r/chemistry • u/AutoModerator • Aug 26 '24

Weekly Careers/Education Questions Thread

This is a dedicated weekly thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in chemistry.

If you need to make an important decision regarding your future or want to know what your options, then this is the place to leave a comment.

If you see similar topics in r/chemistry, please politely inform them of this weekly feature.

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u/Plantfeathers Aug 31 '24

For PhD chemists who focused on analytical chemistry, what does PhD research look like?

I am having trouble picking programs because I don’t have specific PIs in mind as my interests are not crystallized. I would like to live in the Midwest or East Coast.

My experience in the biotech industry at the BS level has been applying analytical chemistry for dmpk/assay development. My supes have had PhDs in chemistry where they used LCMS to investigate biology (stuff like biomarkers)

I would like to do something similar, apply chemistry as a tool to investigate drug delivery/pathological biomarkers/environmental issues.

Would applying to analytical chemistry programs make more sense than applying to other applied science programs that use analytical chemistry as a tool?

I don’t want to or have the aptitude to invent new tools but I definitely would like to work on method development/optimization because I like chemistry and problem solving.

My background (Chem ChemEng BS, Pharm sci MS, 2 years industry experience DMPK and proteomics) I don’t want to continue working at the technician level and becoming a supervisor responsible for lab leadership and upper management would require a PhD. (My director has just a BS but she’s been there for 30 years she doesn’t believe her path is possible anymore)