  We solve a leading-order QCD kinetic theory with light quarks and gluon
degrees of freedom to study the non-equilibrium dynamics of the quark-gluon
plasma (QGP). By including both elastic and inelastic scatterings for quarks
and gluon, the model is proficient to describe kinetic and chemical
equilibration of the QGP, and thus connects the initial (semi-) hard production
of partons at early times with the hydrodynamic description of a
near-thermalized quark-gluon plasma after the first fm/c of the collision.
Within this approach, we investigate the time scales and mechanisms for kinetic
and chemical equilibration of the QGP at zero and non-zero net-baryon density
and elaborate on the connections to jet quenching physics and hydrodynamics.
