had my students do exam corrections after our first midterm. They were allowed to use whatever resources they needed (me, their classmates, the internet/AI) to correct their mistakes.
Seeing some of them still not get the right answer hurts my soul 😭😭
Seeing some of them still not get the right answer hurts my soul 😭😭
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org
The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org
The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...
www.nobelprize.org
October 8, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org
I know we all have lots of issues with MS Word, PPT, etc, but all I am asking for is a reverse numbering feature
September 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I know we all have lots of issues with MS Word, PPT, etc, but all I am asking for is a reverse numbering feature
#chemsky I am introducing the field of inorganic chemistry to our first year chem majors. Does anyone have any resources on this topic?
Looking for an overview of the field as a whole, like active research areas
eg "five slides about inorganic chemistry" 😅 to quote the VIPEr resource categories
Looking for an overview of the field as a whole, like active research areas
eg "five slides about inorganic chemistry" 😅 to quote the VIPEr resource categories
August 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
#chemsky I am introducing the field of inorganic chemistry to our first year chem majors. Does anyone have any resources on this topic?
Looking for an overview of the field as a whole, like active research areas
eg "five slides about inorganic chemistry" 😅 to quote the VIPEr resource categories
Looking for an overview of the field as a whole, like active research areas
eg "five slides about inorganic chemistry" 😅 to quote the VIPEr resource categories
The only thing I am sure about as a new instructor of inorganic chemistry is that all three commonly used textbooks of inorganic chemistry do a terrible job
😭
😭
August 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The only thing I am sure about as a new instructor of inorganic chemistry is that all three commonly used textbooks of inorganic chemistry do a terrible job
😭
😭
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
Come be my colleague at @hopecollege.bsky.social !
We are hiring a tenure-track open rank #chemprof to teach #GenChem & #Inorganic and establish a thriving experimental #undergradresearch group in our exceptional #PUI #Chemistry department!
#chemjobs #facultyjobs
jobs.hope.edu
We are hiring a tenure-track open rank #chemprof to teach #GenChem & #Inorganic and establish a thriving experimental #undergradresearch group in our exceptional #PUI #Chemistry department!
#chemjobs #facultyjobs
jobs.hope.edu
Hope College Applicant Portal | Home
jobs.hope.edu
July 14, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Come be my colleague at @hopecollege.bsky.social !
We are hiring a tenure-track open rank #chemprof to teach #GenChem & #Inorganic and establish a thriving experimental #undergradresearch group in our exceptional #PUI #Chemistry department!
#chemjobs #facultyjobs
jobs.hope.edu
We are hiring a tenure-track open rank #chemprof to teach #GenChem & #Inorganic and establish a thriving experimental #undergradresearch group in our exceptional #PUI #Chemistry department!
#chemjobs #facultyjobs
jobs.hope.edu
Well I can now confirm that both United AND American aren't capable of getting planes/crews to a given location in order to transport passengers in exchange for money. Will somebody please just get me home 😭
July 14, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Well I can now confirm that both United AND American aren't capable of getting planes/crews to a given location in order to transport passengers in exchange for money. Will somebody please just get me home 😭
So does anyone else always call it "Ted Paella" or is that just me
March 21, 2025 at 9:20 PM
So does anyone else always call it "Ted Paella" or is that just me
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
". . . it is not, in any real sense, about Columbia. Neither is it about antisemitism or free speech. It is not even at its root about education." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
The attempt to destroy Columbia (opinion)
The Trump administration has the symbolic fight it wants, Brian Rosenberg writes.
www.insidehighered.com
March 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
". . . it is not, in any real sense, about Columbia. Neither is it about antisemitism or free speech. It is not even at its root about education." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Just had a bottle of DMSO arrive as a completely solid chunk... apparently the melting point is ~18 °C? Definitely colder than that outside today 😅
January 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Just had a bottle of DMSO arrive as a completely solid chunk... apparently the melting point is ~18 °C? Definitely colder than that outside today 😅
So today I went to go open up my brand new centrifuge for the lab and inside the box I found a single box of 10 uL centrifuge tubes
So, not at all a centrifuge, and in fact completely useless to me WITHOUT said centrifuge
So, not at all a centrifuge, and in fact completely useless to me WITHOUT said centrifuge
January 14, 2025 at 9:53 PM
So today I went to go open up my brand new centrifuge for the lab and inside the box I found a single box of 10 uL centrifuge tubes
So, not at all a centrifuge, and in fact completely useless to me WITHOUT said centrifuge
So, not at all a centrifuge, and in fact completely useless to me WITHOUT said centrifuge
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
Some of my LA friends have told me that the problem is climate change, and it is. It’s January for fucks sake. But that doesn’t mean we have to solve climate change to better control fire. If we wait for that, cities will keep burning. There are ways to mitigate risk. www.latimes.com/california/s...
Inconvenient truths about the fires burning in Los Angeles from two fire experts
For years, renowned fire experts Jack Cohen and Stephen Pyne have tried to shift the conversation on fire prevention strategies. This week’s destruction, they say, could have been minimized.
www.latimes.com
January 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Some of my LA friends have told me that the problem is climate change, and it is. It’s January for fucks sake. But that doesn’t mean we have to solve climate change to better control fire. If we wait for that, cities will keep burning. There are ways to mitigate risk. www.latimes.com/california/s...
hello I would like everybody to imagine for a second that you are a new faculty member and that your university is switching to a new purchasing system, such that you will not be allowed to make any purchases for a FULL WEEK while the transition happens
please pray for me
please pray for me
January 6, 2025 at 11:54 PM
hello I would like everybody to imagine for a second that you are a new faculty member and that your university is switching to a new purchasing system, such that you will not be allowed to make any purchases for a FULL WEEK while the transition happens
please pray for me
please pray for me
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
Not many more days to open, I hope you've all finished purifying your products from door 16 to mix with the product of door 22
December 22, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Not many more days to open, I hope you've all finished purifying your products from door 16 to mix with the product of door 22
Well, it happened... I turned 30 and then I hurt my back moving furniture 😭
December 18, 2024 at 1:21 PM
Well, it happened... I turned 30 and then I hurt my back moving furniture 😭
What I find more fun is when schools let you know that the search has closed in like, July. Or October, at which point the next cycle has begun. Like thanks I had figured that out by now that is not helpful
For whoever needs to hear this, I did 2 on-site interviews last spring as a mid career faculty candidate. I got a lot of interest and an offer from one, University of Rochester, and never heard a damn thing from the other ;)
December 18, 2024 at 12:35 AM
What I find more fun is when schools let you know that the search has closed in like, July. Or October, at which point the next cycle has begun. Like thanks I had figured that out by now that is not helpful
I will forever be of the belief that customers should be reimbursed for the amount of time that internet and utilities are unavailable to outages. I am literally paying for a service that you are not delivering
December 10, 2024 at 11:08 PM
I will forever be of the belief that customers should be reimbursed for the amount of time that internet and utilities are unavailable to outages. I am literally paying for a service that you are not delivering
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
A classic editorial by Prashant Kamat @kamat.bsky.social that was partial inspiration for the quoted thread below: pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.... #ChemSky #Physics 🧪
December 9, 2024 at 2:12 PM
A classic editorial by Prashant Kamat @kamat.bsky.social that was partial inspiration for the quoted thread below: pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.... #ChemSky #Physics 🧪
It turns out it is very easy to get 10k steps if (1) you are commuting to work on public transit and (2) your office and your lab are in different buildings
December 10, 2024 at 12:54 AM
It turns out it is very easy to get 10k steps if (1) you are commuting to work on public transit and (2) your office and your lab are in different buildings
December 4, 2024 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
Re-reading your rejected manuscript
November 30, 2024 at 2:26 PM
Re-reading your rejected manuscript
This article hits the nail on the head 💯
Needing to move is a huge barrier to broadening representation in the sciences
Science will be more inclusive and equitable when we stop expecting people to uproot their lives every few years
open.substack.com
November 19, 2024 at 9:56 PM
This article hits the nail on the head 💯
Reposted by Alexandra Brumberg
When I became a professor, I was excited about all of the teaching, research, mentoring, outreach, and more. But now, doing All The Things is just exhausting and less exciting. How can professors be effective but not do All The Things?
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
What was the best part of being a professor is now the worst part of being a professor
We get to do it all. Which means we have to do it all.
open.substack.com
September 4, 2024 at 7:43 PM
When I became a professor, I was excited about all of the teaching, research, mentoring, outreach, and more. But now, doing All The Things is just exhausting and less exciting. How can professors be effective but not do All The Things?
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
Here's what drives me up the wall:
We take research ethics as students. We learn and are told that "all authors must have reviewed and approved the submission of their manuscript." Then you end up on papers that get submitted without your knowledge, and what?
We take research ethics as students. We learn and are told that "all authors must have reviewed and approved the submission of their manuscript." Then you end up on papers that get submitted without your knowledge, and what?
November 19, 2024 at 5:03 PM
Here's what drives me up the wall:
We take research ethics as students. We learn and are told that "all authors must have reviewed and approved the submission of their manuscript." Then you end up on papers that get submitted without your knowledge, and what?
We take research ethics as students. We learn and are told that "all authors must have reviewed and approved the submission of their manuscript." Then you end up on papers that get submitted without your knowledge, and what?