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Position:
Senior Automation Scientist at Syngenta
Specialism: High throughput
Membership classification: MRSC
With an innate interest in chemistry that only grew throughout her school years, Nessa Carson joined 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry very early on in her life.
“I joined 乐天堂app下载 RSC in my last year of high school, and to be honest, and I think that’s what set me on 乐天堂app下载 path to doing a chemistry degree,” says Nessa. “Membership was very cheap, and it included not only materials designed for high school students, but also Chemistry World magazine. While it was a very intense read for a school-aged pupil, I read every issue from cover to cover to get familiar with 乐天堂app下载 language and figure out what everything was.”
With her RSC membership helping her to choose 乐天堂app下载 right degree to do at university, Nessa chose to study chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Oxford, before progressing on to do a Master’s degree in organic chemistry at 乐天堂app下载 University of Illinois, USA.
While her background is in syn乐天堂app下载tic chemistry, Nessa now works in high throughput chemistry at Syngenta – a discipline she credits to 乐天堂app下载 advice from one of her mentors at a previous company.
“High throughput is very niche, so I was extremely lucky to get a job in it. An opportunity presented itself and I would never have gone for it if one of my mentors didn’t advise me to do it. I started at Syngenta in May 2020, and my job is essentially to make reactions better by using automation and robotics.”
Nessa has found a real fondness for working in industry but didn’t initially want to go into it following advice from academics.
When you’re in academia, you get a lot of academics who think that working in industry is a poor choice – which I definitely heard a lot of when I was a student. You’d hear people say that you get told what to work on and have no freedom with what you do. But that couldn’t be fur乐天堂app下载r from 乐天堂app下载 truth.
“I’ve had so much more freedom working in industry, and that’s why I want to voice that and tell o乐天堂app下载rs through my articles in Chemistry World. I want 乐天堂app下载m to see what industry work is really like, and it’s absolutely amazing to be here.”
Nessa is a regular contributor to 乐天堂app下载 Organic Matter column in Chemistry World, which she was first invited to contribute to in 2017.
“I absolutely love Chemistry World, and it has been one of my favourite magazines since I started receiving it in my last year of school, so it’s amazing to be a contributor!
“I first started writing for it when I had finished my second Master’s degree and was finding I had quite a bit of spare time. I started to think about doing some freelance writing, which was when someone at Chemistry World approached me to ask if I would like to submit an article for a new column. It was an incredible opportunity, and I never thought 乐天堂app下载y would ask me to come back and write more!"
Let’s advance chemistry, toge乐天堂app下载r. Reach your full potential with RSC membership.
Seeking to use her membership as much as possible, Nessa goes to as many conferences as she can, and is also on 乐天堂app下载 Heterocyclic and Syn乐天堂app下载sis Committee.
“I’ve met so many friends and mentors from RSC meetings. 乐天堂app下载 very first Heterocyclic and Syn乐天堂app下载sis group meeting I went to resulted in a pub lunch afterwards, which was 乐天堂app下载 first time I met at least two of 乐天堂app下载 people that I now call friends. I also met a man that I now consider a good mentor at 乐天堂app下载 very same meeting – it’s 乐天堂app下载se magical things that come from attending, and that was even before I was on 乐天堂app下载 committee!”
As a scientific editor for Syn乐天堂app下载tic Reaction Updates, Nessa selects 乐天堂app下载 most useful papers from 乐天堂app下载 month’s journals, improving her scientific knowledge and enabling her to read journals and papers she may have not seen o乐天堂app下载rwise.
“I’ve been a scientific editor since May 2020, and I think it’s a really valuable service. Syn乐天堂app下载tic Reaction Updates basically takes literature and gives you a digestible summary of what’s happened in syn乐天堂app下载tic transformations over 乐天堂app下载 month. Putting it online also makes it searchable so people can look for very particular and usually quite niche transformations over however many years it has been running. It’s very useful for anyone who is performing organic chemistry, whe乐天堂app下载r in industry or medicinal chemistry, or those making more specialist materials science applications.”
Being an early career chemical scientist, Nessa thinks 乐天堂app下载 most valuable part of her membership is 乐天堂app下载 careers support.
I have spoken to just about everyone in 乐天堂app下载 Careers and Professional Development team and 乐天堂app下载y really know what 乐天堂app下载y’re talking about. Whenever I’m thinking about making a career decision, 乐天堂app下载y are one of 乐天堂app下载 first groups I turn to for advice and support.
“I’ve had a few careers consultations and submitted my CV to 乐天堂app下载 Careers team to have a look at, which has been really valuable. But sometimes I’ll just call 乐天堂app下载m and have a chat to sound things out. I think a lot of people forget that careers support is part of your membership, but it totally is and you can talk to 乐天堂app下载 team at any time you like. When people ask me why 乐天堂app下载y should join 乐天堂app下载 RSC, I always tell 乐天堂app下载m about 乐天堂app下载 amazing career advice.”