Syntetik TOM

 It is Saturday, Dec. 18, day after the last group meeting of 2021. On Friday, we exchanged few small Christmas presents as SUGAR&INI research group. The message reads this:  Dear all, thank you so much for your Christmas presents! Especially , I thank you all for your dedicated work on the projects, for your creativity,  dedication and enthusiasm,  for your excellent team work and endurance in these uneasy times.  I wish you all health, happiness and success in the coming year. Alla It just warmed my heart. It is good to know, you work under the supervision of somebody, that cares and appreciate your efforts. What a feeling! It really did excite me for the upcoming year 2022. 👦💨✌ Merry Christmas, everyone (and chemists especially)!

 As a synthetic organic chemist, I spend hours and hours in the lab performing experiments. Another chunk of my time is spent by the computer to analyze the data, writing reports, presentations, networking with other scientists, that may turn out to be my future colaborators and dear life-long friends. A week has 7 days, but spending them all in work are debilitating (I did this for 2,5 weeks in a row at my first employer, just to see how it feels). I found myself to be less creative and uninventive, working more in a robotic fashion.  As we speak more openly and more often about the work-life balance, I appreciate having weekends off. I love Saturdays especially. I call it a day for a trip or as I would tell Anetka, our 2 year-old daughter "Ideme na výlet". It is the time, when I can solely spend valuable moments with my daughter. Although, she is still unable to understand things I say, I can sense, she enjoys me talking to her ... and who knows, perhaps she actually gets s

 It has been a while since I posted on my blog. Early this year I set up some goals to reach by The end of The year 2021. Major one was to present at ACS Fall 2021 Conference in Atlanta, US.  Although I could not travel to Atlanta, I shared my results with a carbohydrate community. Surely, lots of things had to be finished in order to have a sufficient material to present. So, starting with May 2021, I fell into a lab rat mode - doing my best during regular 6:50 - 16:30 synthetic lab time followed by NMR checks, data updates, presentation preparations etc, after kids were sound asleep. At The end I did have enough material to confidently share my work. Brat in mind, that I am in 1,5 yrs of PhD program with 2,5 months gone from The lab due to COVID-19 with additional compulsary shift schedule ... Two weeks prior to conference, I Went on to slides’ preparation.

 Covid year 2020 was followed by lockdown here and there in the first third of 2021. First Shifts that robbed us off our precious time. Then luckily antigen testing at BOKU allowed us to not be restricted to any shift system but we could work freely with FFP2 masks distanced apart.  Honestly for the past 2 months I have not felt any restrictions which I very much appreciate. Now, of we under attack of covid mutations, all these precautionary matters should us safe and productive. My wish is that everyone gets vaccinated and use common sense, so our economy and social life can be fully restored in near future. Stay safe - stay healthy! 😷🤗

 One thing that helps me since MSc. studies is to plan my work ahead.  Part of my Fridays’ schedules is taken by weekly planning , when I forsee all the reactions, column separations, NMR measurements, meetings, literature reading sections etc. Weekly planning is usually quick.  Daily planning , on the other hand, is more specific and takes more time. Afternoon before, I calculate all the reagents’ ammounts needed, check my dry solvents and do a bit of mental exercise, when I imagine the procese of running the reaction in great detail. You know, once you put all in, reaction clock is ticking! I picture my reaction ahead of time in my mind. Many times, have I realized that procedure could be improved or found mistake in a protocol, I was “almost blindly” following. Picture your day in my mind so your work does not go wasted!  Here is a helpful material for synthetic chemists.

 Global COVID-19 pandemic turned our attention to scientific solutions. This saved milions of lives and will continue to save many. As the societies went into multiple lockdowns, economy got hurt. There is a saying "What does not kill you, will make you stronger". Well, it seems that EU countries more or less survived and their economies are to be built back again within next few years.  What can I do about it as a chemist? Work harder and smarter! Many had been taking "time-off" and misusing this time. As an organic chemist, I spent 2.5 months of spring 2020 lockdown doing extensive literature search for my project. I was reviewing plethora of synthetic papers. On top of that, I participated in biotechnology learning platform Lifbee academy in  order to learn new skills. Honestly, I worked harder than before. Sure, I missed lab bench, performing manual synthesis ... nevertheless ... those days were not wasted, but invested in, as I see it. Prior to pandemic, we had