In order to come straight to the point, I subjected myself to an interview. Here is the result.

Where are you working at the moment?
I'm currently following a course at the Faculty of Electrochemistry.

What kind of research are they doing there?
They are looking at reactions of various ions, like Zn²⁺ and Cd²⁺, at the surface of a dropping mercury, indium and gallium electrodes. This is done by standard electrochemical techniques and the Dropping Mercury Micro Electrode, developed by this faculty.

I'm not familliar with the techniques, could you elaborate on that?
I've included a picture of the experimental set-up below.

As you can see the counter electrode has a much larger surface then the working electrode. The reactions at the working electrode have a much greater effect on the total current of the cell then the reactions at the counter electrode. Therefore the reactions at the counter electrodes can be neglected.
The reference electrode is there to offer a reproducible potential. Since the absolute potential cannot be measured we take the potential of the reference electrode as zero. In other words: We measure the potential of the working electrode relative to the reference electrode.
We mainly use the SCE (Saturated Calomel Electrode) or the SSCE (Saturated Sodium Calomel Electrode) as reference electrode.
The actual measurement consist of measuring the current at various potentials.

It looks like a fairly simple set-up. (read: I don't understand anything about it.)
It is. The theoretical background is not.

Why are you studying chemistry?
A long, long time ago, when I was about 4 years old, I had my first experience with fire, and fire...

But what is your motivation? (read: I really don't want an abstract of you childhood)
Well, chemistry is everywhere. You can see it even in the tiniest things like...

PLEASE STICK TO THE POINT!!!
Ok. Ok. I'm not a practical man, but not a fully theoretical one either. This study has the right mix of these two.

What for a crummy answer is that?
It's the truth. That's what you wanted isn't it?

Yes. Yes. What are you doing at the moment?
I'm measuring the reduction of Zn²⁺ in Sodium Tetra Fluoro Borate (NaBF₄) with de Dropping Mercury Micro Electrode (DMµE), which is particularly intricate because NaBF₄ decomposes according to this formula:

BF₄^- + H₂O <=> BF₃OH^- + HF

and the HF dissolves the glass. The DMµE is made of glass too, so the electrode is slowly dissolved, making it unusable. It can be regrinded, but...

Why did you choose electrochemistry?
I had this strange fascination with Hydragyrum or mercury, because it is the only metal which is a liquid at room temperature. Unless you room is 29.8 degrees Celsius or hotter then Gallium is a liquid too.

Isn't mercury dangerous?
Not a all. If you don't swallow it, spray it or leave it open to the air there is absolutely no danger.

And for the environment?
All mercury is recycled. We do that ourselves. Did you know that the name hydragyrum comes from the words hyrdo which means a fluid and...

What is the goal of your study?
To establish a reaction mechanism for the reduction of Zn²⁺. An EEC-mechanism has allready been established by Perez, Baars and Zevenhuizen (J. Electroanal. Chem. 397 (1995) 87-92). I have allready confirmed that there is no preceding chemical step and that the second electronic step is fast. That means I now have an Ee mechanism...

What is so special about the Dropping Mercury Micro Electrode you're using?
The droptime of the DMµE (5 miliseconds) is much shorter than the conventional Dropping Mercury Electrode (DME; 4 seconds). Since you are looking at a much shorter timescale you see more kinetics and less thermodynamics, or as we say the reduction waves is more irreversible with the DMµE.

Kinetics?
Roughly speaking can the laws of thermodynamics be applied when thing are in equilibrium, whereas the laws of kinetics apply when things are not in equilibrium. Since time is needed for an equilibrium to form, shorter measuring times reveal more kinetics.

Thank you for this interview (read: Can't this man even talk English?)
My Pleasure. (read: No I can't, but does it matter?)