[oscillate_wildly1]

Hi,

I am very interested in inorganic chemistry, and find it to be the most interesting and engaging type of chemistry. I am currently undertaking a chemistry degree and wish to pursue a PhD in inorganic chemistry, however I am under the impression that job prospects for inorganic chemists are slim, as say, compared to an organic chemist due to increased competition from material scientists. 

Could anyone please share an insight into the future of inorganic chemistry and possible job prospects.

Kind regards,
O. W.

[jeffrey.struss]

I am an inorganic chemist, that guess what, is employed in materials science. I do research on CdSe quantum dots. THis is a huge field which is a lot of fun to be in. THat being said, most of the inorganic work that is done commercially is done in a few areas: 1)catalysis 2)nanotech/materials science 3)MOFs for H2 storage 4) Medicine (this is related to nanotech in that most of the work is done using things like nanoclusters/tubes/crystals/etc.)

[DevaDevil]

cannot agree with you more, jeffrey.
As a physical and inorganic chemicst, I am now working in material science, developing nanocatalysts.

[ajkoer]

My advice is select the field that you are passionate about. Then, based on recent research, find out what specialty knowledge is of possible value. For example, an Inorganic chemist may need some course work (or more, a degree) in Engineering (or Material Science or math specialty) to contribute to nano technology (don't trust this list, talk to experts in the particular field). For, Organic chemist: Algebraic Group Theory or Computer Simulations techniques or perhaps Biology? The pairings can be very unexpected.

On the surface, this makes you a stronger candidate to get a job. Don't make a salary demand (say Open, you may even get more than you wanted!)

On the downside, don't be surprised if your co-workers will not be completely embraced you. For example, business majors and Financial Engineers work together, but the MBAs, in my opinion based on a very small sample, don't always trust or understand the quants, and the quants may even think even less of the MBAs!

Good luck.