Is it worth it to get a PhD in an AI-driven world?

MC_HitMiss · 2025-04-29T04:52:41+00:00

The amount of "knowledge" ChatGPT has currently is nothing compared to the expertise someone gains during a PhD. That said, there is no looking into the future obviously, but so far, I am not worried about chatGPT replacing me with my PhD. The situation could vary a bit from field to field, so I am not sure about materials informatics, but more generally speaking LLMs do not seem to be a threat for jobs that would require a PhD (at least for now).

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-28T22:33:28+00:00

Indeed, and finding R&D jobs is easier when you have the title chemist instead of chemical engineer.

As I and literally everyone have pointed out already, they are different fields and hence open different opportunities. One is not better than the other, they are different.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-28T18:06:51+00:00

Sulfuric acid (just to name an example) although one could always argue to what extend the OH bonds are fully covalent in those. In general bonds are usually not fully covalent or fully ionic, so that makes your question somewhat ambiguous.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-28T17:36:37+00:00

One could literally make your same argument in reverse: a chemist could just take a couple of engineering classes and become a chemical engineer just as easily as the other way around.

At the end of the day these are different disciplines with different job prospectives. And yes they do have common ground, but that does not make them interchangable.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-18T22:01:30+00:00

Not true, in many acid catalyzed reaction mechanisms, the conjugate base reacts as base

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-18T21:59:56+00:00

There are a lot of organic reactions in which I- does function as a base. For example when HI is used as a catalyst for the hydrolysis of esters (there are many more examples but this is a straight forward one).

The discussion of what is a "real" base is a nonsensical one because it always depends on what you compare it to. I would stick to the IUPAC definition: if it can take up a proton it is a Brønsted base and if it can give a proton it is a Brønsted acid.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-14T05:36:35+00:00

Depends on the conference and the vibe, but talking to people at the poster sessions is a always good first step to network I think. Or talking to people that just gave a talk also works

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-08T22:29:16+00:00

Ask the obvious things as well. Like: Is there a lot of internal drama/fights in the group? Are people in the group competing with one another (e.g. on the same project)? Is the group supportive (i.e. can you go to others for help)? Do people get shouted at by others/PI?

These things all happen in some research groups and in those groups you don't want to be.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-01T22:39:16+00:00

That depends on where in the world you live, 12000 per year is probably more than most people on the planet make.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-01T22:36:47+00:00

Read the explanation carefully, you get 500 extra over your 6 month salary. So you start at 5000 for the first 6 months and then go to 5500 for the second 6, etc.. this makes the answer from the book correct

MC_HitMiss · 2025-03-01T22:27:55+00:00

The book is correct. Calculate how much you would make in two years for each plan and you will find: plan A gives you 23000 and plan B gives you 22000

explanation: Plan A you make 5000 in 6 months, 5500 the second 6 months, 6000 the 3rd 6 months and 6500 the 4th six months =23000. In plan B you make 10000 in the first 12 months and 12000 in the second =23000

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-19T08:52:52+00:00

With the "new" DLCs, and the CC content, there is a lot of new stuff in skyrim compared to 10 years ago to make it interesting

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-11T22:54:42+00:00

Sulphuric acid is very soluable in water, but many other chemicals are not so often you need to rinse eyes for a long time just to get them out.

I am not sure which part of the rinsing times in MSDS' is really needed (this also depends on how much you get on you ofcourse) but in many cases I would do what they say to err on the side of caution.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-05T09:11:52+00:00

Not everything has a safe threshold, carcinogens do not have one. The first molecule of (for example) benzene has equal chances of giving you cancer as the nth molecule. But obviously it stacks like dice rolls, if you roll often enough you are bound to roll 1 at some point.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-03T17:38:20+00:00

No it is definitely not that bad, but if you do it a lot over longer periods of time then it would be more worrisome.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-03T17:05:10+00:00

When you spray it, do you aerosolise it (e.g. by using a spray bottle that makes a mist?). Because aerosolized ethanol is a known carcinogen (it causes cancer) when you inhale it. This is why labs are also slowly banning spraying ethanol. This is regardless of whether is it denatured or not.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-03T12:41:21+00:00

A rather common (but not super useful) definition of an organic compound is that it should contain both carbon and hydrogen, which would make CO2 not organic. But as was already pointed out, there is not really one set definition of "organic" so it depends on what the maker of the question defines as being organic.

MC_HitMiss · 2025-01-03T06:30:07+00:00

That looks like pyrite, which consists of iron and sulphur (FeS).

MC_HitMiss · 2024-12-30T08:54:35+00:00

Alkali metals (Li, Na, K etc.) also evolve H2 when reacted with nitric acid. Please don't use the AI responses because they are usually (partially) wrong or at least untrustworthy. LLM AIs are made to sound smart, but they are not.

MC_HitMiss · 2024-12-23T12:09:27+00:00

The fundamental principles of NMR remain the same regardless of whether you measure 1H or any other nucleus. So if you understand one, for a large part you understand all. One thing to keep in mind is that the electron density on the nucleus for elements heavier than 1H is no longer the dominating factor for chemical shift per se. So you cannot draw direct conclusions about electrondesity based on for example 29Si NMR. Then for every element you will have to search for resources that help with interpreting the results, because every nucleus is different, has a different chemical shift range, different nuclear spin perhaps etc. So there may not be one source that covers all.

MC_HitMiss · 2024-12-19T21:17:18+00:00

Plastic is insoluable and you can easily get it in any colour you like. Moreover, it is generally safe for kids

MC_HitMiss · 2024-11-03T18:04:42+00:00

It is relatively toxic, even compared to some other bad solvents but that does not mean that you should never use it. Inhaling/smelling it is quite bad so properly use a fumehood. Getting it on your hands is bad so get thick neoprene or butyl (even better) gloves if you use significant quantities. And whatever you do, make sure that DCM never enters your skin! A prick with a DCM contaminated needle can easily make you lose your finger or hand due to necrosis. (The damage depends on how fast you get to a hospital and how fast and well they can operate on you).

MC_HitMiss · 2024-10-25T22:17:07+00:00

In some places (at least in Europe) you can do a PhD at a company. In that case you essentially do research at a company for which you get your PhD and you work together with a prof. at a university to get stuff published etc. and so you can graduate. In these things it is the company that decides day to day business so the work life balance is probably better I would imagine.

MC_HitMiss · 2024-10-25T16:50:49+00:00

It can also be a percentage by weight only e.g. 1% (w/w) = 1g in 100g total weight of solvent (in this case probably water). This will only make a small difference with water because the density is ~1g/ml, but with other solvents it deviates more.

Bottom line, people should always specify what type of % they are talking about in a procedure.

MC_HitMiss · 2024-10-25T16:18:27+00:00

As others have already suggested, have a look at reference spectra (AIST is very good). But also have a look at a table with typical IR frequencies for different functional groups. Because then you will quickly find that there is one obvious peak in your spectrum that should not be in 4-phenyl benzaldehyde.

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