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Royal Society of Chemistry Highlights at ACS Boston

16 Aug 2018

We look forward to attending the upcoming ACS National Meeting with colleagues traveling to Boston from both the DC and UK offices. We would love to meet you so please stop by Booth 2008 for conversations with the Editor from the flagship journal Chemical Science and others across the portfolio. A great time to meet most of us is Sunday from 5:30-8:30PM when the Expo opens, or individually based on the schedule.

booth, stand, meet the editor, Royal Society of Chemistry, Richard Kelly, Richard Kidd, Laura Fisher, May Copsey, Chemical Science, Simon Neil, Adam Brownsell

In line with the conference theme of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology & Beyond, we’re launching the newest addition to our journal portfolio, Nanoscale Advances at the booth on Tuesday afternoon. This will be a nice opportunity to meet Associate Editors Shouheng Sun at Brown University, Benjamin Wiley at Duke University, Rongchao Jin at Carnegie Mellon University, and Elena Shevchenko at Argonne National Laboratory.

We enjoy supporting opportunities for early career researchers with sponsored sessions throughout the meeting and corresponding web collections within the journals.

PMSE: PMSE Young Investigators’ Symposium

View additional content in the Polymer Chemistry Emerging Investigators, 2018 web collection.

Organized by Polymer Chemistry Associate Editor Emily Pentzer

Sunday, August 19^th and Monday, August 20^th from 8:30AM – 4:50PM

Commonwealth Ballroom B, Westin Boston Waterfront

ENVR: Showcasing Emerging Investigators: A Symposium by the RSC Environmental Science Journals

The symposium features work across the Environmental Science sister journals Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Environmental Science: Nano, Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. Read about the speakers on the blog post and view content from the Emerging Investigator Series for each journal.

Presided over by Editor-in-chiefs Kris McNeill (ESPI), Peter Vikesland (ES Nano), and David Cwiertny (ESWRT).

Monday, August 20^th from 1:00 – 4:30PM

Room 259A, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

environmental science journals, ESPI, Environmental Science Processes & Impacts, ES Nano, Environmental Science Nano, ESWRT, Environmental Science Water Research & Technology

ORGN: Young Academic Investigator Symposium

Annually sponsored by Chemical Society Reviews and Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry. Read the Chem Soc Rev 2018 Emerging Investigators and the OBC New Talent web collections.

Organized and Presided over by Chemical Society Reviews Associate Editor Huw Davies

Tuesday, August 21^st from 8:20 – 11:55AM & 1:20 – 4:55PM

Room 253C, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

We are pleased to support additional symposia throughout the meeting:

PHYS: Ultrafast Molecular Sciences by Femtosecond Photons & Electrons: Symposium in honor of Ahmed Zewail with support from Faraday Discussions, as detailed in the blog post.

INOR: Recent Advances in the Photochemistry & Photophysics of the P-Block Elements with support from Dalton Transactions in the form of Outstanding Poster Presentations.

If you plan the attend the ACS Meeting in Boston, we hope to meet you in person either at the booth or during the technical sessions!

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Certified Excellent: Congratulations Winners!

09 Jul 2018

We are happy to announce the recipients of the 2018 Certificate of Excellence! Back for its second year, this special program was developed to recognize outstanding students who have shown special achievement in the chemical sciences. Join us in congratulating these stellar students who are being honored by their departments for their achievements. We first introduced the Certificate of Excellence in 2017 as a way to recognize the younger generation of students who have shown interest and curiosity and a passion for learning in the chemical sciences. If you’re interested in getting your department involved in future Certificate of Excellence programs, please contact us at americas-editorial@rsc.org.

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2019 Faraday Discussion on Ultrafast Photoinduced Energy and Charge Transfer in Ventura, CA – Submit an Abstract

29 Jun 2018

Faraday Discussions: No Ordinary Conference

The Faraday Discussion conference series are true to name. They honor Michael Faraday, who made seminal contributions to electrochemistry. Each conference has a scientific committee that invites world-class speakers on a key topic focused on physical chemistry and interfacing fields. The Discussions part of the name reflects the core emphasis of the meeting with a 5-minute talk from a speaker, followed by 25 minutes of discussion.

Interactive Discussions: Key Messages in 5 Minutes

It may sound challenging to highlight a research project in 5 minutes, but it’s possible since accepted speakers submit papers which are circulated to attendees in advance, with the expectation that attendees read all papers before arriving.

After the initial 5-minute talk, anyone can speak for up to 5 minutes. In the past, attendees have prepared comments, questions, and even short presentations of their own work to confirm or raise concerns about results.

Posters: Opportunity for Recognition

Attendees can also submit posters for consideration by the scientific committee. Once accepted, poster presenters can make contributions to the Discussion itself, including showing their own work if pertinent, and there are prizes to recognize exceptional work.

Faraday Discussions (The Journal): Keep the Conversation Going

Since not everyone can attend the meeting in person, the corresponding Faraday Discussions volume publishes all discussion remarks alongside the papers and poster title and abstracts. Updates and highlighted content can be found on the Faraday Discussions Blog.

2019 Faraday Discussion on Ultrafast Photoinduced Energy and Charge Transfer

Faraday Discussions are held all over the world, but the next meeting in the US takes place in Ventura in April 2019. The meeting broadly addresses critical challenges in ultrafast energy and charge transfer across four main themes:

energy and charge-transfer in natural photosynthesis
photovoltaics and bio-inspired light harvesting
photo-induced electron transfer
photo-protection/photo-damage in natural systems

The Committee organized the following distinguished speakers in the area, including Gordana Dukovic from University of Colorado Boulder, Advisory Board member for Sustainable Energy & Fuels; Greg Scholes from Princeton University, Advisory Board member for Materials Horizons and Chemical Science; and Emily Weiss from Northwestern University, Advisory Board member for Materials Horizons.

A Conversation with Committee Co-Chair, Professor Stephen Bradforth

We had a chance to hear from Committee Co-Chair Divisional Dean and Professor Stephen Bradforth, at University of Southern California, who shared his perspective.

What surprised you/was your favorite part about your first Faraday Discussion Meeting? What inspired you?

I attended my first Faraday Discussion at the University at Nottingham on the subject of Structure and Dynamics of Reactive Transition States. For me, as a graduate student in Berkeley, it was a return to Britain after three scientifically rich years in California. The format of the meeting was incredibly engaging. Seeing names familiar from the literature as speakers wrestling with only 5 minutes to summarize their work! But immediately followed by an in-depth questioning and scholarly discussion of each speaker’s written paper that revealed what was fact, what was conjecture and what simply wasn’t known. It was invaluable for a student finding his feet in the field of physical chemistry.

Why did you decide to get involved and why do you think the topic of the meeting is timely?

I was persuaded by Mike Ashfold and Tom Oliver, with whom I had collaborated on two Faraday Discussion contributions over the years, that it was time to bring the Faraday Discussion to the west coast of the USA. In fact, this is the first time an FD has been held west of Chicago, and about time too! This meeting, on Photoinduced Charge and Energy Transfer, comes after a recent trans-disciplinary surge in activity to better understand solar energy conversion, both in natural photosynthetic systems and in man-made materials, spurred by the formidable energy challenge in front of us as a society.

“Attendees will gain a window on the array of contemporary advanced tools,
both experimental and theoretical, that are being developed to attack this scientific grand challenge”

–Committee Co-Chair Stephen Bradforth, Divisional Dean of Natural Sciences and
Professor of Chemistry at University of Southern California–

What do you hope prospective attendees will gain from the upcoming meeting?

The goal of the meeting is to bring together experts from several areas, spectroscopists, biophysicists, theoretical chemists, and materials scientists, to uncover the basic design principles for efficiently converting the energy delivered in a photon into useful chemical potential. And all while considering the potential photodamage to the molecular and nanoscale architectures employed. FD attendees will gain a window on the array of contemporary advanced tools, both experimental and theoretical, that are being developed to attack this scientific grand challenge.

Welcoming You

The oral abstract deadline is approaching in July, but there is still time to submit either oral or poster abstracts. Monetary support in the form of travel grants of at least £200 are available for early-career RSC members (only £20 for students), within 10 years of completing their PhD or still students, as detailed in the bursary section of the website.

We hope you take advantage of the opportunity to share your ideas and connect with the community in a uniquely interactive meeting. Whether you’re a spectroscopist, biophysicist, computational or theoretical chemist, physicist, or a material scientist working in photo-induced biomolecular and nanoscale dynamics, join us for the first Faraday Discussion in California.

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2018 Prize Winners at 3rd Annual UC Chemical Symposium

03 May 2018

Research Presentation Prize winners from the Cohen group at UC San Diego. Left to right: Jessica Moreton, Chemical Science Oral Research Presentation Prize; Joey Palomba, Dalton Transactions Poster Prize; Kyle Bentz, Materials Horizons Poster Prize; Christine Morrison, Analyst Poster Prize.

Several RSC journals supported the 3rd annual University of California Chemical Symposium by sponsoring poster and presentation prizes. Chemical Science, our flagship journal, sponsored oral Research Presentation Prizes in each of the six subject areas and our core subject-area journals sponsored poster prizes.

An impressive showing came from the Cohen group from UC San Diego with three poster prizes and an oral presentation prize. Jessica Moreton was awarded a Chemical Science prize for her talk on MOFs in mixed-matrix membrane systems in the Materials/Nano category. In addition to Jessica’s talk, three posters from the Cohen group won poster prizes. Joey Palomba won the Dalton Transactions Poster Prize for Inorganic Chemistry for his work on high-throughput screening methods for MOFs for nerve agent degradation. Christine Morrison won the Biochemistry category ChemComm Poster Prize for her work on drug discovery methods using metallofragments. Kyle Bentz won the Materials category with a Materials Horizons Poster Prize for his work on hollow amphiphilic crosslinked nanocapsules; Kyle is also serving as Vice-chair of the 2019 UCCS. The group’s leader, Seth Cohen, helped found the UCCS and is surely pleased to see such a strong performance from his group.

Netz Arroyo from UC Santa Barbara is presented a Chemical Science Research Presentation Prize by Professor Carrie Partch.

The Chemical Science Prizes were presented by keynote speaker, Prof. Carrie Partch from UC Santa Cruz and were also awarded for oral presentations in each of five other categories. Sean Nguyen from Jenn Prescher’s research group and Bryan Ellis in the Vanderwal Group took home prizes for UC Irvine. Sean’s talk on the development of orthogonal reactions for multicomponent labeling in biological systems earned him the Chemical Science Prize in Chemical Biology/Biochemistry and Bryan’s presentation on the development of an oxetane-based polyketide synthase substrate mimic won in the Organic category. In the Analytical category, the prize went to Netz Arroyo, a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Kevin W Plaxco’s group at UC Santa Barbara. Netz presented his work on coupling electrochemical, aptamer-based sensors with closed-loop control algorithms. The goal is to achieve continuous real-time measurement of specific molecules in living things and ultimately feedback-controlled delivery of therapeutic drugs, which would be valuable in a clinical setting for any number of diseases. Also from UC Santa Barbara, Andrew Cook from the research group of Trevor Hayton was recognized in the Inorganic category for his talk on catalytically active nanoclusters. These acetylide-stabilized copper and thiolate-stabilized cobalt nanoclusters can also be immobilized on silica and would be valuable for nanostructured materials. Will Hollingsworth, who also served on the organizing committee for the 2018 UCCS from the Ayzner Group at UC Santa Cruz was awarded the prize for his talk in the Physical category on electronic energy transfer dynamics in conjugated polyelectrolytes, which would be especially useful for artificial photosynthesis when oppositely-charged donor-acceptor pairs are used. Will used a variety of time-resolved techniques as well as steady-state measurements to study these complex systems.

Chad Cruz from UC Riverside with his prize-winning poster on charge-separated S-bridged chromophores at the 2018 UCCS poster session.

The remaining posters were claimed by UC Riverside. The PCCP Poster Prize for best poster in the Physical Chemistry category went to Chad Cruz, a graduate student at UC Riverside jointly in the Chronister group and the Bardeen research lab. Chad presented on studies using anthracene in sulfur-bridged chromophore systems and examining the effects of changing the S oxidation state. His work shows significant insights into ways to tune excited-state properties in these bridged systems that could be used for optoelectronic devices due to their potential for forming long-lived charge-separated states.

Bill Weigel from UC Riverside with his prize-winning organic poster on anacardic acid derivatives for enzyme-inhibition studies.

The Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Poster Prize in the Organic Chemistry category went to Bill Weigel, a graduate student in the research group of Dave Martin at UC Riverside, which focuses on the design and synthesis of bioactive molecules; Bill presented his work on the use of computational docking studies to design anacardic acid derivatives, which he then synthesizes in order to study structure-activity relationships with enzymes. Specifically, they are examining the inhibition of the enzyme SUMO E1, which is known to be involved in oncogenesis, by these rationally-designed substrates.

The next UCCS will take place March 24-27th 2019 in Lake Arrowhead, California where we expect to see more exciting research and recognize the hard work of the graduate students and post-doctoral fellows behind it.

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Meet the Royal Society of Chemistry at ACS National Meetings

13 Apr 2018

We always enjoy meeting new people and catching up with familiar faces at ACS National Meetings, most recently in New Orleans. We packed our schedules with talks during the day, learning about the latest and exciting developments across the chemical sciences. Many of us attended sessions related to the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water theme, which also aligns with the global challenges the RSC aims to support.

It was a good opportunity to congratulate Chemical Science Associate Editors Professors Kit Cummins and Mircea Dinca at MIT in person as they received ACS awards for their achievements. Editor-in-chief Professor Daniel Nocera, Executive Editor Dr. May Copsey, and many other Chemical Science Board members discussed some exciting developments for our flagship journal – stay tuned for updates on the website and learn more about the Associate Editors!

Booth, ACS, RSC, Chemical Science, Environmental Science journals, New Orleans

Dr. May Copsey, Executive Editor for Chemical Science, Dr. Sam Keltie, Executive Editor for the Environmental Science journals, and Dr. Jenny Lee, Assistant Editorial Development Manager, meeting attendees at the RSC booth during opening night of the Expo.

While it’s challenging to keep up with the conference programming, we wanted to spend some time to meet conference attendees at the booth and organize separate gatherings. Larger conferences are great since colleagues travel from our Cambridge, UK office. The Meet the Editor event involving Executive Editor Dr. Sam Keltie and the Editor-in-chiefs for the three sister Environmental Science journals was a nice chance to talk about publishing, and to also continue the conversation with the environmental chemical sciences community during happy hour.

RSC, ACS, Environmental Science: Nano, Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, ESN, ESW, ESPI, Meet the Editor, Booth, Sam Keltie, New Orleans

Meet the Editor event with Dr. Sam Keltie, Executive Editor of the Environmental Science journals, Prof. Kris McNeill, Editor-in-chief of Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Prof. Peter Vikesland, Editor-in-chief of Environmental Science: Nano, and Prof. David Cwiertny, Editor-in-chief of Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.

We also were glad to connect with a few RSC Advances Associate Editors, Editorial Board member Professor James Batteas, and Executive Editor Dr. Andrew Shore where we discussed ideas to continue developing the latest Gold Open Access option within the RSC journals. While these are only a few highlights of all the events we organized throughout the conference, we appreciated the many opportunities to hear everyone’s thoughts to guide our future activities.

RSC, ACS, RSC Members' Reception, New Orleans

RSC Members’ Reception with Dr. Guy Jones, Executive Editor for Data, pictured in the foreground.

We’d love to meet you at a future ACS National Meeting – you can usually catch most of us at the booth on the opening night of the Expo so we hope to see you soon!

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Joining (the) CHORUS

13 Mar 2018

How do Open Access mandates affect you? If you have NIH funding, you’re probably aware of the requirement that you deposit the author version of your manuscript in PubMed Central (PMC) within 12 months of publication. But did you know that the other U.S. funding agencies have followed suit?

In 2013, the Office of Science & Technology Policy issued a memo entitled “Expanding Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research”, which mandated that any U.S. funding agency with >$100 million R&D budget create a plan to make the resulting publications and data freely available to the public. Since then, the agencies have crafted bespoke public access policies with different requirements. Some (e.g., EPA, FDA) have chosen to piggyback off of NIH’s PMC, others (e.g., US DOE, USDA) have chosen to create their own repositories, but there are some who have decided to partner with the publishing industry to fulfil the mandates.

CHORUS, public access Subsequent to the memo, a partnership of scholarly publishers created CHORUS to make the required content publicly available at no additional cost to the agencies. For CHORUS agency partners, including NSF, US DOE, US DOD, Smithsonian Institution, USGS and ODNI, CHORUS leverages existing infrastructure to enable sustainable, cost-effective, and transparent public access to content reporting on funded research. By integrating services and open APIs, CHORUS optimizes funder identification, content and data discovery, long-term accessibility, compliance monitoring, and dashboard reporting.

RSC has been supporting CHORUS since its inception, and last year, we decided to become a full member to help our authors comply with their mandates. We have been depositing our authors’ NIH-funded manuscripts into PMC for years, so this was a natural extension of our commitment to make our author and reader experience smooth. We are now fully integrated with the CHORUS system, so expect to start seeing author versions of funded manuscripts appear on our website next year once their 12-month embargoes expire.

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The Royal Society of Chemistry Certificate of Excellence Returns for 2018

01 Feb 2018

Last year we introduced the Royal Society of Chemistry Certificate of Excellence – an award program to recognize outstanding undergraduate students across the United States. The Certificate is our modern reinvention of the well-known Merck Index® Award, which we have been working to transform since the RSC took over publishing of the classic text a few years ago. In the inaugural cycle, we asked institutions to select exemplary students from their department who have shown special achievement in the chemical sciences. We awarded almost 100 Certificates to students like Nancy Song (pictured,center, with Department Chair and Van Zandt Williams, Jr. Class of ’65 Professor of Chemistry, Prof. Tom W. Muir, at left, and Director of Undergraduate Studies Dr. Robert P. L’Esperance,at right), who graduated with Highest Honors from Princeton University, where she did her thesis work with Chemical Science Associate Editor, Prof. Haw Yang.)

Nancy Song, (center) recipient of a 2017 Royal Society of Chemistry Certificate of Excellence, pictured with Department Chair and Van Zandt Williams, Jr. Class of ’65 Professor of Chemistry, Prof. Tom W. Muir (at left) and Director of Undergraduate Studies Dr. Robert P. L’Esperance (at right). Nancy graduated with Highest Honors from Princeton University, where she did her thesis work with Chemical Science Associate Editor, Prof. Haw Yang. Photo: Frank Wojciechowski

The students chose from one of two prize options – either a hard copy of the classic reference text, The Merck Index® now in its Fifteenth Edition or a 6-month digital subscription to Chemistry World magazine. Since its first publication in 1889, The Merck Index® has become an essential reference for all scholarly and professional chemists, biochemists, pharmacists and toxicologists, of interest to students, teachers, libraries, researchers, information professionals, solicitors, journalists and government agencies – it has been the leading source of information on chemical compounds for generations of scientists and professionals. Recognized as a badge of achievement and dedication on the bookshelves of chemists worldwide, this formidable title continues to serve as the symbol of an early scholarly and professional milestone. For many of these outstanding undergraduates, receiving the text represents the closing of one chapter in their education, and the beginning of the next phase of their scientific careers.

This year, we’re happy to announce that the program will continue for 2018 and invitations to nominate exceptional undergraduates will be sent to select institutions at the beginning of February. We’re working to expand the program in the future and look forward to recognizing more deserving students. For any questions or comments about the Certificate of Excellence, contact us at americas-editorial@rsc.org.

*The name THE MERCK INDEX is owned by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J., U.S.A., and is licensed to The Royal Society of Chemistry for use in the U.S.A. and Canada.

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Royal Society of Chemistry Membership – Featuring the USA East Coast Section

19 Jan 2018

Members are a vibrant part of the chemical sciences community and our office enjoys all our interactions. There are over 54,000 RSC members around the world, from students through distinguished Fellows.

The USA East Coast Local Section aims to support members and extend the professional experience. Towards this goal, they actively organize opportunities related to the practice of chemistry so members can connect throughout the year.

At a recent November meeting, Professor Roger Barth visited from West Chester University to give a talk entitled “Fermentation and the Origin of Biochemistry.” He described the historical aspects of biochemistry and related glycolysis to alcoholic fermentation, which he elaborated in his book, The Chemistry of Beer: The Science in the Suds. Everyone enjoyed the evening mix of science and dinner with a chance to catch up with friends and expand networks.

RSC USA East Coast Membership Section with Roger Barth, Section Past-President Les McQuire, Section President Kishore Bagga in New York City

Dinner in New York City with speaker Dr. Roger Barth, Mrs. Barth, Section Past-President Dr. Les McQuire, Harrison Bagga, and Section President Dr. Kishore Bagga (L to R).

Kishore Bagga, PhD, MRSC, President of the USA East Coast Section, enthusiastically presented the section’s initiatives, welcoming ideas and collaboration with other scientific professional bodies. He took time to share some of his personal experiences as an RSC member with us.

Why did you decide to become an RSC member?

When I recall back to my undergraduate years, I enjoyed meeting other people who were interested in chemistry. I saw joining the RSC as an opportunity to network with others in the field, to present my work, as a social and career platform, and career advice to name a few reasons. I really liked the idea to belong to a learned professional society as a way to start my career. It gave me a chance to hear from other scientists for example by attending the local section meetings.

I did not know that I would enjoy attending meetings and serve, so much that one day I would have the opportunity to be the first Indian American to serve as President of the US Section. At this stage, I like to give some of my time back to my society so that others can benefit as much if not more than I do. The current meetings which we hold also allow for a social aspect besides the scientific presentation, allowing for friends to meet again for the evening. In a way, joining when I did lets me see how big a family I belong to, the RSC.

“Joining when I did lets me see how
big a family I belong to, the RSC”

— Kishore Bagga, President of the RSC USA East Coast Membership Section —

What is your favorite part about being involved in the East Coast Section?

Holding meetings and allowing for a venue where members can meet and spend time with each other over dinner, and listen to a presentation, as well as the social aspect-excellent food in grand wonderful settings. A large number of our members came from abroad by themselves, just like myself, so the RSC allows for us to gather as a family of say British ex-patriots, amongst others from other countries which adds to the international nature of our society.

To learn more, read Kishore Bagga’s article in Chemistry World, find upcoming events on the Facebook page, or visit the RSC membership website. We hope to see you at a future event!

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Northwestern University: Spotlight on Women in Science & Modern Career Paths

04 Jan 2018

Women in Science Career Panel, from left to right: Dr. Stacey Tobin, Dr. Sadie Wignall, Dr. Stephanie Knezz, Dr. Dimitra Georganopoulou, and Dr. Jen Griffiths.

We recently visited the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University, where we hosted a day of educational activities for graduate students and postdocs, including a career panel of women in science who chose to follow a range of traditional and alternative career paths. Dr. Jen Griffiths from our Washington, DC office shared insights into the world of scholarly publishing and was joined by Northwestern alumni in traditional and non-traditional careers. During this engaging, informal session, attendees were able to ask questions, learn about challenges and opportunities the representatives had encountered, and hear some great advice and tips from successful women in science.

“I realized fairly early on that an academic career wasn’t for me, and I started seeking out seminars and roundtables on ‘alternative careers.’ “

Dr. Stacey Tobin noticed that unlike a lot of her peers, she really enjoyed writing as a graduate student. “I realized fairly early on that an academic career wasn’t for me, and I started seeking out seminars and roundtables on ‘alternative careers,'” she said. “One focused specifically on science writing, and the entire panel was made up of PhDs who found careers in various types of science writing—from journalism to regulatory writing, continuing medical education to advertising.” She also joined professional organizations as a student member, including the American Medical Writers Association and the Council for Science Editors, to take advantage of their educational programs and sought outside opportunities to write. “I contributed articles to the department newsletter, and took any opportunity I could to write and edit.” Stacey built up her reputation as a skilled writer and knowledgeable scientist before starting her own firm, The Tobin Touch.

“When I discovered that I wanted my career to focus on teaching, I found my campus program that focuses on STEM teaching opportunities for graduate students and post-docs.”

One common thread of the discussion was the importance of pursuing opportunities outside the lab to both discover interests and talents, as well as to gain practical experience. Dr. Stephanie Knezz, Assistant Professor of Instruction and Co-Director of General Chemistry Laboratory at Northwestern University says, “When I discovered that I wanted my career to focus on teaching, I found my campus program that focuses on STEM teaching opportunities for graduate students and post-docs. I was able to implement a project at a local community college “flipping” a traditional chemistry class and working on the corresponding curriculum development for a few lessons in the course.” She says that the experience not only gave her a better idea of the duties of an instructor and but also inspired a renewed motivation to continue her degree now that she could focus on a specific career goal.

“I’ve found that networking can be a great way to learn about career possibilities, and that informational interviews can be very helpful for learning about day-to-day aspects of a career.”

Dr. Sarah Kamper now oversees intellectual property protection for various chemistry and materials technologies as Invention Manager at the Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) at Northwestern. “I learned about IP law through attending a career panel focused on careers outside of academia or industry.” she says. “It sounded like a great way to stay connected to science while transitioning into more translational aspects away from the bench.” Sarah also realized the power of networking by talking with former members of her lab who worked at law firms in tech transfer. “I’ve found that networking can be a great way to learn about career possibilities, and that informational interviews can be very helpful for learning about day-to-day aspects of a career.” Sarah also suggests looking to campus groups as a way to begin networking: “If anyone is unsure of where to start, some organizations have student or young professional networking events where you can efficiently meet many people in a few hours!”

“My best piece of advice is to figure out what aspect of your science you are most passionate about, find opportunities where you can get first-hand experience delving into that aspect, and use careful time management to make it work with your research.”

We also asked the panelists what actions they recommend students take or what was especially helpful to focus on for graduate students and postdocs. Stephanie suggested spending some time and effort to uncover your interests and finding ways to take advantage of related opportunities. “My best piece of advice is to figure out what aspect of your science you are most passionate about, find opportunities where you can get first-hand experience delving into that aspect, and use careful time management to make it work with your research.” And she added, “If you are doing something you love (even if it’s not at the bench), you will almost definitely be more efficient in the lab than if you’re coming to lab everyday with the primary goal of just ‘getting through it.’ ”

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New Program: Meet the Editor

30 Nov 2017

Recently, we have reformatted our Roadshows to focus more on our Editorial Boards. We have now held several “Meet the Editor” events with our Board Members, and are planning more:

These interactive presentations are geared primarily towards graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, but are also valuable to early career faculty and even to seasoned publishing veterans. During the event, a staff member from our office leads the discussion with tips on publishing, all the way from elements of a good cover letter to guidelines for revising your article. But the most important part is having our Editors there to give personal advice and share their experiences around making editorial decisions and common mistakes submitting authors might make. The workshops provide a transparent view into the life-cycle of a manuscript and real insights and tips from our experienced Associate Editors. In most cases, our Editors also give scientific talks in the department we are visiting.

The McGill event featured Jean-Francois Masson, Associate Editor of Analyst, and Professor Davit Zargarian, Associate Editor of New Journal of Chemistry, and was included as part of a full Scholarly Communication Day. The program took place during Open Access Week, and highlighted the ins-and-outs of the open science movement and included other workshops to help foster and facilitate open communication and collaboration. These included workshops on “Scientific Storytelling” and “Crafting Your Elevator Pitch” as well as a casual “Networking Lunch” where attendees from 5 different Montreal-area schools had a chance to practice their networking skills and meet local peers.

Dr. Jenny Lee gives an interactive presentation on publishing in high-quality journals with Prof. Jean-Francois Masson and Prof. Davit Zargarian at McGill University in October 2017.

During the Columbia event, we were delighted to have Professor James McCusker, Associate Editor of Chemical Science share his helpful insights from his editorial experience. Professor Sanat Kumar, Associate Editor for Soft Matter and Professor Alissa Park, who serves on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Energy & Fuels as well as an Associate Editor of the ACS journal, Energy & Fuels, also chimed in to give a diverse range of editorial viewpoints. Professor McCusker also gave a scientific talk and we presented an overview of careers in publishing during this visit.

We are already planning several upcoming Meet the Editor events around North America and hope to have even more to come. If your department is planning to host an RSC Associate Editor and would like to include these activities, let us and the Editor know you would like to add a time for us to give a talk or informal lunch discussion with tips on publishing! Contact our Americas team (americas-editorial@rsc.org) for more information.

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RSC Americas Blog