Take your love for chemistry to the next level: What career paths to consider in the chemistry field?

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Chemistry is present in everything that surrounds us. This makes it one of the most interesting sciences, as it is fundamental and plays an active role in our lives. You will discover chemical reactions in health, food, clothing, energy, soil, and water. Hence, studying chemistry will prepare you for the real world. Chemistry can help improve some of the challenges of agriculture, healthcare, and the environment, as it can lead to discoveries that will enhance the quality of life for anyone.

Additionally, chemistry can create new medicines and find cures for diseases. A good knowledge of chemistry will help you understand the world better. And as chemistry surrounds us in so many areas, there are multiple career paths you can consider if you love this science. We have prepared a list of some of these careers in this article, so keep reading to find out more. 

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Research chemist

A research chemist specializes in the study of chemistry, more specifically, in chemical processes, compounds, and formulas. They can describe the chemical formulas found in beverages, medical prescriptions, cosmetics, and food, and the list can continue. Additionally, they conduct experiments, study products to improve them, or test chemical reactions. In these operations, they perform tests and analyze chemical samples to discover if they have health impacts or safety concerns. 

A research chemist should have some imperative skills, such as good analytics, procedural skills, sample preparation, data analysis, and a great knowledge of chemistry. They need chemistry skills to understand product properties, structure, and composition. In this way, they will see how chemical reactions interact and if any chemicals negatively affect the animal or human body. Luckily, there are many ways to improve your chemistry knowledge, including attending online chemistry classes. In this way, anyone can enhance their understanding of chemistry and take the first steps towards embracing a career as a research chemist. 

Laboratory Analysts

Chemistry is also used in the pharmaceutical industry, where laboratory analysts need to have a good chemistry level. A laboratory analyst performs scientific and technical tests in laboratories, such as analyzing and testing samples and specimens. However, the job of a laboratory analyst differs depending on each type of laboratory. For example, laboratory analysts could test the quality of products to see if they can be used for patients. Other duties could include monitoring progress in testing or maintaining the testing equipment in a good state. 

Chemical engineer

A chemical engineer applies many principles from biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics to design or improve products or processes involving chemical reactions. Chemical engineers can work in plenty of industries, such as pharmaceuticals, environment engineering, manufacturing, energy production, food and beverage, and more. 

Chemical engineers must design or optimize all the manufacturing product processes to improve equipment pieces while considering safety and environmentally friendly factors. They also apply the principles of chemistry to change the state of substances and matter and turn them into something else. 

They are also responsible for designing new solutions for finer medical devices, cleaner energy, less pollution, and safer drinking water. Chemical engineers can also come up with answers to the present problems that the environment is dealing with, like pollution, that can pose problems to the well-being and health of the entire population. 

Chemistry teacher

Being a chemistry teacher can also be a great job for pursuing your love for chemistry. It is a diverse and rewarding job, as you can interact with creative minds and let them learn new information that could change their perception of the world. A chemistry teacher will help their students grasp concepts and principles from chemistry while offering real-life examples to help them understand better. They can also be the ones who make a student passionate about the chemistry field and inspire them to follow a higher education in chemistry. 

Chemistry teachers must plan lessons, make experiments with children, mark exams and assessments, supervise the participation of all children in the class, and even organize education school trips. 

Food chemist

Food chemistry can also be a good career, especially if you are a gourmand. In this way, you will mix your passion for chemistry with your love for food, which can result in an extraordinary fusion. Food chemists need to study all the reactions during cooking, analyze ingredients, and find solutions to improve textures, flavors, or nutritional value. They are the ones who look into the molecular structures to get a better insight into everything that happens and influences taste. 

Food chemists also have much to do with food safety, as they must ensure that the products align with the regulatory standards. 

Pharmaceutical scientist

A good knowledge of chemistry can also help if you want to become a pharmaceutical scientist and come up with new solutions needed in medications that improve healthcare. Pharmaceutical scientists need to analyze the molecular structures to formulate new drugs that will enhance the well-being of patients and relieve ailments. This is an amazing job because pharmaceutical scientists can make important discoveries that will change some things in the medical field forever. 

Chemistry is an amazing discipline in our everyday lives, so it is necessary to have a good understanding of it to better perceive the world we live in. If you want to take your love for chemistry to the next level, you can also consider a career in chemistry to do something you really enjoy. 

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