First year Chemistry PhD student here. Are there any other chemistry

>>7723079
Physical chemistry master race

Do Analytical for 100000 starting.

>>7723079
ChemE PhD here, whazzup
Physical Chemistry ftw

>>7723079
Third year bsc UK chem here, think I'm gonna fail because I didn't hand In a 3 page article we had to write, complete bullshit

For PhD students: How many hours did you actually work a week?

Are the stories of working 70 hours a week for years at a time true? Or is it just people complaining?

>>7723079
>Are there any other chemistry PhD students (or PhDs) here?

>What type of subdiscipline/field did you do?

Biophysics PhD student. The program is not large enough, or well-funded enough, to be a department. Many faculty members have appointments in the chemistry department, and the curriculum is mainly offered by the chemistry department.

My sub-fields are protein biophysics/structural biology and biophysical chemistry.

>>7723185

>For PhD students: How many hours did you actually work a week?

In my second year, probably ~50 hours/week of lab work, and ~10 - 30 hours/week of coursework and/or candidacy prep.

>Are the stories of working 70 hours a week for years at a time true? Or is it just people complaining?

Absolutely, the stories are true. But, you're not wrong, either; they come from people complaining.

The cultures of individual labs vary considerably, even within the same departments and/or programs. There are some PIs that demand 12 - 14 hours/day, at least 6 days/week; nights and weekends is expected. Then, there are other PIs who are very hands-off, so as long as grad students/post-docs generate data the PIs don't really care how many hours of work are done.

>>7723448
I'm scared anon

>>7723522

Then maybe you should get a Master's.

Chemistry PhD here.

I did analytical coursework but am in an inorganic/physical lab.

As you may have guessed, your coursework literally does not fucking matter, its just the stuff they're going to put on your qualifying exam.


The more important thing is the group you join. Group should be a productive one of course, but the most important thing is that you get a long with the prof and the other students since you will basically be an indentured servant for 5 years.

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>>7723079
>analytical chemistry
You get to do boring, tedious work the rest of your life, highly valued in the industry and can find job security and make decent $$
>pchem
you make amazing discoveries, doing interesting work, but no one cares and theres almost no jobs for you.
>inorganic
you learn interesting shit and how to apply it, but face a dwindling job market outside of academia
>biochem
HUGE growing field. downside is it is literally more boring than analytical in practice. it also smells like shit. you literally wipe your ass with yesterdays left over job offers.
>organic
fun, stimulating work. you get to synthesize molecules. be the best at what you do and you could be a millionaire. be anything less and you will fight tooth and nail for jobs. dont get into a good enough research project/uni you are fucked. gg.

To be honest, if I am willing to put in the work to get a PhD but place a high priority on having a reasonable amount of free time (for a PhD student, I know I won't be watching TV for 8 hours a day or w/e), what subdiscipline would fit?

>>7723079
Did you come straight from BS or did you do a masters first?

I have a chem BS and I'm in a masters program right now, starting my second year in January.

I think if you're just interested in job prospects then yeah, I've heard the same thing you have, analytical is the way to go.

Are you interested in teaching at all? You'll get a chance to teach as a TA and, if you like it, that may change how you view working in academia.

At my college, the labs here are 3 organic synthesis, one is pchemish in hydrogenation research (metal catalysts), and another is analytical biochem. I work in an org synth lab. What stands out to me about the other two labs is that they mainly work with instruments and don't get their hands dirty, so to speak. Grad students in those labs spend the lion-share of their time sitting in front of their instruments and/or looking at graphs, which doesn't appeal to me.

Have you chosen your research adviser yet? It seems to me that's the decision you're talking about but you didn't actually say that. I recommend doing whatever you can to figure out what is actually happening in the prospective labs you could join. Talk to the grad students working there. Also, you could read a bunch of papers on the subject of a lab's research and see if you can get a handle of what's going on in the field. You may find that the chemistry doesn't appeal to you, or you may understand what's going on and become very interested. I just did an internal lit review as part of an assignment in a field tangential to my research and it was a pretty good experience where I really felt like I could jump in to that field and enjoy it if I wanted to.

>>7723758
Theoretical/Physical

Basically anything synthetic is the big time sink in chemistry. Its really only the organic kids that spend 14 hours in front of their fume hoods because 14 hours in front of a generates results.

If your a spectroscopist on the other hand you might sit long and hard and think about one experiment, run it 3 or 4 times and see if it worked. There's a lot more initial set up for a physical lab though.

>>7723771

I graduated halfway through the year (with a BS), immediately started a masters program because they allowed me to start halfway through the year and I wasn't sure if I was accepted to PhD. Right after the masters started I was accepted to PhD, so I dropped it and started PhD, so I did one semester of a masters.

I haven't chosen an advisor yet, in my university you do that at the end of the first year (by May 1). To be honest, while some people already know what kind of research they want to do, I don't have any fucking clue. I only know what I DON'T want to do (proteins, dna, biochem, organic synthesis, etc. I prefer numerical things and physical things)

>>7723780
imo the only way you're gonna figure it out is by seeing what is actually happening in the labs there

if you're still not sure after that, read some papers on the subject, or a recent research proposal submitted by that lab to the NSF or something

I understand that you're concerned about your future, but you have to consider that to some degree none of that matters; if you don't enjoy your work you won't be exceptional at it. Find something you like, then be exceptional at it and you'll find success.

>>7723793

In my uni we do 3 rotations during first year (basically go to a prof's lab/group and hang around and watch and participate a little). It's a good way to see what you like and if the professor's a work maniac.

I did one already, but I severely underestimated the amount that I needed to do for myself (I thought I would be given stuff to do, or at least suggestions), but I ended up just showing up and reading the prof's papers for the first few days, and then I just mostly did my hw after that. I went to their lab a few times and just helped out with mundane shit like organizing, but I don't know what they were really doing (I mean, the day to day lab labor. I know what the research is)

Meanwhile all the other people are telling me "oh yeah, I read their papers and then I suggested a little project to the prof and I did that in their lab for a few weeks". I guess I"ll try and take more initiative in the next rotation

>>7723079

I've been told Analytical chem PhDs have a tough time getting positions in academia compared to other chem fields because their skills are more "practical" than research

Physics but I work on microfluidics so I guess it's basically a chem/physics cross over

>>7723522
>I'm scared anon
You can pull off brutal hours when you are young. I did. later on it will be too tiring. There is a time for everything.

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Analytical, inorganic, physchem sounds like you'd do well in materials science.

>>7723079
You wasted your life

>>7725078
Let me guess? You're an engineer?

>>7725899
No, but I'm not retarded enough to waste my life in school just to end up being an underpaid lab tech for the rest of my life.

>>7725899
Don't listen to>>7726467


You can sell a vial of lsd for 500-1000 bucks and not risk sticking around to associate with the people selling and buying it.

I'm in my first year too, but I'm kind of scared about probably dying because of the dangerous substances we work with.

>>7726893
Save your life and switch to finance with a minor in math.

>go on /sci/
>"you're wasting your life with a PhD"
>masters is better than PhD for industry meme posting
>engineers shitting on PhDs

>Go on job offers site/profs grad research
>80% of jobs want a PhD with 0-2 years experience or 10+ years experience as a BSc
>graduate labs consistently get graduates jobs In academia or in the industry if it's not a shit lab
>all my professors tell me it's a glass ceiling you will face in industry without a PhD
>all of our grad students came from industry as BSc and say it's hopeless without a grad degree

I'll skip trusting 4chan this time my man.