Every thing you always wanted to know about monoliths
… but were afraid to ask.
You don’t have to be afraid any more. Really, if you have any kind of question related to (mainly organic polymer based) monolithic stationary phases, please do not hesitate and send me the puzzle.
The quickest way is to use contact form. Alternativelly, you might sing up for my newsletter and you will never miss exclusive email-only information.
So, what are you waiting for? :)
More than decade with monoliths
I started to work with monolithic stationary phases in 2000 as a new member of the group of Prof. Pavel Jandera at University of Pardubice, Czech Republic. The topic of my master thesis was Preparation and characterization of capillary based monolithic columnsfor HPLC and at that time I was able to prepare and chracterize whole three columns in the time range of six month. Sweet beginnings ….
Half of Ph.D. study abroad
After my master study I continued as a Ph.D. student (again in the group of Prof. Jandera) and I was lucky enough to spend half of my Ph.D. abroud in the labs of well known and respected scientists (Prof. Mike Cooke at Royal Holloway University of London, Dr. Henk Claessens and Prof. Cor Koning at Technical University Eindhoven, Prof. Peter Schoenmakers at University of Amsterdam, and Dr. Didier Thiébaut at ESPCI ParisTech). You can find more information together with topics I have done abroad in my curriculum vitae.
The dreams came true
Since the beginning of my work with monolithic phases I found a lot of interesting and groundbreaking articles written by Frantisek Svec at University of California Berkeley. It would be nice to spend few months in his lab were my (very deep) thoughts and wishes. After few years of dreaming and few years of finishing my Ph.D. the dreams came true and from 2009 to 2011 I could spend two very nice and unforgettable years in his group in Berkeley. Never give up your dreams!
Back to beginnings
Now I am back in Czech Republic and I try to continue in what I have learned in Berkeley and whole Europe. I hope I will be able to prepare columns with completely new properties suitable for any kind of tailored separation.
Again, I hope that dreams come true. Eventually.