tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post3552483218431432910..comments2024-03-28T04:15:44.459-05:00Comments on nanoscale views: Brief itemsDouglas Natelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340091255404229559noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-73519725016879765832020-05-20T14:48:36.494-05:002020-05-20T14:48:36.494-05:00Strange things are going on.
https://eu.floridato...Strange things are going on.<br /><br />https://eu.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/05/19/florida-scientist-refused-manipulate-covid-19-data-and-fired/5219137002/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-33301192685660814062020-05-16T17:44:52.168-05:002020-05-16T17:44:52.168-05:00Dear Prof. Natelson,
Thank you for your advice. ...Dear Prof. Natelson, <br /><br />Thank you for your advice. I am still thinking over it. I shall need to discuss more with the younger PI about the project as it is more in-depth physics (studying electronic bandstructure of 2D TMDs), considering what I do now (large area nanophotonics). I like the prospect, but to move from a material science environment (both in my Phd and current postdoc) to deep physics is one issue that I probably need to consider, although I have my bachelor's and master's in Physics. <br /><br />@Anon 3:45 PM, very slim chances of me getting a job in the current country. I am not able to find position even in R&D of a company as there are very few offers. Unemployment rate is quite high if I compare it to the country that I have the chance to move to. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-40007218280731230202020-05-16T15:45:46.727-05:002020-05-16T15:45:46.727-05:00@Anon 2:17 PM. If your pursuit for academia does ...@Anon 2:17 PM. If your pursuit for academia does not work out and you are forced to look for jobs in industry or banking, are there more opportunities for you in the country where you currently are or in the country that you would move to if you took the job with the young PI? I did my PhD in the US and I know several people who came to the US for postdocs for job reasons. Of course, under this current US administration, hoping to get jobs in the US might not be viable but for example, there would be more industrial jobs available in Germany than in Spain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-20962363977520363152020-05-16T09:07:40.280-05:002020-05-16T09:07:40.280-05:00Anon@2:17, all things considered these days, that&...Anon@2:17, all things considered these days, that's not an unenviable position - two jobs to choose from. I presume from context here that your desired end point is as a professor at a research university. Given that the new position would involve changing countries, I would think that has to be a major factor in your decision-making. International travel and immigration is complicated right now (and the situation in the US is unlikely to get simpler for some time). One thing to consider is whether the change in location would really let you expand your skill set and work on projects that you think are exciting and higher impact than what you're likely to do if you stay in place. High impact pieces of work that you and the PI mentor can really call your own are valuable currency for later pursuits. (For what it's worth, intuition is not a bad guide - your brain does a lot of background processing. If one of the choices feels better somehow, it's worth considering.) Good luck in your decision.Douglas Natelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340091255404229559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-11743601343437217272020-05-13T14:17:08.711-05:002020-05-13T14:17:08.711-05:00I need advice from professor's here.
I work ...I need advice from professor's here. <br /><br />I work as a postdoc since May 2018 in an established lab with a competitive PI who has a good body of work in high impact journals like Advanced Materials, Nanoletters, ACS photonics, ACS applied materials, PRL etc. My work is experimental in nature where I mostly do AFM, Raman, PL and transmission spectroscopy for 2D TMD based metasurfaces fabricated on transparent substrates. Probably by end of the year I will have 2-3 1st author publications in journals with IF 7 or above. My contract was till May and now has been extended till November. <br /><br />In the meantime I was searching for positions in other labs and recently I won a competition for a project from a young PI that involves work on 2D TMDs or metal monochalcogenides. This will involve mechanical exfoliation, reflection contrast microscopy, magnetic field and temperature dependent investigations (Raman and PL) of various heterostructure configurations. This ll be new for me and the position is for 2 years. However, recently my current PI told me that he has a new project approved and can support me for another 2 years but without any increase in pay. Probably I'll get to work on optical related effects and biosensing using 2D TMDs. The salary for the new position is also similar to the current one and the lab is situated in a different country. The PI there is a young guy with publications in PRL, Sci. Reports, npj 2D materials, also multi author ones in Nature journals. <br /><br />I am in a fix what to do. Shall I move or not? what aspects I need to consider? I shall be grateful if senior people can advise me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-83291283955913842742020-05-11T22:31:09.844-05:002020-05-11T22:31:09.844-05:00I recall there was a prototype but I can't fin...I recall there was a prototype but I can't find a publication about it st the moment. The mean free path of 40keV electrons in air is upwards of 0.5mm, so I don't think it's as drastic as it might appear.<br /><br />Some details are given in this patent:<br />https://patents.justia.com/patent/9859097<br /><br />Looks like Manu Prakash is involved too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-53537189077710123612020-05-11T20:48:21.903-05:002020-05-11T20:48:21.903-05:00Anon@5:11, that's very much what I was vaguely...Anon@5:11, that's very much what I was vaguely thinking about - have they actually built a demo? I think you have serious challenges positioning the very fragile "electron transparent membrane" close enough to a sample surface to catch the secondary electrons with good yield. (I mean, you could do the positioning in a clean environment with ultrafine motor control and positioning, but could you do it cheaply and easily?)<br /><br />Anon@6:48, absolutely. The stigma that still lingers about asking for help for mental well-being is strong in many high-drive fields like science. I've known people who don't even talk about being concerned about grants or papers because of fear of being perceived as "weak". That's not a healthy.Douglas Natelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340091255404229559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-64109451457850452312020-05-11T18:48:38.205-05:002020-05-11T18:48:38.205-05:00I really hope the tragic case of the late SC Zhang...I really hope the tragic case of the late SC Zhang shows scientists that supporting mental health isn't just about fulfilling requirements from HR, it has real impact and consequences on the health of science overall.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-35978366210663889282020-05-11T17:11:34.809-05:002020-05-11T17:11:34.809-05:00Regarding cheap electron microscopes (which are *l...Regarding cheap electron microscopes (which are *long* overdue), you may be interested in AweSEM from the group of Alireza Nojeh at UBC<br /><br />https://contest.techbriefs.com/2019/entries/manufacturing-robotics-automation/9757Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com