@bethanyhalford.bsky.social followed 3 students' grad school application journeys for @cenmag.bsky.social and...yikes, it's brutal out there. cen.acs.org/education/gr...

this is by far the most discouraging thing I’ve faced.. so many students that are so bright and dying to go to grad school, have internships, BE scientists and there’s just nothing. I used to say that I loved chem so much because you learn how the world works- maybe too true these days

It’s a bad situation and I hope it can be reversed, but it’s hard to see how. The current administration is doing so much damage to the whole apparatus of scientific research

Canada remains an option for these students. We are probably too late for a September 2026 start, but most of us do rolling starts and admissions, and for example, I will be admitting (and am still looking for) students for January 2027 and May 2027 starts.

Thanks to @bethanyhalford.bsky.social for outlining the challenges right now with PhD programs across the board - and to everyone else who commented. And yes, we will be taking applications to our master's program @pittchemistry.bsky.social - we hope it can help #chemsky

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

Green with envy or green with algae? Writing for @cenmag.bsky.social, editorial fellow @theanageorgescu.bsky.social (with an assist from @bribarbu.bsky.social) goes deep on the chemistry of the reflecting pool. #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/environment/...

Time for some #FridayFun! For the latest #Newscripts column in @cenmag.bsky.social, @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social writes about two chemistry icons: Coca-Cola and Morty McPestle. #chemsky cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Another very cool story: labor appears to start because of a drop in NAD+ in the placenta, which alters prostaglandin signaling. @bethanyhalford.bsky.social follows from metabolomics > redox enzymology > therapeutic hypothesis cen.acs.org/biological-c...

I've got another chemistry article about football/soccer as the #WorldCup is about to start. This one's about the biochemistry that fuels athletes. #chemsky🧪 cen.acs.org/biological-c...

The #WorldCup starts this week. Check out Prachi Patel's feature on the evolution of the football for @cenmag.bsky.social. It's a real kick! cen.acs.org/materials/ho...

Great quotes, as usual, from Phil Baran, who described his lab's latest reaction to me as "absurd." Read about how radicals meet in a cage match (my original headline) in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/synthesis/ab...

Read about these inspiring scientists and their work. #CENT12

If I won the lottery I wouldn’t tell any one but you might notice I’ve bought enough molymods to build molecules like this.

Honestly look at this molecule—it’s ridiculous

Biocatalysts can build big molecules. A team at Merck & Co. developed a suite of enzymes that stitch together their oral PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky

Looking for some #FridayFun? I highly recommend @mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social's #Newscripts column in @cenmag.bsky.social. It's full of data delights. #chemsky cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Turning nitroarenes into aromatic amines is a bread-and-butter organic chemistry reaction. But lots of these methods have drawbacks. A new reaction from P. Andrew Evans and Gregory Jerkiewicz sidesteps many of those. My latest in @cenmag.bsky.social. #chemsky #chemchat cen.acs.org/synthesis/re...

Molecules are full of surprises. Scientists made two molecular tweaks to a long-abandoned opioid and created a promising new compound. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

Here's some reading to enjoy with a G&T: @oconnorlab.bsky.social spoke at an #ACSSpring2026 virtual symposium this morning about the lab's work figuring out how cinchona plants make quinine and other cinchona alkaloids. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Must be #PiDay

Looking for some #FridayFun? In the latest #Newscripts for @cenmag.bsky.social, Prachi Patel tells tales of two crystals. cen.acs.org/materials/Gr...

I named 28/118 elements in the Periodic Table Minute Challenge on C&EN! Can you beat my score? cen.acs.org/education/sc...

muse-scripts for this month courtesy of yours truly! these protein names have fascinated me since high school so it was a total blast to investigate them : )

Looking for some #FridayFun? In the latest #Newscripts column for @cenmag.bsky.social, @sarahbraner.bsky.social leans into some science-music mashups. #chemsky #chemchat cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Fleet fingered element lovers, it's time to take C&EN’s periodic table challenge. Can you beat my score? 28 on Minute Challenge #chemsky cen.acs.org/education/sc...

Move over, cyclopentadiene anion. Working independently, Takeaki Iwamoto's group and David Scheschkewitz's group synthesized a five-membered aromatic silicon ring. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky cen.acs.org/materials/in...

Thanks for sharing! ❤️ I'm saving this to share with my Chem 1 students tomorrow.

I'll admit it. I don't follow football. But @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social's story about the gloves football players wear for @cenmag.bsky.social is positively gripping. #chemsky cen.acs.org/materials/po...

Matt's team did a great job. It would be great for the private (pharma) and public (academic) sectors to share similar (unpublished studies). These data exist but unfortunately languish on shelves because most want to publish positive outcomes.

Many years ago when I was a graduate student doing medchem, compounds would languish in our freezers after testing. Chemists in Matthew Todd's group are looking to make better use of such molecules. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social. #chemsky cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

Mike McCoy and I wrote this explainer for @cenmag.bsky.social about cereulide, the toxic compound that recently led Nestle to recall infant formula in 50 countries. The molecule's resilience is terrifying. cen.acs.org/safety/consu...

I'd like to chat with people who have applied for grad school in chem or biochem for fall 2026 for an article in C&EN (@cenmag.bsky.social) about how funding changes in the US are impacting admissions. If this is you, please fill out this form. forms.office.com/r/5xUxaqEnfX #chemsky #chemchat

Sensory overload: In the latest #Newscripts for @cenmag.bsky.social, @bribarbu.bsky.social explores scratch-and-sniff stamps and "deliciously unhinged" lickable wrapping paper. cen.acs.org/business/con...

Good morning. Do you want a feel-good story about ingenuity and a determined graduate student cracking a decades-old total synthesis problem? If yes, @bethanyhalford.bsky.social spins a yarn you may enjoy. cen.acs.org/biological-c...

A fun total synthesis paper from Karl Scheidt's group that reaches back almost 30 years. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Synthetic chemists breaking into the analytical chemists' labs at night to use their instruments without knowing what they are doing:

Only 8 days left to nominate a stellar early-career molecular scientist for @cenmag.bsky.social's Talented 12. I'd love to see more folks from industry in our nominations pool. Link to the nomination form here: cen.acs.org/sections/nom... #chemsky #chemchat

Who out there likes to look at small molecule #drugs? You can explore all the ones FDA approved in 2025 using this interactive table in @cenmag.bsky.social (made by Shea Murphy): cen.acs.org/sections/dru... #chemsky

Check out the excellent interactive table (made by Seamus Murphy) in my feature for @cenmag.bsky.social about the new molecular entities FDA approved in 2025. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

The end of the year is a great time to boost your colleagues. If you know an amazing early-career* chemist or biochemist doing creative work on important problems, please consider nominating them to the Chemical & Engineering News Talented 12 class of 2026? cen.acs.org/sections/tal...

Fire starters, 400,000-year-old twisted fire starters... @bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky 🧪 cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

I’m very glad I got to write about 28 Years Later for @cenmag.bsky.social just in time for the Jan release of the next chapter 😆

Looking for a fun read? For the December #Newscripts in @cenmag.bsky.social, Fionna Samuels (@fmorningstar.bsky.social) took a look at the chemistry of two pop culture moments from the past year: An exoplosive scene in 20 Years Later and the GBBO sugar dome disaster cen.acs.org/education/sc...

So, remember that MAHA summit 2 weeks ago that @statnews.com broke the news of and @maxkozlov.bsky.social somehow got into for Nature, even though it was closed to the press? The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week. cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...

Do you have recipe books with annotations and stains on the most popular pages? Me too, and so does the University of Manchester. Except their recipe books are medieval medical manuals. @bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social 🧪 #chemsky cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Just as the page of a preferred pie crust recipe bears traces of flour and butter, the pages of two German medical manuals from 1531 hold traces of the ingredients used by medicine makers, a proteomic analysis from @stefanhanss.bsky.social and coworkers reveals cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Bitopertin was once a failed drug candidate gathering dust in Roche's portfolio. Thanks to work from Disc Medicine, FDA could soon approve it to treat a rare blood disorder. Read @rowanwalrath.bsky.social's excellent story in @cenmag.bsky.social.

Monet, Munch, and Pissarro all used emerald green paint made from copper acetoarsenite pigment. Chemists have discovered that this pigment breaks down via two distinct chemical pathways. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/analytical-c...