PSI-K TRAINING · Psi-k Training in Computational Nanoscience
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2006-07-01 → 2010-06-30
- EU contribution
- €226,090
- Participants
- 4
- Scheme
- SCF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners. CORDIS does not always give exact coordinates for projects before 2014. These points are placed at city or country level.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - PSI-K TRAINING (Psi-k Training in Computational Nanoscience)
Computational electronic-structure of condensed matter is concerned with the ideas, algorithms and software needed to solve the Schrödinger equation for interacting electrons in condensed matter. This field has seen an exponential explosion in its relevance and impact; as of April 2010, the 10 most cited papers in the entire history of the journals of the American Physical Society are all dealing with computational electronic-structure condensed matter. To put such statement in perspective, all other key papers in physics, such as the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, Weinberg's model of leptons, or the invention of the AFM, rank lower. The relevance and impact of this field comes from its predictive power - we can now solve the full quantum mechanical problem of electrons and ions in order to understand structure, properties, dynamics, excitations, and spectroscopies of novel or complex materials and devices. This accuracy and predictive power, together with the availability of truly inexpensive computer power and ever more effective algorithms, have in the few last years led to the screening and design of materials and devices directly out of quantum simulations, before making it to the lab or the market. This importance is testified nowadays not only by the enormous impact (the citation indicators alluded to above) but by the fact that every industrial R&D lab in the high-tech/materials/chemical industries has a group on electronic-structure modelling of materials. This community, which calls themselves Psi-k, has grown at breath-taking speed. At the last Psi-k conference held in Sep 2010 it had more than 1000 participants, and is now recognized far and beyond as the top meeting in this field in the world. Psi-k, by the way, is a UK registered charity. Psi-k is very concerned with providing an adequate training programme for its young researchers. The Psi-k training programme was created with this in mind. It is based on 3 activities which reflect the progression of a graduate student over period of 3 years. Starting with graduate schools to bring the students up to speed, moving on to hands-on tutorials and finishing with summer schools.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This project concerns a coherent training program for young researcher in the rapidly developing field of computer simulations. We focus on the understanding of real materials and the design of new materials with improved functionalities. The calculations are referred to as ab-initio" or "first principles" calculations, since they use no adjustable parameters to solve the basic equation of quantum mechanics and can be applied to all condensed matter systems, ranging from metals and semiconductors to materi als in the earth¿s core, or biological systems such as proteins. Due to the steady advance of computers and computational methods such calculations become increasingly important in materials science. The present proposal is submitted by leading scientists of the European Psi-k research, which is funded by 20 European countries, the highest number of all ESF Programs. We estimate that at present about 2.000 scientists are working in Europe on ab-initio calculations. Maintaining a leading position of Europe i n this field cannot be taken for granted, in particular in view of the lack of structure in our education of young scientists. With this proposal we would like to use our experience in successfully structuring the research activities in 20 different Europe an countries, to set up a structured training program.The starting points of our training program are the specific needs of young researchers at their various stages of the scientific education. The Graduate Schools offer introductory training at the level of master and PhD students, The Hands-on Tutorials are aimed at those who are planning calculations for a specific application and/or who want to learn a specific code. The Summer Schools are organized for last year PhD students and postdoctoral researche rs to give them a broad overview of the field. Finally, the young researchers will be offered the opportunity to present their research at one of the Psi-k workshops or conferences."
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL · WARRINGTONCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
- COUNCIL FOR THE CENTRAL LABORATORY OF RESEARCH COUNCILS · OXFORDSHIRECity levelUnited Kingdom
- ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE DE LYON · LYONFrance
- FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JUELICH GMBH · JUELICHGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union