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A changing chemistry job market and news from the wider science world

By bibiana campos-seijo, september 12, 2021 | a version of this story appeared in volume 99, issue 33.

• 9 ways to motivate others
• Making space in STEM for people with disabilities
• Mona Minkara talks science accessibility and the 'unseen advantage' of diversifying the lab
• Out and proud
• What US chemists made in 2022, according to the ACS salary survey

September is here, and so is C&EN’s annual review of the employment market for chemical scientists.

You can turn to page 26 to read stories of job seekers and employers in the academic sector in the US and Canada during the 2020–21 hiring season.

If you are wondering whether the academic job market will bounce back after the pandemic, we unfortunately don’t have a satisfying or categorical answer. Tenure-track jobs are always highly coveted, and during the pandemic they have been more difficult to find. And hiring processes have been longer than usual, according to the people C&EN reporter Bethany Halford spoke to.

By contrast, the pharma job market is superhot right now with, for example, a lab group leader working in government reporting on Twitter that postdoctoral fellows are being snatched up after less than a year into their medicinal chemistry labs. Many of us remember when Big Pharma was downsizing not so long ago and skilled chemists were finding themselves unemployed. C&EN reporter Rick Mullin talked to lab leaders, biotech executives, and postdocs to learn why chemists are in such demand and explore how the role of the postdoc is changing (see page 18).

In other, unrelated news, I have been following the journey of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars and was glad to learn that it has finally collected its first rock sample from the surface of the Red Planet, more than 6 months after it landed .

The rock sample is expected to return to Earth for study and analysis, but it’ll have to wait many years until a future mission travels to Mars, meets with the Perseverance rover, and brings all samples back to Earth—likely by 2031, according to Scientific American . Nonetheless, it’ll be the first rock brought from Mars to Earth, and there are high hopes that it contains information about ancient martian life because it was collected from a site in what was a river delta billions of years ago.Also

in the news last week was the trial of Elizabeth Holmes, which opened Sept. 8. The former CEO of the blood-testing firm Theranos faces allegations that she and Chief Operating Officer Ramesh Balwani defrauded investors and customers with technology that Holmes knew did not work and was nowhere near receiving regulatory approval. Balwani’s separate trial is scheduled to start in January 2022.

Prosecutors began their opening statement accusing Holmes of lying to investors such as Walgreens and Safeway in order to secure funds and save the firm. The defense painted a picture of a young leader who had made mistakes but had successfully attracted many highly qualified employees to the firm and “obtained nearly 200 patents and created 235 specialized tests that could be run on small samples of blood,” according to Law360 .

The trial is ongoing and, if convicted, Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison.

There’s never a dull moment in the world of science.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.

This story was updated on Sept. 20, 2021, to correct the affiliation of the person on Twitter who commented about postdoctoral fellows. He works in government at the National Institutes of Health, not in academia.

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Found 29 PhD jobs

Molecular oncology postdoctoral fellow.

• Tampa, Florida
• Above NIH scale plus benefits (Moffitt covers medical premium for team members)
• Claudia Lopez-Matamoros

The lab's research interest is to study the structures, regulation, and therapeutic targeting of p53 tumor suppressor pathway for cancer treatment.

View details Molecular Oncology Postdoctoral Fellow

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Postdoctoral Associate

• Houston, Texas (US)
• Per NIH Guidelines
• Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)

View details Postdoctoral Associate

• 19 days ago
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Professional-Track Faculty Positions Available!

• Beaverton, Oregon
• Based on Experience
• Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health & Science University

VGTI is seeking professional-track faculty candidates with demonstrated potential for creative collaborations in infectious disease.

View details Professional-Track Faculty Positions Available!

• 32 days ago
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Medicinal Chemistry for Cancer Drug Discovery

• Ann Arbor, Michigan
• University of Michigan - Department of Pathology

Postdoctoral position is available to develop small molecule inhibitors for targeted therapies in cancer.

View details Postdoctoral Fellow in Medicinal Chemistry for Cancer Drug Discovery

• 34 days ago
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Southern University of Science and Technology Welcomes Outstanding Young Talents Worldwide

• Globally competitive salary with eligibility for personal income tax benefits
• Southern University of Science and Technology(SUSTech)

Southern University of Science and Technology invites global talents for our National Science Fund Program for Outstanding Young Scholars application

View details Southern University of Science and Technology Welcomes Outstanding Young Talents Worldwide

• 7 days left
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Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Sciences

• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Commensurate with qualifications and experience.
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas

View details Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Sciences

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Associate or Senior Editor

• Washington D.C. (US)
• $84,000 – $98,000 per year (for candidates hired in the US).
• AAAS/Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science Magazine seek a full time Associate or Senior commissioning editor who w...

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Postdoc Positions: Next-generation Single-molecule Imaging

• New York City, New York (US)
• $61,150-$80,315
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC)

The Pertsinidis lab in the Structural Biology Program of the Sloan Kettering Institute at MSKCC has immediate openings for Postdoctoral positions.

View details Postdoc Positions: Next-generation Single-molecule Imaging

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Multiple, T/TT Faculty Positions applied Toxicology, Environmental Health and Disease Treatment

• Bloomington, Indiana
• Commensurate with rank and experience
• Indiana University Bloomington

IU has launched a major, multi-year initiative in research in applied precision approaches to toxicology, environmental health, and disease treatment.

View details Multiple, T/TT Faculty Positions applied Toxicology, Environmental Health and Disease Treatment

• 13 days ago
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Postdoctoral Research Associate - Computational Mass Spectometry

• Princeton, New Jersey
• Dependent on experience
• Ludwig Princeton Branch, Princeton University

The Skinnider Lab of the Ludwig Princeton Branch at Princeton University aims to recruit one to two postdoctoral associates or more senior research...

View details Postdoctoral Research Associate - Computational Mass Spectometry

• 16 days ago
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Postdoctoral Research Associate - AI/Machine Learning for Illicit Drug Identification

The Skinnider Lab of the Ludwig Princeton Branch at Princeton University aims to recruit a postdoctoral or more senior research position to work on...

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Postdoctoral Scholar Position in Pharmaceutics in Nanomedicine, Nanomaterials, and Drug Delivery

• Portland, Oregon
• Oregon State University, College of Pharmacy

Developing novel nanomaterials and delivery vectors for gene /drug/imaging agents for various diseases treatment, evaluation in animal models.

View details Postdoctoral Scholar Position in Pharmaceutics in Nanomedicine, Nanomaterials, and Drug Delivery

• 18 days ago
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Postdoctoral Fellow

• Smith College, Northampton
• Target pay is generally around 50k to 60k.
• Smith College

The Department of Chemistry at Smith College invites applications for a 2-year benefits-eligible Postdoctoral Fellow

View details Postdoctoral Fellow

• 26 days ago
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Society of Science Fellows at the University of Notre Dame

• Notre Dame, Indiana
• Stipend: NRSA NIH pay scale for two years plus $10,000 for scientific meetings, PD, & other research
• University of Notre Dame, College of Science

The Society of Science Fellows supports highly motivated & accomplished individuals who are the best of the next generation of researchers.

View details Society of Science Fellows at the University of Notre Dame

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Assistant Professor or Higher

• El Paso, Texas
• Compensation is commensurate upon the qualifications
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso -MTM

Assistant Professor or Higher Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine Center of Emphasis in Cancer  The Department of Molecular and Tran...

View details Assistant Professor or Higher

• 27 days ago
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Dean, College of Natural Science

• East Lansing, Michigan
• Competitive
• Michigan State University

Michigan State University seeks a dynamic and forward-thinking leader to serve as the next Dean of the College of Natural Science. The Dean should ...

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Postdoc Human Immunology (Autoimmunity)

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Drs. Joel Guthridge (Guthridge.omrf.org) and Judith James (james.omrf.org) are seeking two Post-Doctoral Fellows with a strong immunology background

View details Postdoc Human Immunology (Autoimmunity)

• 31 days ago
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Post-Doctoral Fellow

• Aurora, Colorado
• $56,484 - $59,592 based on NIH Postdoctoral Compensation guidelines
• University of Colorado

The Ning Zhao laboratory at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus is recruiting two talented and self-motivated postdoc fellows.   Int...

View details Post-Doctoral Fellow

• 39 days ago
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ASSOCIATE/FULL Professor

• Based on Experience plus benefits
• UT Health Science Center Houston

ASSOCIATE/FULL PROFESSOR TEXAS THERAPEUTICS INSTITUTE THE INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR MEDICINE University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McG...

View details ASSOCIATE/FULL Professor

• 41 days ago
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Postdoctoral Research Scholar

• Maywood, Illinois
• Competitive Pay and Benefits
• Loyola University Chicago - Department of Medicine

The post-doctoral Research Scholar participates substantially in full-time, mentored research or scholarship.

View details Postdoctoral Research Scholar

• 46 days ago
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Doctorate (PhD), Chemistry Degree

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130 PhD jobs in Chemistry

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• PhD positions in Biochemistry (48)
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PhD Position (m/f/div) – Fully Funded

PhD Position (m/f/div)– Fully FundedProf. Dr. Simone Reber – Professor at the Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT) and Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology – is looking to recruit one out­standing PhD stu­dent to work...

PhD student bioinspired functional materials

BackgroundThe Nanobiophysics and Soft Matter Interfaces research group is looking for a motivated PhD student in the context of the synthesis and characterization of bioinspired functional material...

PhD-student: Non-Hermitian nano-optomechanical networks and their sensing performance

The Photonic Forces group seeks a motivated and talented PhD student working at the intersection of the fields of nano-optomechanics and topological physics. Nanomechanical resonators are versatile...

PhD-student: Femtosecond study of molecular cages and photocatalytic water splitting

Molecular cages are self-organizing supramolecular systems that act as molecular sieves, allowing specific molecules/ions to enter the cage while blocking most other molecules and ions. This select...

PhD positions in New and high efficiency photovoltaic concepts

The University of Luxembourg is an international research university with a distinctly multilingual and interdisciplinary character. The University was founded in 2003 and counts more than 6,700 students and more than 2,000 employees from around t...

PhD position in Developing Machine Learned Force Fields to Predict the Stability of Molecular Crystals

The Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) contributes multidisciplinary expertise in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Life Sciences and Medicine. Through its dual mission of teaching and research, the...

Doctoral student in Physics within the discipline of characterisation of artificial protein motors

Lund University, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Department of PhysicsLund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 45 000 students and more than 8 000 staff based in Lund, ...

PhD Position – Automation of a High-Throughput Setup for Electrochemical Systems

Would you like to contribute to the energy transition in Germany through your work? Then the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (for Renewable Energy) (HI ERN) is the right place for you! The HI ERN forms the core of the close partnership betwe...

PhD Position – High-Throughput Electrochemical Characterization for Energy Applications

Would you like to contribute to the energy transition in Germany through your work? Then the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (for Renewable Energy) (HI ERN) is the right place for you! The HI ERN forms the core of the close partnership betwe...

Doctoral Researcher (PhD student), Innovative Doctoral Education Ecosystem for Photonics (I-DEEP)

The University of Eastern Finland is inviting applications for 8 Doctoral Researcher (PhD) positions at the Department of Physics and Mathematics and at the School of Computing on the Joensuu campu...

PhD Positions in Cancer Research

Are you looking for excellent research opportunities for your PhD studies at the forefront of cancer research? The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg invites international students holding a Master’s degree in (molecular) biology, ...

PhD (M/F): Electrochemical video from the counter electrode

Position description:Emerging applications of nanomaterials in electrochemical energy conversion and storage require reliable assessment of their reactivity. Traditional macroscopic electrochemical measurements are difficult to differentiate the i...

PhD position in secure quantum photonic cloud computing

Job descriptionWe are looking for a PhD candidate to work with an international consortium focused on validating the QEnclave concept. The objective is to obfuscate a quantum computation task from ...

Upcoming PhD Positions at the International Max Planck Research School for Molecules of Life in Autumn 2023

More information for the new call-out will come up during Autumn 2023. Stay tuned!The International Max Planck Research School for Molecules of Life (IMPRS-ML) will have an open call for fully-funded PhD student positions in the areas of biochemis...

Upcoming PhD positions at the CGA

Call for applications for up to 12 PhD positions at the Cologne Graduate School of Ageing Research opens soon! The Cologne Graduate School of Ageing Research (CGA) in Germany is a joint venture of the University of Cologne Excellence Cluster on St...

55 fully funded PhD positions

Faculty of Natural SciencesComenius University in Bratislava, Slovakiaoffers 55 fully funded PhD positionshttps://fns.uniba.sk/en/phd_positions/in Biology: Biology; Botany; Plant Physiology; Animal Physiology; Genetics; Microbiology and Virology; ...

2 PhD positions in polymer chemistry

We are looking for motivated researchers at the beginning of their careers who wish to push the limits in current polymer research.We offer two PhD positions (4 years) in the Laboratory of Polymer Synthesis and Biomaterials, Department of Physical...

PhD Student - Department of Human Structure and Repair

Last application date Apr 15, 2024 00:00Department GE38 - Department of Human Structure and RepairContract Limited durationDegree At the time of appointment holding a degree master degree Biomedical Sciences, Biochemistry & Biotechnology, Bioengin...

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*New application deadlines for two open calls per year: November 1 and May 1!Life Science Zurich Graduate School offers more than 100 funded PhD positions. With around 500 research groups and more than 1600 Ph.D. students, the Life Science Zurich ...

Doctoral thesis (M/F) - Elucidation of the electrochemical activity of biochar in bioprocesses

General informationTo apply: http://doctorat.univ-lorraine.fr/fr/les-ecoles-doctorales/c2mp/offres-de-these/lue-decryptage-de-lactivite-electrochimique-du-biocharPlace of work: LCPME and LRGP at Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France. Collaboration...

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April 19, 2012

What does a Ph.D. in chemistry get you?

By Janet D. Stemwedel

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

A few weeks back, Chemjobber had an interesting post looking at the pros and cons of a PhD program in chemistry at a time when job prospects for PhD chemists are grim. The post was itself a response to a piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education by a neuroscience graduate student named Jon Bardin which advocated strongly that senior grad students look to non-traditional career pathways to have both their Ph.D.s and permanent jobs that might sustain them. Bardin also suggested that graduate students "learn to approach their education as a series of learning opportunities rather than a five-year-long job interview," recognizing the relative luxury of having a "safe environment" in which to learn skills that are reasonably portable and useful in a wide range of career trajectories -- all while taking home a salary (albeit a graduate-stipend sized one).

Chemjobber replied :

Here's what I think Mr. Bardin's essay elides: cost. His Ph.D. education (and mine) were paid for by the US taxpayer. Is this the best deal that the taxpayer can get? As I've said in the past , I think society gets a pretty good deal: they get 5+ years of cheap labor in science, (hopefully) contributions to greater knowledge and, at the end of the process, they get a trained scientist. Usually, that trained scientist can go on to generate new innovations in their independent career in industry or academia. It's long been my supposition that the latter will pay (directly and indirectly) for the former. If that's not the case, is this a bargain that society should continue to support? Mr. Bardin also shows a great deal of insouciance about the costs to himself: what else could he have done, if he hadn't gone to graduate school? When we talk about the costs of getting a Ph.D., I believe that we don't talk enough about the sheer length of time (5+ years) and what other training might have been taken during that time. Opportunity costs matter! An apprenticeship at a microbrewery (likely at a similar (if not higher) pay scale as a graduate student) or a 1 or 2 year teaching certification process easily fits in the half-decade that most of us seem to spend in graduate school. Are the communications skills and the problem-solving skills that he gained worth the time and the (opportunity) cost? Could he have obtained those skills somewhere else for a lower cost?

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Chemjobber also note that while a Ph.D. in chemistry may provide tools for range of careers, actually having a Ph.D. in chemistry on your resume is not necessarily advantageous in securing a job in one of those career.

As you might imagine this is an issue to which I have given some thought. After all, I have a Ph.D. in chemistry and am not currently employed in a job that is at all traditional for a Ph.D. in chemistry. However, given that it has been nearly two decades since I last dipped a toe into the job market for chemistry Ph.D.s, my observations should be taken with a large grain of sodium chloride.

First off, how should one think of a Ph.D. program in chemistry? There are many reasons you might value a Ph.D. program. A Ph.D. program may be something you value primarily because it prepares you for a career of a certain sort. It may also be something you value for what it teaches you, whether about your own fortitude in facing challenges, or about how the knowledge is built. Indeed, it is possible --- maybe even common --- to value your Ph.D. program for more than one of these reasons at a time. And some weeks, you may value it primarily because it seemed like the path of least resistance compared to landing a "real job" right out of college.

I certainly don't think it's the case that valuing one of these aspects of a Ph.D. program over the others is right or wrong. But ...

Economic forces in the world beyond your graduate program might be such that there aren't as many jobs suited to your Ph.D. chemist skills as there are Ph.D. chemists competing for those jobs. Among other things, this means that earning a Ph.D. in chemistry does not guarantee you a job in chemistry on the other end.

To which, as the proud holder of a Ph.D. in philosophy, I am tempted to respond: join the club! Indeed, I daresay that recent college graduates in many, many majors have found themselves in a world where a bachelors degree guarantees little except that the student loans will still need to be repaid.

To be fair, my sense is that the mismatch between supply of Ph.D. chemists and demand for Ph.D. chemists in the workplace is not new. I have a vivid memory of being an undergraduate chemistry major, circa 1988 or 1989, and being told that the world needed more Ph.D. chemists. I have an equally vivid memory of being a first-year chemistry graduate student, in early 1990, and picking up a copy of Chemical & Engineering News in which I read that something like 30% too many Ph.D. chemists were being produced given the number of available jobs for Ph.D. chemists. Had the memo not reached my undergraduate chemistry professors? Or had I not understood the business model inherent in the production of new chemists?

Here, I'm not interested in putting forward a conspiracy theory about how this situation came to be. My point is that even back in the last millennium, those in the know had no reason to believe that making it through a Ph.D. program in chemistry would guarantee your employment as a chemist.

So, what should we say about this situation?

One response to this situation might be to throttle production of Ph.D. chemists.

This might result in a landscape where there is a better chance of getting a Ph.D. chemist job with your Ph.D. in chemistry. But, the market could shift suddenly (up or down). Were this to happen, it would take time to adjust the Ph.D. throughput in response. As well, current PIs would have to adjust to having fewer graduate students to crank out their data. Instead, they might have to pay more technicians and postdocs. Indeed, the number of available postdocs would likely drop once the number of Ph.D.s being produced more closely matched the number of permanent jobs for holders of those Ph.D.s.

Needless to say, this might be a move that the current generation of chemists with permanent positions at the research institutions that train new chemists would find unduly burdensome.

We might also worry about whether the thinning of the herd of chemists ought to happen on the basis of bachelors-level training. Being a successful chemistry major tends to reflect your ability to learn scientific knowledge, but it's not clear to me that this is a great predictor of how good you would be at the project of making new scientific knowledge.

In fact, the thinning of the herd wherever it happens seems to put a weird spin on the process of graduate-level education. Education , after all, tends to aim for something bigger, deeper, and broader than a particular set of job skills. This is not to say that developing skills is not an important part of an education --- it is! But in addition to these skills, one might want an understanding of the field in which one is being educated and its workings. I think this is connected to how being a chemist becomes linked to our identity, a matter of who we are rather than just of what we do.

Looked at this way, we might actually wonder about who could be harmed by throttling Ph.D. program enrollments.

Shouldn't someone who's up for the challenge have that experience open to her, even if there's no guarantee of a job at the other end? As long as people have accurate information with which to form reasonable expectations about their employment prospects, do we want to be paternalistic and tell them they can't?

(There are limits here, of course. There are not unlimited resources for the training of Ph.D. chemists, nor unlimited slots in graduate programs, nor in the academic labs where graduate students might participate meaningfully in research. The point is that maybe these limits are the ones that ought to determine how many people who want to learn how to be chemists get to do that.)

Believe it or not, we had a similar conversation in a graduate seminar filled with first and second year students in my philosophy Ph.D. program. Even philosophy graduate students have an interest in someday finding stable employment, the better to eat regularly and live indoors. Yet my sense was that even the best graduate students in my philosophy Ph.D. program recognized that employment in a job tailor-made for a philosophy Ph.D. was a chancy thing. Certainly, there were opportunity costs to being there. Certainly, there was a chance that one might end up trying to get hired to a job for which having a PhD would be viewed as a disadvantage to getting hired. But the graduate students in my philosophy program had, upon weighing the risks, decided to take the gamble.

How exactly are chemistry graduate students presumed to be different here? Maybe they are placing their bets at a table with higher payoffs, and where the game is more likely to pay off in the first place. But this is still not a situation in which one should expect that everyone is always going to win. Sometimes the house will win instead.

(Who's the house in this metaphor? Is it the PIs who depend on cheap grad-student labor? Universities with hordes of pre-meds who need chemistry TAs and lab instructors? The public that gets a screaming deal on knowledge production when you break it down in terms of price per publishable unit? A public that includes somewhat more members with a clearer idea of how scientific knowledge is built? Specifying the identity of the house is left as an exercise for the reader.)

Maybe the relevant difference between taking a gamble on a philosophy Ph.D. and taking a gamble on a chemistry Ph.D. is that the players in the latter have, purposely or accidentally, not been given accurate information about the odds of the game.

I think it's fair for chemistry graduate students to be angry and cynical about having been misled as far as likely prospects for employment. But given that it's been going on for at least a couple decades (and maybe more), how the hell is it that people in Ph.D. programs haven't already figured out the score? Is it that they expect that they will be the ones awesome enough to get those scarce jobs? Have they really not thought far enough ahead to seek information (maybe even from a disinterested source) about how plausible their life plans are before they turn up at grad school? Could it be that they have decided that they want to be chemists when they grow up without doing sensible things like reading the blogs of chemists at various stages of careers and training?

Presumably, prospective chemistry grad students might want to get ahold of the relevant facts and take account of them in their decision-making. Why this isn't happening is somewhat mysterious to me, but for those who regard their Ph.D. training in chemistry as a means to a career end, it's absolutely crucial -- and trusting the people who stand to benefit from your labors as a graduate student to hook you up with those facts seems not to be the best strategy ever.

And, as I noted in comments on Chemjobber's post , the whole discussion suggests to me that the very best reason to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry is because you want to learn what it is like to build new knowledge in chemistry, in an academic setting. Since being plugged into a particular kind of career (or even job) on the other end is a crap-shoot, if you don't want to learn about this knowledge-building process -- and want it enough to put up with long hours, crummy pay, unrewarding piles of grading, and the like -- then possibly a Ph.D. program is not the best way to spend 5+ years of your life.

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Phd chemist salary in the united states.

How much does a Phd Chemist make in the United States? The salary range for a Phd Chemist job is from $51,488 to $93,778 per year in the United States. Click on the filter to check out Phd Chemist job salaries by hourly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, and yearly.

• Per semimonth
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• West Virginia
• San Francisco, CA
• Washington, DC
• Chicago, IL
• New York, NY

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Employees: Use this as a guide for salary expectations, but be aware that responsibilities can change across companies for the same job title, so there may be differences between this data, other free site and our subscription products bought by employers.

Employers: This data could be used as reference point in your market pricing, but not the only source, due to differences across jobs locations, and sizes of companies.Consider additional sources like our Employer reported data.

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Highest Paying Cities for Phd Chemist in the United States

States with higher salaries for phd chemist, how much do similar professions get paid in the united states, how much should you be earning, what does a phd chemist do.

You can use your PhD in chemistry to become a materials scientist, a chemical engineer, or even a medicinal chemist.

View Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles, 18 Industries, and 26 Job Families.

Most Common Benefits for Phd Chemist

Related companies for phd chemist in the united states, frequently asked questions, do i receive fair pay as a phd chemist currently, what are the responsibilities of a phd chemist, how much do similar jobs to phd chemist make.

• Psychologist Phd
• Phd Engineer
• Phd Scientist
• Phd Biology
• Phd Engineering
• Phd In Finance
• Phd Neuroscience
• Phd Physics

Where can I get a higher Phd Chemist salary in the United States?

What is the phd chemist's salary range in the united states, career insights.

The job market for chemists in the United States

There are currently an estimated 88,300 chemists in the United States. The chemist job market is expected to grow by 6.5% between 2016 and 2026.

How employable are chemists?

CareerExplorer rates chemists with a D employability rating, meaning this career should provide weak employment opportunities for the foreseeable future. Over the next 10 years, it is expected the US will need 12,000 chemists. That number is based on 5,700 additional chemists, and the retirement of 6,300 existing chemists.

Are chemists in demand?

Competition for chemist positions is expected to be strong. Those with the best prospects will have advanced degrees, especially Doctorates, and obtain certification from the American Institute of Chemists and/or the National Certification Commission in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Biotechnology firms are driving the demand for chemists, as research relating to the human genome has led to the development of new pharmaceuticals. Consequently, pharmaceutical firms and government agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have recently hired chemists in greater numbers. Additional job opportunities are being created in environmental and energy research, spurred by new government regulations and waste clean-up requirements. While the chemical manufacturing sector is expected to experience a decline in in-house chemist jobs due to outsourcing to research and development firms, this will result in job growth at those organizations. Some companies will conduct at least some of their research in lower-wage countries, impacting domestic employment growth. On the other hand, competition among pharmaceutical companies and an aging population will continue to accelerate the development of new drugs and potentially, the demand for chemists. During economic downturns, layoffs may occur in the field, though they are generally limited to industrial chemical companies which provide raw materials to the automotive and construction industries. Typically less vulnerable is the pharmaceutical sector which is characterized by longer development cycles. Chemists without advanced degrees, but with Bachelor’s Degrees, may find work as high school teachers or chemical technicians or technologists.

What’s the supply of chemists?

The chemist industry is concentrated in California, New Jersey, Texas

Chemist job market by state

Men's coaching tracker: Latest buzz, candidates, analysis

• Graduate of University of Delaware. Follow on X

In the midst of the wild bubble swings on Saturday night, the coaching carousel offered up a twist of its own: Ohio State promoted interim head coach Jake Diebler to the long-term role.

When the Buckeyes fired Chris Holtmann in mid-February, the top target was immediately perceived to be Florida Atlantic 's Dusty May. There were talks with other candidates, namely South Carolina 's Lamont Paris, but May was the front runner -- especially after Paris signed a lucrative extension to stay in Columbia. But as Diebler led Ohio State on a 6-2 run to get onto the bubble, whispers started to emerge that if it wasn't May, the Buckeyes could opt to keep Diebler.

And on Sunday that's exactly what happened.

The urgency to move on coaches will continue, with the transfer portal opening up the day after Selection Sunday. The longer a coaching situation stays in flux, the more roster uncertainty it creates.

As it stands, 36 jobs have opened -- nine of which have been filled. As a point of reference, there were 61 job changes total last year, 60 in 2022 and 57 in 2021.

For as long as the carousel spins, until all the top jobs are filled, we'll keep you updated here with the latest intel, rumors, scuttlebutt and everything in between for men's college basketball's coaching cycle. Keep track of the full list of official changes here .

Last updated: March 17, 2024

The comprehensive 2024 coaching hot seat guide | All the confirmed coaching changes for 2024-25

Despite Florida Atlantic losing to Temple in the AAC semifinals and potentially putting its own NCAA tournament hopes at risk, Dusty May is still the most-sought-after candidate on the market.

Twenty-four hours ago, it looked like he might be able to decide between three jobs. Ohio State is off the table, but what's next?

Louisville is still expected to make a run at Scott Drew, although prying Drew out of Waco is looking increasingly difficult, sources told ESPN. If the Cardinals can't convince Drew, May is perceived to be next on the list.

Michigan 's search is just getting underway, and May is expected to be a top candidate there as well.

Which is the better job right now? We reached out to a handful of coaches, agents and industry sources to gauge perception.

Fired Moscow Metro Boss Gets Job at Railways

Ivan Besedin, who headed Moscow's subway system until he was fired in the aftermath of a deadly crash last year, will now work at the country's national railroad monopoly, Russian Railways said Wednesday.

Besedin will be in charge of a logistics and transportation department at Russian Railways and is tasked with "improving the economic efficiency of transportation," the statement said.

He had earlier headed the Kaliningrad branch of Russian Railways before heading the Moscow Metropolitan company.

Besedin was reportedly on vacation during the deadliest accident in the subway system's 80-year history, a derailment last year that killed 23 people and injured more than 160 others. He was subsequently dismissed by Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Russian Railways runs the second-largest railway network in the world, transporting almost a billion passengers and 1.2 billion tons of freight across Russia annually, according to its website.

The Moscow subway's current boss, Dmitry Pegov, who replaced Besedin, is a former director of Russian Railways' high-speed service department.

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Moscow Metro to Raise Fares 25% From Feb. 1

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