Category Archives: Announcements

Announcements, Events

Psi-k 2020 Conference – First Announcement

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As many of you know, every five years Psi-k organizes a general conference in its field; the next one will be held at EPFL in Lausanne, on Sep 14-17 2020. It’s the sixth in the series, after San Sebastian (2015), Berlin (2010) and Schwaebisch-Gmuend (2005, 2000, 1996). The last two events had more 1000+ participants each, making this the largest event worldwide in first-principles simulations, theory, and applications.

The conference will take place over 3.5 days, starting in the afternoon of Mon Sep 14, 2020, and will see 7 plenary speakers and more than 120 invited and 240 talks, organized around 42 symposia (and, of course, a MAD evening to shake it all off). All up-to-date information can be found at https://www.psik2020.net; registration will open in November 2019, so for the moment hold this date. Hotels listed are already ready to take bookings at the negotiated rates.

In conjunction with this announcement, we are also issuing a worldwide call to suggest thematic symposia for the conference – each symposium will last between 2 and 3 hours, and cover between 2 and 4 invited presentations (30 min each), and between 2 and 6 contributed presentations (15 min each), that will be chosen by the symposium organizers themselves among the abstracts submitted (deadline for all abstract submissions will be May 1, 2020).

In order to make a suggestion for a symposium, you need to have a group of up to 4 organizers, as broad and as diverse as possible, identify a symposium theme (keeping in mind that 16 symposia will be broadly dedicated to the core activities of the 16 Psi-k working groups, https://psi-k.net/groups/) and suggest between 2 to 4 invited speakers. Organizers of approved symposia will also be in charge, in May 2020, of selecting contributed talks (2 to 6) among all the abstracts submitted to the symposium by Psi-k 2020 participants.

The Psi-k 2020 Program Committee will evaluate in October 2019 all the submitted suggestions – the criteria will be

  1. scientific merit, timeliness, and interest of the topic
  2. intellectual diversity and inclusiveness of the speakers
  3. scientific merit of the organizers
  4. responding to the Psi-k mission statement (https://psi-k.net/)

You can find the symposium suggestion form at the bottom right of https://www.psik2020.net/program, or directly here: https://forms.gle/Q4QaVxPZgYuANQwWA

Deadline for suggestions is Sep 8 2019, midnight CEST (central european summer time).

Looking very much forward to a successful Psi-k 2020, and to seeing you all in Lausanne.

Nicola Marzari
Chair, Psi-k

Announcements

2020-21 Psi-k Event Application

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Herewith we solicit for proposals for activities in the field of electronic-structure theory and calculations to be held between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, to be funded (in full/partially) by the Psi-k Network and Charity.

Please note: for this year only events that take place between mid-August and mid-October 2020 will NOT be considered for funding to avoid a clash with the Psi-k Conference that will take place in Lausanne, September 2020

Psi-k has introduced a two-step application process, to improve planning and avoid duplication of efforts.

First, a pre-proposal should be submitted by Friday 30 August 2019 (midnight CEST), describing the planned event. The working groups (https://psi-k.net/groups/) will either approve this pre-proposal for full submission, reject it, or suggest a merger between different activities – you are very welcome to contact the working group leaders or members beforehand.

Feedback will be provided the week commencing Monday 30 September 2019. Pre-proposals that have been approved, or mergers that have been successfully negotiated, will then have to submit a full proposal by Friday 1 November 2019. These proposals will be evaluated and approved with full or partial funding, or declined, at the Psi-k meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee (https://psi-k.net/scientific-advisory-committee/) and working group leaders, on Friday 29 November 2019.

Psi-k typically funds schools (1-2 weeks), workshops (2-3 days), international conferences (2-5 days), and code/method tutorials (3 days-1 week), with a focus on electronic- structure methods, developments, and applications. Its mission statement is available at https://psi-k.net/. Typical 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 https://psi-k.net/workshops/ for the 2019-20 activities).

The evaluation of the pre-proposals and full proposals will be based on:

  1. the scientific quality of the proposal,
  2. its intellectual diversity and inclusiveness,
  3. the scientific merit of the organizers, and
  4. appropriateness of budget, while of course
  5. responding to the Psi-k mission statement.

This form (as one single PDF document) should be uploaded by the deadline of Friday 30 August 2019 (midnight CEST) at https://www.dropbox.com/request/B79bboXnda0inodP0uoN.

Please name your file as follows:
Surname_Event_MonthYear.doc/pdf
(example: Jones_Fundamentals_of_QM_April2020.pdf).

Pre-proposal WORD document
Pre-proposal PDF document

Reporting: The organizers of successful proposals must deliver a report of the event, and preferably provide access to the presentation materials through the Psi-k website.

With best regards,

Nicola Marzari
Psi-k Chairman

Peter Dederichs
Psi-k Financial Officer

Announcements

2020-21 CECAM-Psi-k Research Conference

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2020-21 CECAM-Psi-k  Research Conference
CECAM and Psi-k launch every year a call to organize a high-profile common research conference on an outstanding subject in the broad area of computational molecular and materials science; topics can range from applications in solid-state materials, soft matter, or biomolecules, to theoretical, methodological, and algorithmic advances. We particularly encourage proposals that promote interdisciplinary exchange across the areas indicated above and focus on exceptional scientific challenges that go beyond current boundaries and foster the discussion of new developments.

The conference should typically last between 3.5 and 5 days, and target a max of 100 participants, with a structure and format dedicated to foster plentiful discussions and informal interactions among the participants, proactively engaged by conference organizers and discussion leaders.

Proposals must be submitted online at https://www.cecam.org/submit-psi-k/.  All conference proposals will be peer reviewed, discussed, and ranked by a scientific panel composed by 3 members proposed by CECAM, and by 3 trustees of Psi-k.

In the proposal, emphasis should be placed on outlining the challenging scientific issues, which will be the focus of the event, and in establishing the proposed list of speakers and participants. Active participation of scientists at different stages of their career, and especially early states, is very encouraged, as is diversity in the speakers and leaders.

The proposal should include information on the venue (anywhere in the EU, UK, and associated countries – Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia), and a tentative budget. Organizers can be based at institutions worldwide. CECAM and Psi-k are committed to support the event with up to 30,000 euro. Conference fees may be charged only to cover costs.

The call will be open until June 15th 2019 and the final outcome will be communicated at the end of July 2019. Proposals that are not selected will be considered also for regular CECAM and Psi-k activities, if the organizers activate this option in the submission. The conference must take place between Apr 2020 and Mar 2021, avoiding for this year overlaps with Psi-k 2020, that will be held in September 2020.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Ignacio Pagonabarraga
CECAM Director
ignacio.pagonabarraga@cecam.org		 Nicola Marzari
Psi-k Chairman
nicola.marzari@epfl.ch
Announcements

Interface Properties in Organic & Hybrid Electronics (IPOE-2019)

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IPOE-2019

2d International Conference on

Interface Properties in Organic and Hybrid Electronic:

Perspectives & Key Challenges

Cergy-Pontoise, France, 8-11 July 2019

https://ipoe2019.sciencesconf.org

IPOE-2019 will be entirely devoted to the physical phenomena occurring at organic/organic, organic/inorganic and organic/metallic interfaces. 

IPOE-2019 is a single-session conference, comprising a plenary lecture by Prof. Rudolph A. Marcus, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 12 keynote- and invited lectures, 36 oral contributions, and a poster session. The conferences will be followed by ample time devoted to questions (20 min / 10 min / 5 min for KN / Invited / Oral Contributions respectively), in addition to discussions during a poster session. 

The conference will cover a broad range of areas related to both experimental and theoretical aspects of these processes, comprising the following topics (but not limited to):

  • Charge separation mechanisms
  • Charge generation mechanisms
  • Energy transfer processes
  • Energy landscape at interfaces
  • Materials for interface engineering
  • Interfacial versus bulk properties
  • Hybrid organic/inorganic interfaces
  • Metal/organic interfaces
  • Organic/organic interfaces
  • Solar energy conversion
  • Organic sensors and bioelectronics
  • Molecular spintronics
  • Organic and Hybrid SCs, O&H LEDs, OFETs
  • Experimental probes
  • Molecular modeling and theoretical models

 

 

 

 

 

Announcements

Alessandro De Vita

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Dear friends,

Many of you will have heard by now the tragic news that our dearest friend and colleague Alessandro De Vita passed away on Tuesday afternoon. Sandro was killed in a motorbike accident while going to the airport. Commuting between Trieste and London, two most beloved cities for him, was part of his life – a life that he lived so fully.

We have received an outpouring of grief in the last two days that is a testament to how much loved he was, and how strong was his impact in the life of the people that met him – his sharp intelligence, his infinite knowledge, his surprising imagination, his unbridled talk, his mischievous and deeply generous spirit all stood out. And most of all, his passions in life – the friends, the science, the music, the poetry.

Psi-k and CECAM, to which Sandro gave so much, will think of public ways to celebrate him, and any suggestion would be most welcome. If you wanted to dedicate some of your thoughts to him, he would have had a few suggestions himself. Light a candle, somewhere. Say a prayer. Listen to Glenn Gould play the 25th Goldberg variation – he always said that it contained all the sorrow of the world.

We are all with you, Sandro – with Christine, with your family, with your friends.

Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.

Psi-k and CECAM

https://www.cecam.org/devita/

Announcements

2019-20 CECAM-Psi-k Research Conference

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2019-20 CECAM-Psi-k
Research Conference

CECAM and Psi-k launch every year a call to organize a high-profile common research conference on an outstanding subject in the broad area of computational materials science; topics can range from applications in solid-state materials, soft matter, or biomolecules, to theoretical, methodological, and algorithmic advances.

We particularly encourage proposals that promote interdisciplinary exchange and focus on exceptional scientific challenges that go beyond current boundaries and foster the discussion of new developments.

The conference should typically last between 3.5 and 5 days, and target a max of 100 participants, with a structure and format dedicated to foster plentiful discussions and informal interactions among the participants, proactively engaged by conference organizers and discussion leaders.

Proposals must be submitted online at http://www.cecam.org/submitting_psik.html. All conference proposals will be peer reviewed, discussed, and ranked by a scientific panel composed by 3 members proposed by CECAM, and by 3 trustees of Psi-k.

In the proposal, emphasis should be placed on outlining the challenging scientific issues, which will be the focus of the event, and in establishing the proposed list of speakers and participants. Active participation of scientists at different stages of their career, and especially early states, is very encouraged, as is diversity in the speakers and leaders. The proposal should include information on the venue, which can take place anywhere in Europe, and a tentative budget. CECAM and Psi-k are committed to support the event with up to 30000 euro. Conference fees may be charged only to cover costs.

The call will be open until September 30th 2018 and the final outcome will be communicated during the autumn. The conference must take place between April 2019 and March 2020.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Ignacio Pagonabarraga
CECAM Director
ignacio.pagonabarraga@cecam.org 		Nicola Marzari
Psi-k Chairman
nicola.marzari@epfl.ch
Announcements

2019-20 Psi-k Event Application

Leave a comment

Herewith we solicit for proposals for activities in the field of electronic-structure theory and calculations to be held between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, to be funded (in full/partially) by the Psi-k Network and Charity.

Psi-k has introduced a two-step application process, to improve planning and avoid duplication of efforts.

First, a pre-proposal should be submitted by Friday 31 August 2018 (midnight CEST), describing the planned event. The working groups (https://psi-k.net/groups/) will either approve this pre-proposal for full submission, reject it, or suggest a merger between different activities – you are very welcome to contact the working group leaders or members beforehand.

Feedback will be provided by Friday 14 September 2018. Pre-proposals that have been approved, or mergers that have been successfully negotiated, will then have to submit a full proposal by Friday 12 October 2018. These proposals will be evaluated and approved with full or partial funding, or declined, at the Psi-k meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee (https://psi-k.net/scientific-advisory-committee/) and working group leaders, on Friday 23 November 2018.

Psi-k typically funds schools (1-2 weeks), workshops (2-3 days), international conferences (2-5 days), and code/method tutorials (3 days-1 week), with a focus on electronic- structure methods, developments, and applications. Its mission statement is available at https://psi-k.net/. Typical 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 https://psi-k.net/psi-k-workshops-2018-poster/ for the 2018-19 activities).

The evaluation of the pre-proposals and full proposals will be based on:

  1. the scientific quality of the proposal,
  2. its intellectual diversity and inclusiveness,
  3. the scientific merit of the organizers, and
  4. appropriateness of budget, while of course
  5. responding to the Psi-k mission statement.

This form (as one single PDF document) should be uploaded by the deadline of Friday 31 August 2018 (midnight CEST) at https://www.dropbox.com/request/bFhV6XpS4l85ToqCoDar.

Please name your file as follows:
Surname_Event_MonthYear.doc/pdf
(example: Jones_Fundamentals_of_QM_April2019.pdf).

Pre-proposal WORD document
Pre-proposal PDF document

Reporting: The organizers of successful proposals must deliver a report of the event, and preferably provide access to the presentation materials through the Psi-k website.

With best regards,

Nicola Marzari
Psi-k Chairman

Peter Dederichs
Psi-k Financial Officer

Announcements

Share your forum posts and workshop reports to social media

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Did you know that you can now share your Psi-k forum posts to Twitter and Facebook?

Reach a wider audience by tweeting your forum posts – or workshop reports – direct from the Psi-k website.

If you open the posts in the forums, or the workshop reports posted to the front page magazine, you will now see the sharing buttons at the bottom of the page.

Thank you to Mike Towler for his development work!