Student & Early Career Chemists Community

Hello to all students and early career chemists in this community!!

I would like to start off this community space with an introduction thread so that we can all get to know each other a little more. Please reply with your name, city/state, current degree or job, field of interest, and any fun facts or things about yourself that you would like to share. I will go first as to start us off :)

Hi, I'm Liz and I'm from Sydney, currently in my third year of my Bachelor of Science (Chemistry and Psychology). I am quite interested in areas of synthetic and organic chemistry, especially since I am spending a lot of time in the lab for my classes. A fun fact about me is that I have a miniature schnauzer called Smudge who is very fluffy and likes to jump on me in the morning.

Hi everyone.

I'm Kevin, from Melbourne. I am currently in the first year of my PhD. I am very interested in analytical chemistry, especially it's use in food flavour and food safety. I am currently researching the impacts of thermal processing on chemical changes in flavoured UHT milk. A fun fact about me is that I am an avid fan of Fantasy in all forms, particularly Brandon Sanderson's books and the Elder Scrolls games.

Hi, 

I am a third year PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. I am interested in computational chemistry. My PhD research involves applying AI in finding new antibiotics. A fun fact about me is that Dr.Stone is one of my favourite animes.

Hi all

I'm an undergraduate doing chemistry part-time.  The irrelevant fact about me is that I have a PhD in Ancient Greek, so you'll get more sense from me if you ask about Homer than if you ask about isomers.  

But at this point I do know that materials and analytical chemistry are front and centre interests.  And on a walk round the lake this afternoon I was cogitating on a friend's comment that universities don't teach enough analytical. I agree.  It's a pity because what the public really needs of chemists is 'what is this made of?'  

Hi everyone!

I'm Luke, a third year PhD student at Curtin University working on characterising molecules in modern and fossil bone marrow. Mainly interested in organic geochemistry, but have a broad interest in pretty much anything analytical. I grow desert roses in my spare time and now have over 200, becoming a bit of a problem but I still decided to plant more on the weekend :D 

Hi all,

I am Rahad, a final-year PhD candidate at La Trobe University in Melbourne. My work focuses on Ir(III) complexes functionalised with boronic acid groups for the purpose of sensing carbohydrates. I focus mainly on synthetic, organometallic chemistry and a bit of analytical/photoluminescence work. Just trying to finish off the last remaining Ir(III) complexes I need to synthesise (I seem to have left the hard ones till last) and write my thesis/manuscripts. Not much free time any more

Hi. I am Dhaya. I am a second year PhD student from Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland. I am researching new psychoactive substances in wastewater as a result of community consumption. Fun fact: I am learning a new language --> Python. My interest is Chemometrics.

Hi, I am Harleen Kaur, a second-year Ph.D. student from Newcastle for Global Innovative Center for Advanced Nanomaterials (GICAN), University of Newcastle. I am researching novel materials for addressing the phosphorous stratification in Australian soils.

Hello Colleagues!,

I am Thiru, an early career chemist of food, nutrition, toxicology and metrology. I am in my fifth year of Ph.D. candidate and awaiting my thesis comments from Deakin University (Victoria), HDR examinations. I am currently working as a research fellow in our lab NuSea.Lab on a coral nutrition project in collaboration with AIMS, Queensland.

Fun facts - It was my young age aim to join RACI, ever since I attended the Australian Chemistry Quiz (1998) in Sri Lanka. I am a member since 2020, one of the first professional organization I joined after arriving in Australia. Other fun things I enjoy in my day today life are long drives, statistical programming and graphic desining. The former helps me to bring back balance to my mind and the later two activities help me to survive the modern day research ecosystems. 

Nice meeting you all here and my best wishes for everything you do! :) 

Thiru Somasundaram

Hello Everyone

Thanks for starting this forum.

I am Prabhu, a PhD candidate in second year at Queensland University of Technology, working in Lipidiomics area. I am researching lipid derivatization and qualitative and quantitative analysis using various MS techniques with Blanksby Group. I am glad to introduce myself in this thread and have an introduction with you all. 

Fun fact: I am currently learning new data analysis programs for my project.

It was a pleasure to meet with you all, chemists from RACI.

Cheers

Thanks for starting the thread Liz!

I'm Sandy and am just a couple weeks away from completing my Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) at Western Sydney University. I've recently been working casually as a research officer in Environmental Chemistry at Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment. My special interests are water and soil chemistry, so it's my dream job and I hope I get the opportunity to work there permanently!

Fun fact- I started this degree with a 4 year old child and a 6 month old baby, which largely equates to insanity haha

Hello everyone,

Thanks Elizabeth for starting this thread!

My name is Henry, and I am based in La Trobe University in Melbourne. I am studying my honours year in analytical chemistry. I am particularly looking at an electrochemical biosensor for the detection of PFAS, colloquially known as the "forever chemicals", a toxic and ubiquitous family of compounds found in non-stick pans, stain/water resistant fabrics, and takeaway packaging. This week, PFAS has been reported to be in Australia's drinking water.

I like canoeing and camping, and love learning new things.