The Chairman's Welcome

Graduate study has become increasingly important for the individual seeking a rewarding and productive career in science, and this is particularly the case for those whose interests center on chemistry. Teaching at the college level and many professional positions in industry and government demand study and experience beyond that usually found in undergraduate programs. Modern chemical research requires a comprehensive knowledge of chemistry as well as training in the methodologies and creative processes of scientific investigation. Few, if any, career decisions are as important to a professional scientist as his or her choice of a graduate program. In the field of chemistry, over 250 universities in the United States offer graduate degree programs. While there are some basic similarities in the various chemistry departments, there are also substantial differences in size, faculty, facilities, instrumentation, sponsored research activity, fields of research emphasis, living and working conditions, geographical location, and financial support available to graduate students. All of these factors, and others, enter into a decision on where to pursue graduate study.

This website has been prepared to acquaint prospective graduate students with our Department at the University of Virginia, and to point out some distinctive aspects of our program. The dynamic character of our research and teaching represents the expanding boundaries of chemistry and chemical research while still encompassing the traditional areas of the discipline. Graduate research and training are of paramount importance in our Department, and this is reflected in our curriculum and in the close working relationships between our graduate students and faculty. We are particularly proud of our graduate alumni and their professional accomplishments, and their continuing interest in the Department helps enhance our current program and the professional opportunities of our graduate students. It also reflects a positive view of the value of our alumni's graduate experience here at Virginia. The University of Virginia, with its strong Jeffersonian heritage and typical ranking as the best public university in the Nation, provides an excellent environment for study and scholarship, and the Chemistry Department is a major benefactor of (and contributor to) that environment.

At the University of Virginia, graduate students are an integral part of a community of scholars dedicated to research, teaching, and lively intellectual inquiry. There are extensive interactions between research groups both within and outside the Chemistry Department, and graduate students are encouraged to take advantage of collaborative relationships that will further their research endeavors and enhance their general professional development. The major focus of a student's graduate program is research on a significant problem under the guidance of an experienced faculty mentor. However, it is also important that a student develops a broad intellectual awareness of frontier research encompassing many areas of chemistry, and acquires a knowledge base and technical skill that will enhance his or her versatility and self-confidence as an independent research scientist. Our graduate program at the University of Virginia combines intensive research and specialized scholarly inquiry with diverse opportunities for broad professional development.

We hope that we can elicit your interest in our graduate program, but the most important personal objective for you, of course, is to select a school and a program that are closely compatible with your individual needs and interests. Departments have 'personalities' as well as programs, and it is important that both be compatible with an individual's interests if his or her graduate studies are to be truly successful and rewarding. I invite you to examine the information that follows, and if you have questions and curiosities about our program that are not adequately addressed here, please contact us for further information. We stand ready to help make your graduate study decision in whatever way we can.

Ian Harrison
Chairman, Department of Chemistry