Post 1. Concerning the graduate student Don Quixote de la Victoria and the origins of this blog.

Well my name isn't really Don Quixote. But I am indeed a graduate student in the department of chemistry at the University of Victoria on beautiful Vancouver Island.

I moved to Victoria six months ago and transferred to the Ph.D program last week. I've been meaning to create an online presence of this sort for some time and now that I'm done with my last ever academic course (!!!), I've suddenly got a bit more time on my hands. So now really feels like a good time to start because not having weekly assignments or quizzes and not having to T.A. makes this whole graduate school experience a whole lot real-er.

Let's begin with some biographical details that might explain my perspectives in future posts. I am a synthetic inorganic chemist, working mainly within the p-block. My current research involves synthesis of rare and highly reactive bonds between heavy pnictogens. This is research meant to contribute to our fundamental understanding of synthetic and structural inorganic chemistry. I also have a keen interest in what I can only describe, while being fully aware of the risk of sounding pretentious, as the craft of inorganic synthesis and the handling of sensitive compounds.

But I don't want to circumscribe too narrowly the scope of my posts. After all, the lab-work is only one aspect of a graduate student's research life. I expect that in addition to the more cerebral posts about the nitty-gritty of chemical research, there will be posts about chemistry software, dealing with common peeves around the lab/departmental-office, and of course a hearty serving of opinion pieces (à la Orac) about chemistry in the news and other media.

Here's to posts of respectable frequency and quality!

cheers,
Saurabh