I thought that we are slowly getting over the problem of forced labor by analytical chemists. I just read an article from a friend of mine in a German lab magazine that described the day of an analytical chemist as follows:
He comes in in the morning, gets his cup of coffee, then downloads all the analytical results generated automatically in the overlight runs to his computer. He then spends some time going over the data to make sure that everything worked ok. Then he authorizes the data, which are then send automatically back to the investigator in a format that is readable to the run-of-the-mill chemist (as opposed to THE ANALYTICAL CHEMIST).
He looks at the box for the incoming samples. It has not yet filled, since the organic chemists are too slow: they have not yet worked up their overnight syntheses. So he sets up all his instruments to do a few calibration runs and goes to the gym. After the gym, he takes a nap in the company-provided napping room, from where he goes to lunch.
After lunch, the box with the incoming samples has filled up. He separates the samples into different tracks for sample preparation. Then the automated sample preparation routine starts, and he goes to get a cup of coffee. After this, he checks if the sample preparation is complete, and he now distributes the samples to the different analytical instruments, selects the correct method, and then goes back to his desk, while the automated analytical runs are starting up. He goes to his computer and spends the rest of his day brushing up on the latest literature in analytical chemistry, just before retiring to his home for a well deserved quiet evening with the family.
The life of an analytical chemist is wonderful!
PS: I did not translate the article, I just described the general idea.
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