tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post8099005417613712760..comments2024-03-25T09:11:17.877-07:00Comments on The Curious Wavefunction: On being a computational chemist in industryWavefunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-61441344433823907072011-11-18T10:14:45.745-08:002011-11-18T10:14:45.745-08:00I'm late to this, but anyways...
It's not ...I'm late to this, but anyways...<br />It's not so much that the pay for a software job is great in industry (though it ain't bad), but rather the fact that there are many more software jobs than there are modeling jobs. And you don't have to be a genius or devote every waking hour to it, unlike with modeling.Modeler turned programmer.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-74512917182328849082011-10-09T09:22:00.551-07:002011-10-09T09:22:00.551-07:00It is indeed important for the computational chemi...It is indeed important for the computational chemist to be able to speak the language of the medicinal chemist. However, I would say that the language of the medicinal chemist is less about synthesis and more about relationships between molecular structure and activity and properties of compounds. What I believe is vital is that computational chemists be able to tell medicinal chemists something relevant that they don't know about the molecules.<br /><br />It is good to know about synthesis but you will probably be more help to your medicinal chemistry colleagues if you can explain to them why the proposed modification is a good idea than telling them how to do the synthesis. The flip side of the computational chemist telling the medicinal chemist how to make comnpounds is the medicinal chemist that says, "I want you to run this piece of software". My usual response is to ask what they are trying to achieve. I'm certainly happy with MedChem input into the modelling process but I do like what we're trying to get out of it. <br /><br />The relationship between medicinal and computational chemists depends to some extent on organisation. In some places the primary role of computational chemists is to create, customise and maintain tools for the medicinal chemists to use. Other organisations try to integrate the computational chemists into project teams. One particularly extreme situation which existed in a start up (that out of tact I will not name) was that the computational chemists would design and that the medicinal chemists would synthesise. <br /><br />When discussing the relationship between MedChem and the other disciplines, it's worth remembering that many organisations still recruit medicinal chemists primarily on the basis of their sythetic prowess. Given the current state of industrial drug discovery, I think it's perfectly reasonable to question this.Peter Kennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12180360326821860667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-18435701398337338212011-10-08T13:25:11.578-07:002011-10-08T13:25:11.578-07:00This is extremely encouraging and useful for me as...This is extremely encouraging and useful for me as an undergrad who enjoys both computational and organic chemistry. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-19860625335592000752011-10-07T14:30:02.774-07:002011-10-07T14:30:02.774-07:00"...work for a software company with its high..."...work for a software company with its higher salaries." Must be some kind of parallel universe. Is this the one where Spock has a beard?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-77305808059658305322011-10-07T08:04:37.742-07:002011-10-07T08:04:37.742-07:00You are absolutely right. Someone with strong prog...You are absolutely right. Someone with strong programming skills might just prefer to work for a software company with its higher salaries, especially in this climate. This can only have a negative impact on other modelers in pharma since they will now be lacking the presence of a strong developer who writes software, something that they themselves are ill-equipped for. Good luck in your job search!Wavefunctionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-23671541934743860122011-10-07T07:33:35.505-07:002011-10-07T07:33:35.505-07:00Currently looking for the job in San Diego region,...Currently looking for the job in San Diego region, and can say that is hard to find application scientist modeller work. 90% of the job market is hard-work method development with quit strong requiments. I always looking on them I wondering - Guys! with this requirments any molmod chemist will work for any software company and recieve 2-3 times more. And yes, agree that the is still gap between wet-lab and modeling people.Vladimir Chupakhinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14838130425318070954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-63410271901648857582011-10-07T07:11:16.233-07:002011-10-07T07:11:16.233-07:00Thanks, appended.Thanks, appended.Wavefunctionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9633767.post-25361757730038020672011-10-07T07:10:09.045-07:002011-10-07T07:10:09.045-07:00N.B. *Lisa Balbes* interviewed a computational che...N.B. *Lisa Balbes* interviewed a computational chemist, not me.Chemjobberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15932113680515602275noreply@blogger.com