I have a PhD in Chemistry

These days, I work with websites but before that I studied chemistry and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for many years. In fact, I have a PhD in organic chemistry¹ from the University of Bath.

• My PhD was called The Synthesis of Endothiopeptides² and I completed it in 1984.
• My chemistry studies were based in a laboratory - a very hands-on practical experience.

I spent three years at Bath. Working in the Department of Chemistry. Learning more about organic chemistry. Living in cheap, shared, student houses. It was my main experience³ of student life.

Looking back on my time in chemistry, I loved it and I think I was moderately successful – although I didn't reach the very top.

Independence

Recently, I've been thinking about why I liked it so much and one reason is that I was completely independent and was able to control my own 'destiny'. That sounds a bit corny and, clearly, my supervisors at Bath (Professor Malcolm M. Campbell and Dr David W. Brown), and many other people, gave me a lot of direction and deserve a huge amount of credit. I'm very appreciative of that support and the faith that they showed in me.

In some ways, that's also why I like working as a freelance web developer. Independence means a lot.

Back to chemistry, I spent three great years⁴ at Bath and it was a defining period for me. Career-wise, it gave me a step up and I went on to carry out further organic chemistry research at a post-doctoral level (that's another story). Subsequently, I had a career with a large pharmaceutical company.

Why did I change career?! And how did I end up working as a web developer? Well, things change. You can't work in a laboratory for ever. But that's a tale for another day...