I’ve been curious how many working researchers we’ve got in this community, and what you all do!

If you’re working in science (physical or social), engineering, etc in a research capacity, give a shout in the comments and let us know what you work on! Same goes for students and amateur scientists at any level. (And by amateur I mean those of you who are working on your own experiments but just not being paid for it / not working on a degree; I’m upset that “amateur” has a negative connotation, it shouldn’t.)

I’m currently a PhD candidate, working on transmission electron microscopy and electronic materials (mainly ferroelectrics). In the past I’ve been involved in research / product development in a few different industries, including medical devices, aerogels, and materials for RF devices.

  • realChem@beehaw.orgOP
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    1 year ago

    Mmm yeah, I can imagine things might get a bit stale after a decade working on similar things. What was your physics PhD in, something you’d be interested in pursuing again maybe?

    • oofinsprouts@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      My thesis covered optoelectronic measurements of nanomaterials for novel photovoltaics. Even as a kid, I wanted some sort of career researching alternative energy, but those jobs sadly don’t exist.

      • realChem@beehaw.orgOP
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        1 year ago

        Researching alternative sources of energy would certainly be a rewarding career. I’m a bit surprised to hear nobody’s doing it, I’d think there’d be companies trying to commercialize on the pretty massive progress we’ve seen in PV efficiency at the lab scale. I remember in my undergrad people were really excited about roll-to-roll manufacturing for flexible organic perovskite solar cells, but come to think of it I haven’t heard much about them in the last five years. I wonder what happened. Maybe just still to expensive to compete commercially with silicon PV?

        Regardless, I hope you find a direction that’s fulfilling for you!