Thursday, April 30, 2009

Student Pathways I

When I interviewed for my current position one of my future colleagues warned me that it was "impossible" to get BS/MS students to participate in synthetic organic research.  This was because other research areas "require less commitment" in order to get a table of results.  His feeling was that synthesis was "too much work" and the rewards were too slow in coming to attract today's students.  While I can't say that I have had that much difficulty attracting students into my group, I do notice that the students who come in and stay in tend to have a different commitment to their research than those that move on.  

Those that move on tend to be the middle-skill scientists who would be perfectly happy in a QA/QC lab, or who will move out of the lab and into some professional capacity that may or may not take advantage of there science background.  In the Student Pathways II post I will get on the topic of the "professional science" degree, which might better serve these students than the traditional BA.

The students who have the passion for the science and are willing to put it high on their priority list will go into synthesis.  The same passion will guide them to graduate school.  The secret, if it is one, to finding students to participate in synthetic organic research is to find those who's passion and interest could make them graduate school candidates.  The faculty member can't wait for the student to come to them though.  Most students don't know much about graduate school and where it can take them.  It is incumbent on the would-be mentor to open to world of possibility to the students and show them how graduate school can lead them to this promised land.

T.S. Hall

 
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3 comments:

  1. FelixApril 30, 2009 at 7:57 PM

    Finding dedicated students is definitely the best way for mentors in organic chemistry to find students.

    I've advocated trying to make synthesis easier to perform (chromatotron?) but that still may not be a good solution. Synthesis is just time consuming and it's generally a very long road, so you are right about finding people that have the aptitude for graduate studies, especially in light of the middle-skill worker post.

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  2. gausslingMay 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM

    Aw Thomas, just admit it- synthesis students (syntho-savants) are just autistic! They come to you only because they see the same attribute in their advisor!

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  3. FelixMay 1, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    Gaussling, that's a good point. I think that is an excellent way to describe the situation at a PhD granting institution, more similar the better.

    But why not find a way to attract more people and get them into this field? It seems awful that we would close the doors to people not willing to put in 5-6 yrs post grad, 2-4 yrs post-doc and accept some highly specialized position at the end.

    Academics do need to be more flexible. We run the risk of turning the discipline into The Glass Bead Game (Hermann Hesse) where only the elites can play a publicly funded, impractical game of great discipline but with no importance to the rest of the world.

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