What Is Research? - Unlocking Career of a Researcher with Anna Libman
- katerinabiryukova
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Have you ever wondered what real-life research looks like?
Holding a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Anna Libman is currently a postdoctoral researcher based at Rice University. Her long years and dedication to research have not only brought her deep expertise in organic synthesis and publications in prestigious journals like the Journal of the American Chemical Society, but also a profound understanding of the ins and outs of this profession. Read on to discover how does research work and what was Anna’s personal journey to success.
This interview is divided into three sections: Organic Chemistry, Research Career and Personal Thoughts & Reflections. After this, we will wrap up with a brief conclusion and outlook of the future of research.
Organic Chemistry
How did you get into Organic Chemistry and research?
Initially, I was very interested in peptides and wanted to go into Biochemistry, which connects chemistry and biology by studying chemical processes in biological environments. Yet, I realized that chemistry speaks to me more.
During my bachelor’s degree I wasn’t impressed with chemistry and wanted to quit. However, when I stepped into research, doing actual experiments and solving problems this way, I fell in love with it and pursued it with my further studies.
Can you broadly describe what organic chemistry is?
We try to activate molecules inside that are usually not active – this is the goal of organic chemistry. We try to make a reaction with as few steps as we can, with the least amount of catalyst that we can.
In the 1950s and 60s, they used toxic reagents, but right now the goal is as safe and as green as possible. The industry wants stuff that makes principles of green chemistry.
What are current innovations in organic chemistry?
A hot topic is metal catalysis. Also, photo catalysis in which all you need to do is use light. You can simply use sunlight for this. Another potential advancement is the use of AI - this would make chemistry more precise.
Can we observe Organic Chemistry in everyday life?
Of course! Batteries, cleaners – they always have some sort of reaction. Medicine inside the body is also chemistry.
Research Career
What is the profession of a researcher like?
Research is competitive, both within and outside your institution, and you may be disrespected.
In your group, as in many other fields, you have a partner. The naming in papers is challenging and can create conflicts. If you worker hard on something, you want to put your name first, but your mentor would also want to take credit.
In order to stand out from other groups for publications, you have to get accepted, you have to have good ideas.
Apart from competition, are there any other challenges in research?
The problem is if your initial hypothesis doesn’t match the result. In reality, it doesn’t work. You cannot account for all factors, and Chat GPT won’t know the outcome because you cannot predict it. So, then you do “Retour science” - explain the science behind what you got.
Also, industry is based on mechanism; you cannot always use what you use in a science lab. For example, you cannot use certain solvents that aren’t environmentally friendly. In industry, they need principles to fit their needs & ability to scale them up.
Could you explain the specific things in organic chemistry that you research?
In the lab where I did my PhD, we wanted to understand the mechanisms of reactions – not only end goal, but what is going on inside the catalysis. During my PhD, we used metal catalysis to get compounds and studied the mechanism of that reaction.
Then, I studied peptides that contain more than 3 amino acids and tried to activate them using metal catalysis. These peptides are product basis for lots of drugs. Again, we wanted to know how to get to the end goal, what was the mechanism?
How do researchers determine what things to investigate?
Each student has a mentor or principal investigator who has a lab based on a specific subject, which is narrower than Organic Chemistry itself, like metal catalysis or peptides. The mentor or principal investigator are the ones who give you the subject. Or, in PhD and post-doc, if you have a good idea, you can use it.
What is the step-by-step process of research?
I will answer this question using what I did in my PhD.
First, we try to activate a molecule in 1 step – this is called direct approach. This is something that hasn’t been done before you. You need to read lots of literature. For the reaction, you need energy and a catalyst. You have to think based on what you know and read to figure out which catalyst to do the reaction with. Personally, we tried 100 catalysts to try to make the reaction. And this isn’t even the biggest number, some people use more!
Then you get a very low yield.
You start exploring different temperatures, solvents, additives – components that you can change to make the process faster, more efficient.
You try other compounds to make sure that the reaction is general. You need to understand the scope of your reaction (the variety of compounds that work with it) because if you get a very specific reaction for a very specific compound, it will not be useful.
Then you add everything together. In my case, we also used Physical Chemistry to quantify the observations: the time, speed, how the catalyst works with a compound.
You write the paper and put data there. But you also have to find a selling angle that is going to be approachable to lots of people, so that your paper is appeasing to publications.
Then there is peer review and review by other principal investigators that worked on the publication.
You go to the highest-ranking journals with your paper because, of course, you want your paper to be valued higher. If you do not get accepted, you go lower and lower-ranking journals.
Personal Thoughts & Reflections
What is your favorite thing about your job, or can you remember any favorite moments during your career as a researcher?
My favorite moment is the happiness that you can’t explain in words when something works. It is very satisfying because it is something you thought about. And to me, it happened multiple times during the project.
What does Anna say about Material Science and Engineering?
I really do not know much about Material Science and Engineering because I have a degree in Organic Chemistry, which is quite a different field. We look at individual molecules and their reactions, while material scientists consider materials as a whole. However, I think that Material Science is very important now, especially with the global goal of sustainability and creating bio-friendly materials.
Conclusion
Organic Chemistry is definitely a crucial, not to mention fascinating field of research – and Anna Libman can agree. She has been particularly captivated by the mechanisms of metal catalysis, which was the topic of her PhD paper. Anna has shared insights into the competitiveness of the research profession, the ambiguity of results, and the details of completing a research project, from finding the right catalysts to publishing. She left off with a bright note about discovery, and this is what research is all about. Whenever studying individual molecules or testing the material as a whole, uncovering the secrets of science is exhilarating!
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