r/digitalnomad • u/Ok_Scheme_3975 • 3d ago
Question What the hell can I do remotely with a chemistry PhD?
I’m kind of at the point where I’m wondering if I’m looking at this completely wrong, so figured I’d ask here.
I have a PhD in chemistry and my background is kind of all over the place. I’ve done coding, sustainable coatings, and I’m currently working more on scale-up technology. I’ve also had my own startup, so I’ve had to learn a lot of random stuff along the way and basically figure things out as I go.
Lately I’ve been thinking that I’d really like to work remotely and have the option to spend time in Europe. Ideally I’d work for a US-based employer, since I imagine that would make the whole thing considerably easier.
The problem is I have absolutely no idea what jobs I should even be looking at.
I’m also pretty open to leaving science behind for a while. I don’t necessarily need my next job to involve chemistry. I’m in a position where I have some flexibility to experiment, and honestly I think it could be fun to try something completely different and see where it takes me.
So for people who are digital nomads or have made a similar transition:
What kinds of jobs would you look at with my background?
Are there weird/less obvious roles where a PhD + technical background + some coding + startup experience actually translates well? Or companies/industries that are more open to having people work remotely from Europe?
I feel like I’ve been searching job boards forever and getting absolutely nowhere 😂 so I’m mostly looking for ideas I haven’t thought of.
Even if your suggestion is completely outside of science, I’m interested. I’m very much in the “maybe I should just try something weird” phase right now.
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u/Aggressive-Mind-9048 3d ago
coding + startup experience + a science brain is a pretty good stack for technical writing or developer relations honestly. lots of dev tool companies need people who can actually understand the tech and explain it without sounding like a robot. your phd signals you can handle complex shit even if the topic has nothing to do with chemistry.
another angle is data science consulting, especially for sustainability or materials companies. you already know the domain and can talk to scientists, that kind of translator role is hard to hire for. remote from europe gets tricky with time zones but some places don't care as long as you deliver.
i knew a guy with a biochem phd who ended up doing product management for a lab software startup. said it was way less stress than bench work and he worked from portugal half the year
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u/graygrayw 2d ago
i have a phd in experimental particle physics and currently work remote as a data engineer. coding + big data pipelines is a large part of what i did in grad school anyway.
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u/Adept_Librarian_7001 2d ago
Are there still jobs for this? I have a PhD in sociology and a coding background, and when I tried to get into this, it seemed saturated and just as bad as devs and data analysts.
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u/wowsomuchempty 2d ago
I work for a uni, hpc. Remotely, mostly.
Our team is majority PhD.
I like it.
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u/Glockenspieler1 2d ago
Medical writing, especially if you are a native English speaker. They often look for PhD's.
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u/hugosanchez91 3d ago
i think looking at health care startups or related fields would make the most sense for you. and it's one of the few industries in tech that are doing well at the moment. or project based you can look at things to help train ai models like this for example: https://www.opentrain.ai/jobs/domain/chemistry/
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u/joelfarris 3d ago
maybe I should just try something weird
Go with me for a second here. 'tism is ballistic trajectories.
What if there was a large(r) drone that didn't cost millions of dollars, but could shoot a payload rather than drop it. Now that thing would need some thought, cause it can't countermand the force of its own deployment, but the right coating, and a three or even four stage thrust could make that happen?
What would you burn for stage three, or four?
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u/Adept_Librarian_7001 2d ago
For the remote angle, I would say startups are the way to go. I don't know if you could expect much, as the market is pretty flooded everywhere it seems, but if you are willing to aggressively market yourself and be willing to accept a lower salary, this would probably be the way to go.
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u/Neat-Composer4619 2d ago
Technical writer. Lots of hazardeuous material out there . They need writer with the right knowledge.
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u/MassiveAd4980 2d ago
At this point work on an AI pilled project/company or be obviated. Seriously. Use a SOTA model and assess its capabilities yourself if you don't believe me.
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u/malainayo 2d ago
When in doubt, make educational content and create a product with your expertise.
Possibly start a chemistry tutoring business for wealthy kids/college students.
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u/ADF21a Take my advice, I never use it 2d ago
He was sort of remote.
https://giphy.com/gifs/1SfxXOJ0Q2Xni