Interested in promoting discussion and fostering collaborations in research areas of broad mutual interest for CECAM and Psi-k?

Submit your expression of interest to organize a CECAM Psi-k Research Conference in 2023 by filling the simple form at:

https://www.cecam.org/submit-psi-k-proposal

Deadline for submission of the expression of interest: 4 September 2022

Diversity (specific expertise in simulation and modelling, geographical, gender, career stage…) and interdisciplinarity among organisers and participants are key evaluation criteria.

The CECAM Psi-k Research Conference is a forum to explore and foster progress in exciting new topics and open questions of interest to different communities in simulation and modeling, rather than another opportunity to showcase consolidated research. The proposed duration and format of the event should reflect this spirit, with ample time set aside for common discussions and informal exchanges.

Details of previous CECAM Psi-k Research Conferences can be found online.

If selected for further evaluation, you will be invited to submit a full proposal – format similar to previous years – at the end of September 2022, with a deadline for submission on 31 October 2022.

Psi-k  is a worldwide network of researchers working on the advancement of  first-principles computational materials science. Its mission is to  develop fundamental theory, algorithms, and computer codes in order to  understand, predict, and design materials properties and functions. Key  activities of Psi-k are the organization of conferences, workshops,  tutorials and training schools as well as the dissemination of  scientific thinking in society [Excerpt from the mission statement at http://psi-k.net/ ].

Psi-k typically funds schools (1-2 weeks), workshops (2-3 days), international conferences (2-5 days), and codes/methods tutorials (3 days-1 week), with a focus on electronic-structure methods,  developments, and applications. Funding is of the order of  4,000/8,000/12,000 €, depending on size and duration (as a guideline, 30  €/expected participant/day); Psi-k funds around 25-35 activities for every call (see here http://psi-k.net/workshops/  for the 2022-23 activities).

For this coming round, we are particularly keen to support activities that benefit PhD students and early career researchers, who have missed out on in-person events during the pandemic – schools and tutorials in particular. We also continue to encourage the ingenious development of remote delivery methods where appropriate, to widen the benefit of our activities to groups where the cost of in-person attendance may be a barrier.

We  have a two-step application process to simplify and streamline  applications, elicit more original proposals, improve planning, and avoid duplication of efforts. The present call for outline proposals is for events that will take place between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Outline proposals should be submitted online  by Monday 18 July 2022 (midnight UK time), describing the planned event (download a draft of the form to see a preview of the questions that you will be asked here). Psi-k Working Groups (http://psi-k.net/groups ) and Trustees (http://psi-k.net/admin/) will either approve this outline proposal for full submission, reject it,  or suggest a merger between different activities – you are very welcome  to contact the relevant Working Group leaders or members beforehand.

Feedback will be provided the week of Monday 19 September 2022.  Outline proposals that have been approved or mergers that have been successfully negotiated will then be invited to submit a full proposal by Monday 17 October 2022. These proposals will then be  evaluated and approved – with full or partial funding – or declined at  the meeting of the Trustees, Scientific Advisory Committee (http://psi-k.net/scientific-advisory-committee/) and Working Group leaders on Friday 25 November 2022.

The evaluation of the outline proposals and full proposals will be based on

• the relevance to the Psi-k mission statement;
• the scientific quality of the proposal;
• the intellectual inclusivity, geographical spread and diversity of the proposed participants, including efforts to widen participation beyond established groups;
• the scientific merit, geographical spread and diversity of the organizers; and
• the appropriateness of budget

NOTES

• in case of events that can interest different Working Groups please name the primary Working Group and then any related groups
• if the event does not relate to any current Working Group, applicants should contact in advance Psi-k at [email protected].

SUBMIT YOUR OUTLINE PROPOSAL HERE

Dear Psi-k,

Following on from our email last month, we are excited to share some news about our whole-community Psi-k 2022 Conference in August.

Now that Switzerland has relaxed all restrictions on travel and events, and with the situation generally improving, the Board of Trustees has decided to proceed with a fully in-person event as planned for 22-25 August 2022.

We intend to open the registration system for discounted early-bird rates in the second half of March.

With 7 plenary talks and 42 symposia accommodating 130 invited talks and open slots for over 180 contributed talks, we are very much looking forward to this opportunity to meet in person to exchange scientific ideas, to make new connections and to renew old ones. In particular we believe that this will be important for early career researchers and PhD students, for whom the pandemic has been very disruptive.

All information is on the conference web site: https://www.psik2022.net

Warmest wishes,

Nicola Marzari, Psi-k 2022 Conference Chair
Peter Haynes, Chair of Trustees

The Psi-k Workshops 2022 Poster is now available to download.

Please help us share information about the 2022 Psi-k funded workshops, schools and training courses by downloading and printing a copy of our poster to display at your institution and sharing with your communities via individual mailing lists.

If you have a twitter account you can also retweet the poster from here.

Thank you for your support.

Dear Psi-k

We hope that you have had a good start to 2022 and are looking forward to more in-person scientific interactions this year.

In particular we have published our programme of workshops on our web site: https://psi-k.net/workshops/

The highlight is of course our whole-community Psi-k Conference in August. We are very encouraged by the positive feedback from the community meeting in November and our Scientific Advisory Committee and are continuing with prudent plans to hold this Conference in person in Lausanne: 22-25 August. We will of course monitor the COVID-19 situation internationally, but at the moment the outlook appears promising in spite of the omicron variant. In particular, meeting in person will be important for the PhD students and early-career researchers in our community.

Please do keep a look out for further announcements about registration – information can be found on the conference web site: https://www.psik2022.net/

Best wishes,

Peter Haynes
Chair of Psi-k Trustees

Nicola Marzari
Chair of Psi-k Conference 2022

Did you miss the community meeting last week?

You can view a recording of the meeting here.

Hear all about the work of Psi-k plus an update on the Psi-k Conference that will take place in Lausanne next August.

Dear Psi-k,

Last year the pandemic prompted us to organise the first Psi-k community meeting online, which aimed to reach a wide audience and discuss our activities and modes of engagement – from submitting proposals, to becoming involved in the community, to supporting its activities – all to help our field thrive.

The positive feedback and experience last year has encouraged us to organise another meeting as an open webinar on Zoom on Friday 26 November 2021 at 2pm CET – this is Central European Time (you can translate it here: https://time.is/CET); hopefully convenient for many, and with apologies to those for whom it is not.

The webinar link, that you are also welcome to share, is: https://ukri.zoom.us/j/95496792916?pwd=c2tZNFQrZnpvYTVYQUFHUHZuN0pYdz09.

The Psi-k Trustees will be present, and a short presentation will provide an update on developments over the last year and preview of future plans, notably the Psi-k Conference, which we expect to be held in person in Lausanne, 22-25 August 2022. This will be followed by Q&A and discussion that I hope will be as lively and constructive as last year.

I very much look forward to sharing our news and discussing our plans with you.

Peter Haynes (Psi-k Chair)

Psi-k is a registered UK charity governed by a board of trustees. Three trustees will be stepping down at the end of November: Angel Rubio, Mike Payne and Matthias Scheffler. Between them they have served as trustees for over 34 years and we are very grateful for their hard work in support of our community.

The board is seeking to appoint two new trustees, who will serve for five years in the first instance and bring the total number to 12. In view of the legal and other responsibilities involved in being a trustee, it is expected that these will be well-established members of our community with a track record of involvement in Psi-k e.g. having organised workshops or schools. Moreover, the board also wishes to ensure that it represents the diversity of our community, including gender, geography and the research areas of Psi-k as reflected in the working groups. The remaining trustees are listed below.

The board will be seeking suggestions for new trustees from its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) when it meets on Friday 26 November. All members and working groups of Psi-k are invited to consider potential trustees and to make suggestions to members of the SAC or trustees. The membership of the SAC is listed on our web site: https://psi-k.net/scientific-advisory-committee/

Anyone wishing to know more about what is involved in being a trustee is invited to contact me as the current chair of trustees.

Peter Haynes, Psi-k Chair

Current trustees:
Igor Abrikosov (Linköping University, Sweden)
Silke Biermann (École Polytechnique, France)
Stefan Blügel (Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany)
Claudia Draxl (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)
Peter Haynes (Imperial College London, UK)
Nicola Marzari (EPFL, Switzerland)
Elisa Molinari (University of Modena, Italy)
Arash Mostofi (Imperial College London, UK)
Risto Nieminen (Aalto University, Finland)
Lucia Reining (École Polytechnique, France)