Nessa Carson
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
OpinionWorking in the chemical industries, plural
Despite often being presented as a monolith, there’s a huge variety of activities, working practices and reaction scales across industrial research
OpinionInertia, decisions and robots
Our cognitive biases can make it difficult to choose what’s best for science
OpinionExploring new fragments of chemical space
How medicinal and process chemists are working together to build better drugs
OpinionBeyond the ChatGPT hype
Large language models can be powerful tools for chemistry if we acknowledge their limits
OpinionOrganic chemists should place their trust in machine learning’s black box
Submitting to the higher power of abstraction can strengthen our insights
FeatureHow to automate your lab
Whether it’s robots, automation or software hacks, Nessa Carson finds ways for everyone to improve how they work in the lab
OpinionCurating data into pictures has nuances that are easy to overlook
But there are ways to balance the benefits of holistic data without causing information overload
OpinionIntegrating coding into chemistry helps science progress faster
Taking a beginner Python programming course can lead to big efficiency gains
OpinionBuilding data systems to break down research silos
Shared schemas could make it a lot easier for researchers to cross discipline boundaries
OpinionThe career importance of community service work
Community work enhances a scientist’s skills, whatever career stage they’re at
OpinionTake nobody’s word for it
Sceptic communities should question their own biases toward peer review
OpinionMaintaining motivation
Competition might work in the short term, but a supportive environment produces more sustainable results
OpinionEnabling environments support the development of diverse teams
A great workplace allows individuals to be constrained only by the limits of their own minds
OpinionOnline conferences have benefits worth retaining
Nothing’s quite the same as a scientific meeting
OpinionAm I really a scientist?
Whether in a lab, an office or on a stage, we are no strangers to wrestling with self-identity
