Younger Chemists Committee Report 2004

In 2003, the Northeastern Section Younger Chemists Committee (NSYCC) became more organized, launching a new website, and establishing officer positions and responsibilities. In 2004, the committee built upon this improved organization and began a phase of expansion.

The goals for 2004 were to increase committee membership, increase attendance at established events, and to organize new events. As of the writing of this report, the YCC has 155 members on its mailing list - a significant improvement over 2003. Our successful website has also seen approximately 3400 hits in the past year. Attendance at our established annual events, the Career Symposium and the Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference (NSCRC), also doubled in 2004. We attribute this increase to better advertising of events, both through the website and through mailing lists, posters, and fliers.

During the week of our annual German Exchange Program, we also organized a new event, the successful Northeast Student Chemistry Career Fair (NSCCF), which drew ~120 younger chemists. Several of the attendees came away from the event with job interviews and offers (see below). We also involved a large number of Boston-area younger chemists in the German Exchange Program this year by filling the schedule with events such as a Red Sox game and Symphony performance. For the first time, the YCC was able to attract corporate sponsors and thus, arrange these quality events and tours. Happily, our goals for 2004 were met.

Schedules, photographs, and detailed information about each of this year’s activities are available on the new NSYCC website, www.nsycc.org.

Career Symposium 2004: Careers in Communicating Science (February 12)

The annual YCC Career Symposium was held on February 12, 2004 from 3:30-5:30pm prior to the NESACS monthly meeting at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. C&EN 2003 Associate Editor Susan Morrissey reported that to really stand out to employers, job candidates need to have the appropriate combination of scientific and communications skills. (C&EN Nov. 24, 2003) This year, the YCC tried to illustrate to the attendees of this symposium that communication is one of the most important aspects of science with our theme of careers in communicating science.

The speakers included Professor B.D. Colen of MIT, a Pulitzer Prize-winning medical writer, Professor A.L. Utz of Tufts University, a distinguished scientist speaking about chemical education, and Mr. A. Dichner of BioPro Inc., a recruiter giving advice on effective communication during interviews.

Each of these speakers shared their personal career experiences and answered questions from the attending students. They fielded questions on everything from how to get involved in science reporting, to how to balance teaching and research in Academia, to how to negotiate salary with potential employers.

The symposium was a great success because ~45 younger chemists attended, increasing the attendance from last year's event by approximately 20. The NSYCC was also able to add 30 new email addresses to our membership list as a result of the event. In the future, however, the YCC would like to increase the number of attendees who stay for the monthly meeting and dinner (this year, it was only about half). The featured speaker for the evening meeting was Dr. William Carroll, Jr., ACS President-Elect 2004.

Fourth Annual NESACS-YCC/GDCh-JCF Exchange Program (April 18-25)

This year's week-long exchange between the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker-Jungchemikerforum (German Chemical Society - Younger Chemists Committee) and the Northeastern Section Younger Chemists Committee, held during the week of April 18, was a great success. Thirteen German Ph.D. students and three delegates traveled to Boston to participate in the week's events, arranged by the YCC and Steering Committee. Day-by-day events were as follows:

Patriot's Day: Attend the Red Sox-Yankees game with a group of younger chemists at Fenway Park. The Red Sox won! Break up into groups to watch the Boston Marathon and cheer on our own Chair-Elect, Amy Tapper, as she headed towards the finish line.

Morning tour of the chemistry department at MIT. Lunch at the Border Cafe in Harvard Square. Afternoon tour of the Harvard campus and chemistry department.

Morning bus trip to Pfizer in Groton, Connecticut. Lunch in Pfizer cafeteria, presentation on drug discovery, tour of laboratories in the new Drug Discovery building. Bus side trip to Newport, Rhode Island. Brief walk along the ocean-side cliffs near the famous mansions. Dinner at Christie's on the bay in Newport. Evening bus trip back to Boston.

Morning trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. Presentation on authentication and preservation of art and artifacts. Tour of authentication and preservation laboratories with connection to chemistry and analytical tools. Lunch in the MFA cafeteria. Guided tour of certain pieces of American art in the museum's collection. Students have afternoon free time in the museum. Evening meeting by the German and NESACS steering committees at the Armani Cafe to discuss the future of the Exchange Program. Many interesting points were brought up and we have been invited to again send students to Germany in 2005. The Euregionale will be taking place in Berlin next year. Evening Boston Symphony performance (attended by many NESACS members).

Career Fair organized by the YCC held at the Brookline Holiday Inn. (See Career Fair for details.) Evening dinner sponsored by Genzyme at Jacob Wirth's. Four Genzyme representatives, YCC officers and Dr. Charles Casey (ACS President, 2004) and his wife attended and mingled with the German students.

The German students who participated were selected by the GDCh based on their accomplishments in research, their interests, and participation in the JCF. Our steering committee, consisting of Dr. Amy Tapper, Dr. Michael Strem, Dr. Ruth Tanner, Dr. Anthony Fernandez, Dr. Cassandra Celatka, Dr. Morton Hoffmann and the YCC officers, organized the week's events and accommodations. Two of the German students gave oral presentations at the NSCRC. The remaining students presented posters. Christian Ducho of Hamburg took the top prize for his oral presentation. Two poster prizes were also awarded to Frank Sischerl (University of Konstanz) and Melanie Schnell (University of Hannover). A report was written by our steering committee and published in The Nucleus (the NESACS monthly newsletter). The article, as well as photographs and programs, can be found on our website under "German Exchange 2004."

Northeast Student Chemistry Career Fair, NSCCF (April 23)

This event was the first of its kind ever to be organized by the YCC. Held at the Brookline Holiday Inn, it began with a set of morning workshops on resume writing and interviewing. These workshops were hosted by Daniel Eustace of ACS Career Services. Mr. Eustace engaged the ~80 workshop-attending students in discussion about searching for a job and even held a mock interview to illustrate good and bad interviewing behavior. ACS Career Services booklets and materials were also provided to all attendees. During the afternoon job fair, Mr. Eustace also gave private resume reviews to students that signed up during registration.

After the workshops, a buffet luncheon was held for all of the attendees (younger chemists as well as participating company representatives) in the upstairs Esplanade of the Holiday Inn. Immediately following this networking luncheon, these representatives from 12 regional companies made themselves available for greeting and discussing employment with ~120 attending younger chemists. Companies that attended include Strem Chemicals, Inc., AstraZeneca, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Genzyme, KForce Scientific Staffing, Wyeth, Cubist, Immunogen, Pharm-Eco, Amgen, Degussa, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Many beneficial contacts were made through the Fair. One representative from Wyeth said, "We have identified from the applicants an excellent candidate and invited her for an on-site interview. Looking forward to another job fair next year!"

After the Fair, the YCC sent out an electronic survey about the Fair to all participants. The survey results are being used to improve the second annual Career Fair in 2005.

Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference, NSCRC (April 24)

The sixth annual Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference was held at Boston University's Photonics Center on April 24 this year. Approximately 120 participants joined us for the event, a 50% increase over last year's attendance. Of these 120, 80 presented posters during the afternoon poster session. The conference began with an address from Dr. Charles Casey. Dr. Casey welcomed the younger chemists attending the NSCRC, talked about his research, and asked students for their opinions and concerns for the future of chemistry. Six research talks by selected students followed these welcoming remarks; two were given by German visitors. After the oral presentations, a buffet luncheon was served to the attendees and the poster session began.

This year, we had 10 judges at the NSCRC who walked around and questioned students about their posters and research. Among these were Dr. Casey, our very own Chair, Dr. Jean Fuller-Stanley and our Immediate Past-Chair, Dr. John Neumeyer. After the poster session, Dr. Stephen Lippard of MIT gave an excellent Keynote Address entitled "New Fluorescent Sensors to Study Biochemical Zinc and Nitric Oxide and to Monitor Mercury in the Environment."

Awards were then given out to the students for the best oral and poster presentations. Strem Chemicals Inc. gave a monetary award for the Best Oral Presentation, which went to Christian Ducho of the University of Hamburg. Genzyme gave monetary awards for the Best Poster Presentations. These went to Christopher Dicesare (Tufts University), Supratim Datta (Boston University), and Jamie Ryan (Boston University). The Brauner Undergraduate Book Award went to Elisa Miller of Boston University. Kluwer also donated books as prizes for the conference. These prizes went to William Neeley (MIT), Frank Sischerl (University of Konstanz), Lourdes Pia H. Lopez (MIT), Melanie Schnell (University of Hannover), Nathan Maugel (Merrimack College) and Aaron Gregory Schmidt (Emmanuel College).

The NSYCC met its goals this year in the planning of the NSCRC. We improved the attendance, held the conference in a much larger, more attractive venue and were able to award cash prizes to students for their posters and talks. For the first time, we also had posters designed by a graphic artist advertising the conference (and Career Fair), which we mailed to area universities. Next year, we hope to increase attendance further and move the conference to a different university to enhance diversity. We would also like to increase the amount of cash prizes awarded.

Pre-Holiday Networking Event (December 2)

A pre-holiday reception was held at Charley's Saloon on Newbury Street in Boston. This event, held on December 2 at 7:00pm, attracted 20-25 younger chemists. Appetizers were served and free drinks were awarded to the first ten people to arrive. For the occasion, the YCC printed promotional pamphlets (attached to this report) explaining our organization. We hope to attract new members and officers in the near future.

Next year, we would like to plan more networking events such as brewery tours and bowling outings.

This year, the YCC collected $5 registration fees for the NSCRC. We also charged the companies participating in the Career Fair $500 each for their booth space. This offset the costs of these events. The remainder of all funds was received from the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS).

The NSYCC has begun organization of our 5th annual Career Symposium, to be held March 10, 2005 at the Brookline Holiday Inn. The theme of the symposium will be "Making the Transition from School to a Career: Experiences and Advice." Speakers will include recent graduates and new-comers to their professions in academia, government and industry. They will discuss their experiences and participate in a panel discussion. Our featured speaker for the evening meeting will be Dr. John Fetzer, who will be discussing "Chemistry as a Soft Science." Copies of his book on career management will be raffled off to younger chemist attendees.

We have also begun plans for the 2nd annual Northeast Student Chemistry Career Fair, to be held March 31, 2005 once again at the Brookline Holiday Inn. We have moved the Fair to an early Thursday evening (3-7pm) to try to accommodate more students and young professionals who can not leave work during the daytime. Dan Eustace of ACS Career Services will once again conduct workshops and resume reviews. The workshops will run concurrently with the job fair this year. We have sent out invitation letters to regional companies and hope to increase corporate participation.

We have also selected the students to participate in the 5th annual exchange between the NESACS-YCC and the GDCh-JCF. This year, we are sending 12 students and 2 representatives to Berlin during the week of April 3, 2005. Applications were accepted and analyzed during November and December 2004. The selected students were notified and plane tickets have been purchased. The students will once again participate in the German student research conference, the Euregionale. They will also be visiting a Max-Planck-Institute as well as universities in Berlin.

Plans for the 7th annual NSCRC are underway. This year, the conference will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 23, 2005.

Beyond April 2005, we plan to have a summer networking event and organize our own National Chemistry Week event. We sent representatives to the NCW events organized by NESACS this year to get ideas for the future. Plans for this will begin after April. Our major goal for 2005 is to foster more interest in subcommittees within the NSYCC. We will need new officers and volunteers to plan events in the new future if we continue to expand. We also want to continue advertising the organization by printing promotional materials such as logo pens and notepads.