This is one of the largest department of inorganic chemistry in the world and certainly one of the best. It is a very lively and harmonious place in which to do research. A large number of senior academic positions in this country, the U.S.A. and elsewhere are held by former members of the I.C.L. Apart from its size, the outstanding feature of the laboratory is the wide range of research work in which it is involved: you can get a picture of this by studying in detail the specific research interests of the various groups which are given below. The chemistry department at Oxford was given the highest grade (5) in the recent research selectivity exercise, and also received excellent in teaching by HEFCE.The Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory now has 25 academic and research staff, each with his or her own research group, and there are about 180 research workers in all. Teaching and research is supported by a staff of 30 technical, clerical and administrative staff. The department has an international flavour with many overseas graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and senior visitors. Presently, there are over 25 nationalities represented in the department. These activities are funded from a variety of sources. HEFCE and the research councils provide the bulk of the finance to run the research programmes, but additional funds have been obtained from industrial sources, charities, the European Community and other government departments.
The Department is situated in the southwest corner of the integrated science area and is next door to the excellent University Science Library. The Science area includes a range of related disciplines and there are for example separate departments of Organic Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Materials Science, Pharmacology and Earth Sciences. There is a great deal of cooperative research both between different groups within the department and with groups in related departments. It is difficult to think of an area in which there is not a local 'expert' to whom one can turn for advice or assistance.