Chem 409 Proseminar
Spring 2013
Dr. Frank Cheng
http://www.chem.uidaho.edu/faculty/ifcheng/default.htm
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Chem 409
Dr. Frank Cheng
26A Renfrew Hall
5-6387
ifcheng@uidaho.edu
Office Hours: M&W 2:30-4:30
This course will introduce you into aspects of
chemistry not covered in formal courses.
Among those topics will be how to give a
scientific presentation.
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Grades
Attendance 50% (-5% for each absence),
Participation 10%, Seminars 40%
A - 90-100%, B - 80-89%, C - 70-79%
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Chemical & Engineering
News
November 2, 2009 Volume 87, Number
44 p. 45
A New Normal
Record unemployment requires a
realistic attitude and creative
thinking
November 1, 2010
Volume 88, Number 44
p. 37
Hint Of Hope
Job outlook for 2011 will likely be
similar to 2010's, perhaps even
slightly better
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/88/8844cover.html
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/87/8744cover.html
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C&E News September 24, 2012
http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i39/Salary-Employment-Survey-Chemists.html
Chemists continue to struggle with the
lingering effects of the poor economy, despite
the fact that the Great Recession officially
ended more than three years ago in the U.S.
Salaries for chemists have fallen slightly in
2012…….
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C&E News Volume 90 Issue 23 | pp. 36-38
Issue Date: June 4, 2012
http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i23/Starting-Salaries.html
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Note - UI BS/BA Grads Earn More than BSU and ISU Grads
UI
Starting 44,900
Mid –Career 82,000
Boise State
40,800
69,500
Idaho State
44,900
73,400
UW
48,800
85,300
WSU
45,300
84,700
U. Oregon
42,200
78,400
Oregon State
45,100
83,300
Montana State
46,600
77,500
U. Montana
37,300
71,900
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Salaries_for_Colleges_by_Region-sort.html
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•Unemployment Rates for Chemists
2007 – 2.4%
2008 – 2.3 %
2009 – 3.8%
2012 – 4.2%
Source: C&E News
•Unemployment Rates for US Labor
Force
2007 – 5.0%
2008 – 7.4%
2009 – 10.0% (recession)
2012 – 7.9%
Other Recession Years for total work
force
1982 – 10.8%
1992 – 7.4%
2001 – 5.7%
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Unemployment Data For Chemists
Improve Slightly
Volume 90 Issue 30 | p. 6 | News of The Week
Issue Date: July 23, 2012 | Web Date: July 19, 2012
http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i30/Un
employment-Data-Chemists-ImproveSlightly.html
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Unemployment Rate for New College Graduates
Continues to Drop
• National Association of
Colleges and Employers
• Fell to 6.3 percent
• 8.3 percent in
September 2011 and
• September 2012, the
unemployment rate for
new college graduates—
defined as college
graduates ages 20 to24
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• 9.4 percent in
September 2010.
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http://www.calculate
driskblog.com/2012/
07/juneemployment-report80000-jobs-82.html
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C&E News
November 2, 2009 Volume 87, Number 44, pp. 46 - 52
Down But Not Out
Chemistry jobs took a beating this year, prompting out-of-work chemists to
reinvent themselves
“number of applicants for the Ph.D. program in chemistry at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison. “We had 750 applicants this year,”
77 of whom were accepted, says Stephanie Nagle, career services
coordinator for the UW chemistry department”
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Advantages of Chemistry Graduate Programs
Stipend + Tuition = $16-30K/year
MS from 2-4 years
Ph.D. 4-7 years
Usually Graduate Debt-Free
 vs. Law Medical School Debt
Careers in Industry & Government vs. Academia
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Forbes Magazine – 11/12/2012
• Chemistry Job Market Likely to Rebound
Before Biosciences.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2012/11/12/chemistry-
job-market-likely-to-rebound-before-biosciences/
• Chemistry PhDs May Fare Better
–
–
–
–
Supply Biosciences 3000/yr to 15,000 1970-2012
Chemistry constant 2000/yr 1970-2012
Chemistry offers more industrial employment
Biosciences dependent on NIH.
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Government Work
• Working for Uncle Sam November 2, 2010 C&E News
– http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/87/8744cover4.html
• PNNL
• INL
• State Forensics Labs
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Job Hunting
• ACS members http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_CAREERS&node_id=87&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=2e1d
5155-d047-425e-81b6-7e546240babf
• UI Career Center • Chemjobs • Check Google – “chemistry employment”
http://www.uidaho.edu/careercenter
http://www.chemjobs.net/
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