HS chem class gave pts for product yields in labs, based on standard deviation from class average. Once made a product that could sublimate, labmate & I took care to ensure we didn't lose product while drying over weekend. Classmates didn't, lost most product. Guess who lost points for yield

This is why a lot of unis were telling researchers to stop spending money with the funding freeze, because the uni is essentially taking on debt if they're not getting reimbursements (my uni opted to take on that financial risk and told us to keep doing what we're doing).

Yeah your award notice is funds promised, but it's not disbursed to your uni in one chunk. Instead unis get a transfer weekly, biweekly, or monthly based on expenses incurred or obligated. So most of that grant money (unspent) is still sitting at the NIH or NSF, not at your uni.

The incredible @chemdiva.bsky.social Malika Jeffries-El!

My uni sends all faculty a list of religious/cultural holidays before the beginning of every academic year and advises them to not have exams or major assignments due on those days. No enforcement of course, but at least they're making us all aware.

Love the list! We may be organic chemists, but we do Pd & Cu catalysis and would love to be on this list 😊

One of the ways I start my talks is with an analogy between architecture and synthesis, because it highlights the creativity and artistry that's inherent to the field - it's a misconception that you are either creative or scientific, you can easily be both!

As a general rule I pay for everything for group events, and that definitely includes the goods for final defense celebrations. I know of this "student pays for their party" practice and it feels so wrong to me.

Yes, and so far all of them (this may change) - includes an ACIE review that has held up with a pushpin so far. I'm also about to print off pics of all the co-authors from each paper to hang up with it (I like the idea of putting faces to the names on our papers)

Yes! They like contextualizing the science, whether it's the impact of findings on society or humanizing the science (I also like to share tidbits about the scientists who did the work I'm talking about).

The use of asymmetric hydrogenation for the commercial synthesis of L-DOPA is one that I share (among others)

We use the Silicycle cutter and it's worked well for us.

Time to make elderflower cordial over here!

Thank you for highlighting the paper, it was such a fun project 😊 A reminder that I need to post this to my own account too!

You should be either neutralizing the compound causing the smell in the hood (e.g. sulfides, thiols) or rinsing glassware in the hood and caring for the waste accordingly. If the glassware is still stinky after that I guess I'm stumped!

full disclosure: I feel strongly enough about this that I created a whole class on communication for chemists in my department