Dear Colleagues,

We would like to announce that lectures of our PARADIM summer school: "An Introduction to Density Functional Theory for Experimentalists" led by Prof. Feliciano Giustino between July 11, 2018 – July 17, 2021 will also be streamed live.

This is an ideal introduction to DFT for experimentalists and for theorists unfamiliar to the topic. Both theory lectures and practical lectures will be streamed live. The hands-on sessions will be autonomous and all the course materials for the hands-on sessions will also be provided to on-line participants. The calculations during the exercise sessions will be performed using Quantum ESPRESSO.

Please register here for webinar access to theory and practical lectures: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7uN0Z567T4C_TOmlno3pSA

For more details of the schedule: https://www.paradim.org/DFT_SS_2021

The goal of this Summer School is to introduce experimentalists (or theorists unfamiliar with DFT) to density-functional theory (DFT) calculations and first-principles materials modelling.

This course answers the basic questions:
“Can DFT help me with my experimental problem?
Which materials properties can be predicted and how reliable are the results?
How difficult would it be to run the calculation that I need?
Can I do this on my own or I better seek help from the theory group next door?”.

By the end of the school the participants will be able to perform basic DFT calculations in complete autonomy, and will have a better understanding of the current literature on atomistic modelling using DFT.

The course is articulated along three parallel tracks: theory lectures, practical lectures, and hands-on sessions. The theory lectures by Feliciano Giustino of The University of Texas at Austin we will introduce the conceptual background that is needed to understand the potential and the limitations of DFT in the context of materials modelling and design. The practical lectures by Betül Pamuk of Cornell University are meant to guide the audience through the practical steps required for performing DFT calculations. In the hands-on sessions the participants will be running DFT calculations on selected materials in complete autonomy, with the lecturer and teaching assistants supervising the sessions for the in-person participants. The course materials will be made available to the on-line participants. 

PARADIM (Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials) is a materials innovation platform led by Cornell University. It is an NSF mid-scale instrumentation program supported in the Division of Materials Research. PARADIM seeks to create new interface materials with designed properties that could transform next generation electronics. PARADIM, a partnership among Cornell University, and Johns Hopkins University, marks the beginning of a new PARADIM in materials discovery.

On behalf of the organizing committee,
Betül Pamuk

Research Associate
Cornell University