Nanochemistry Toolbox

"To succeed in a given task, must take advantage of the tools." - a Chinese proverb recounted by Raphael Tsu in his book "Superlattice to Nanoelectronics."


Scroll down through the following topics:

Research Ethics,

Experimental Techniques,

Software,

Writing,

Proposal-writing,

Databases,

Applets,

Website-building,

Open Access,

Crystallography and Structure,

Online Seminar Series,

Motivation and Resilience.

Research Ethics

Experimental techniques

Software

  • ImageJ and/or Fiji (I use it for analysis of transmission electron microscopy images of nanoparticles. For the description of the "thresholding method" of size determination using ImageJ see paper 1, and for the detailed examination of the method see paper 2 (open access));

  • Feedly (RSS feed reader, I use it to keep up with the latest published articles in ACS, RSC, Wiley, etc.);

  • MagicPlot (affordable alternative to OriginLab, thanks to Mike Brennan for pointing it out);

  • WebPlotDigitizer (a tool to extract numerical data from the images of plots, thanks to Mike Brennan for pointing it out);

  • EndNote (been using this reference manager since undergrad, it's not free but worth investment if you write your manuscripts and proposals in MS Word);

  • NotePad++ (extremely versatile notepad software);

  • Grammarly (As a non-native English speaker I find this software indispensable for proof-reading of the written text);

  • UltraSearch by JamSoftware (to quickly find anything on your PC);

  • Spectragryph software for opening spectra in manufacturer's file formats (e.g., *.dsw from Cary spectrometers, *.fs from Edinburgh Instruments, and so on), their motto "Free your spectral data from the spectrometer system. View & work your data wherever you want.";

  • ProfilmOnline is a web-based application for surface imaging and analysis. The application supports a large variety of file formats from different profilometers and instruments and is straightforward to use.

Writing

  • "The Craft of Science Writing" edited by Siri Carpenter, collection of very engaging pieces of scientific journalism and how to write about science;

  • "Academic English: Writing" Coursera online course from University of California Irvine. I took parts of it when I was writing my Ph.D. thesis and can recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their writing skills;

  • "Grammarly" is an indispensable proof-reading service;

Proposal-writing

Applets

Open Access

  • "Open Access" by Peter Suber;

  • SherpaRomeo, an online resource aggregating publishers' open access policies;

  • How Can I Share it? a helpful resource to check by DOI what sharing options are available for a paper;

Crystallography and Structure

Online Seminar Series

A non-exhaustive list of regular chemistry/nano-related webinars to sustain independent learning:

Motivation and Resilience

A partial list of resources that I turn to for inspiration and grit.