Professional Development Experience for Chemistry Majors @ Newcastle University

Year 4 students led us for a campus tour and told us a lot about the history of the Chemistry Department at Newcastle University

Dr Mike Probert explained to us on how to research on structure/property correlations of molecular systems under extreme conditions, such as phase changes under extreme temperature and pressure.  

Reflections 🙋 On being a HK citizen ... " The efforts put into conservation work in Newcastle is much more than that in Hong Kong as the British treasure their history and realize the fact that demolition of buildings is irreversible. Hong Kong removes lots of old buildings with historical values and replaced them with modern plaza or commercial building. We may have to re-think on our attitudes towards conservation." Raina "I found out that the nature of industries are very different in the UK comparing to HK , large scale manufacturing is common in the UK but not in HK. Also, heavy industries are seen in the UK but not in HK." Watson  " Hong Kong is not really a good place for science students to develop their career in field related to science.  Not much funding and support were given by the government. Science-related jobs are not popular in Hong Kong. Lots of talented people ...

  "Selling Point" in job hunting " I believe my advantage lies not only on one trait, but my skillset as a whole. I possess not only chemical knowledge , but also the ability in  logical thinking, analysis and mathematical skills ... I am fairly familiar with everyday culture in western countries. This is quite an advantage when working in international firms or working overseas, as this would allow me to better understand and communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds ." Thomas  " I think my advantage is flexibility that I can adapt to a new environment easily . Plans can never keep up with changes so adjust yourselves quickly is always required in workplace. I am also able to improvise quickly according to situations . There're always unpredictable problems. There's no better way to deal with them than reacting quickly and do what's necessary in a swift manner."   Raina " HKU provides lots of o...

Chemical Principles ⇆ Industry & Corporations " Unlike research labs in university, where often expensive instruments are required to take very precise instruments, profit-driven corporations would use much simpler and faster methods, often mechanical, to achieve the same target. This demonstrates the discrepancy between theoretical and practical work, where the latter values price and speed over extreme precision. Thomas  "The visits to different firms have offered me a lot of insights about chemistry-related occupations. Before coming to the UK, I had always considered being a Chemistry teacher in the future. There are too few opportunities for Chemistry graduates to utilize their talents in Hong Kong. However, after the two industry visits, I realized that we could take up a variety of positions in chemical companies. We could either be an R&D Department Manager or a sales representative." Adrian " Surface science plays an important role...

Similarity and Difference in learning chemistry... Similarity 🤔 “The lecturers use PowerPoint slides to aid their teaching and require students to look at the related literatures after class for further understanding on some points.” Raina "I found that the learning environment is slightly similar between the UK and Hong Kong. For most of the time, the teaching methods and environments were almost identical to HKU. The lecturers used PowerPoint presentations to assist with their teaching and attempted to engage the students as much as possible through questions and discussions ."    Ashley   CV Workshop by Ms. Helen Atkinson Difference 🤔 " Students at Newcastle U are more willing to ask questions in class while HKU’s students prefer asking questions after class …lab classes schedules at Newcastle U are longer … students are given hands-on experience on doing more complicated experiments ."  Raina ...

Economy & Chemistry in the United Kingdom... " Here at Newcastle, often times we hear about how a small project have received support from the university and went on to build their own R&D/product startup . We have also seen how companies collaborate with the university for product research. It seems very new to me personally, since I have never seen the School of Chemistry working on a project with external projects." "there are still relevant key industries nowadays in the UK: construction, oil and gas, healthcare, manufacturing.  Chemistry plays a key role in the research and product development of these industries ." Carmen  Lecture by Dr. Andrew Pike   "Other than business, the manufacturing sector like pharmaceuticals and chemicals, contribute much in UK's GDP, to. Within this region (Newcastle), chemistry graduates participate a lot in research and development and also production. As the job's...

We visited the Roger Griffin Molecular Graphics Suites. It is a facility to help chemists to visualise  targets, discover chemical leads and optimise them towards drug molecules.

https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/documents/booklets/JobChemistry_2017.pdf This booklet is produced by the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office

Internationalization Chemistry/your studies is so much bigger than Hong Kong! Professional development What do careers for chemistry majors look like? What are employers looking for? How can students recognize their strengths and weaknesses and take hold of opportunities to develop their qualities? How do chemistry major students apply what they have learned? How adaptable are students to new environments and demands? Improve fluency in English and communications in the chemistry context English is undeniably the language of the chemical world Employability increases with English skills

Sunday 14 th October Arrival in Newcastle and check into apartments. Monday 15 th October Welcome - Dr Andrew Pike , Senior Lecturer in Chemical Nanoscience Chemistry and Campus tours with Student Ambassadors (Katy, Jess, Nathan, Matthew) Lunch with Student Ambassadors Chemistry in Education and Outreach – Dr Peter Hoare , Faculty Outreach Officer  Tuesday 16 th October CV workshop – Helen Atkinson , Newcastle University, Careers Service LinkedIn Profiles- Networking and Contact building - Dr Andrew Pike Stage 4 UG lecture on “Chemical Structure and Dynamics” – Dr Michael Probert   Research Seminar - Professor Anthony Meijer & Professor Martin McCoustra Sheffield University/ Heriot-Watt University  Wednesday 17 th October Company presentation from QuantumDx Group Ltd – Stuart Oram “ Go Abroad- the Passport to Career Success” – Helen Atkinson Research Lab visits  “China Career Gateway -6 things y...