For undergraduate students:
Through discussions with students in my general chemistry course, I realized many don’t have much information about the career opportunities for chemists, nor the research opportunities for undergraduates in the sciences here on campus.
Chemistry is fundamentally a central discipline whose application is incredibly broad.
For those of you interested in health professions, a chemistry major provides a molecular basis for understanding biological function and for treating diseases. Chemistry provides probably the strongest foundation for future careers in medicine, pharmacy, etc.
But there are many areas you may be less familiar with.
For example, electrochemistry is the central discipline that deals with the science of energy storage, for example for designing better batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers to make clean hydrogen fuel, etc. Electrochemistry is central to a sustainable energy future.
Solid-state chemistry underlies the creation of new semiconductor devices that you find in all modern electronics. Chemists design new inorganic materials, films, and interfaces to make better solar cells, displays, and other electronic components. Many of our students work at places like Intel located here in Oregon.
Synthetic organic chemists design and create new carbon-containing molecules, either mimicking structures found in nature, or coming up with completely new designs. These molecules have incredibly broad applications that have, and continue to, improve the human condition – pharmaceuticals are but one important example.
Chemists design new plastics, i.e. polymers. While plastics are an issue, in that we need to do better recycling them (that is chemistry too!), synthetic polymers have, and will continue to, revolutionize all aspects of our lives. They clothe humanity, they make airplanes and cars light-weight and much more efficient, they enable manufacturing processes that were never before possible. Polymer chemists are creating the next generation of environmentally benign, recyclable/degradable, low-energy input plastics.
Environmental chemists understands the fate and behavior of chemicals in the environment and evaluate their effects and risks to human health and other organisms. Environmental chemistry is increasingly important as we work for a sustainable civilization.
Chemistry is also an excellent background for lawyers and policy makers. It gives fundamental insight into a broad range of critical aspects of modern technology, medicine, and the environment.
There are many paths to these different careers. Here at Oregon we offer unique (cost-effective) programs to transition students with science backgrounds into high-paid technology fields by providing accelerated applied science masters coursework (typically ~6 months) followed by paid industry internships.
Specific internship programs are available currently in Electrochemical Technologies (I started this one), Polymer Science, Semiconductor Materials and Devices, Optical Materials and Devices, Bioinformatics (the application of computer and data science tools to biology), Molecular Probes and Sensors, and Advanced Materials Characterization.
You can find more information at:
https://internship.uoregon.edu/
https://electrochemistry.uoregon.edu/masters-internship-program/
https://camcor.uoregon.edu/advanced-materials-analysis-and-characterization-masters-degree/
Some students fall in love with their discipline and want to earn a PhD, for example in Chemistry. PhD chemists are highly employable and a PhD is a PAID graduate program. For example, PhD students at UO work doing laboratory research and some teaching and are guaranteed an annual stipend of ~$27,000, free tuition, and exceptional health benefits.
The best way for you, as a student, to see if a career in science, particularly chemistry, is right for you is to get in the lab and work on real research projects. Just like learning a foreign language, were memorizing vocabulary is not always fun, but applying what you know in the field (like a trip to Paris!) is exciting and rewarding, research is the exciting application of what you learn in the class to something important.
You can find research-active faculty by going to departmental webpages and reading about faculty research here at UO.
https://chemistry.uoregon.edu/research/
https://blogs.uoregon.edu/biology/profiles/fac/
https://accelerate.uoregon.edu/faculty-and-executive-leadership
You should all feel empowered to write any faculty on campus and inquire about research opportunities. Make sure you read their information on the web first, and be able to write in your email why you are interested in their work. Ask if you can attend their group meetings to learn more. Chat with PhD students in their lab. Offer to volunteer at the beginning or apply for external funding for your research. Once you are trained in the laboratory, most faculty are happy to pay you to do research!
The UO has a website dedicated to undergraduate research opportunities at UO.
To be honest, this is what makes a University like UO special – the opportunity to work on real research projects with smart motivated PhD students and faculty – the information in the courses you can learn anywhere!
Science, and particularly chemistry, gives you tools to solve problems. We need more humans solving problems (relative to making more) if we want to survive as a species on this planet.
Prof. Shannon Boettcher