A stress test for copper-tungsten nanomultilayers

A new study by MARVEL researchers at Empa and EPFL has explained a perplexing discrepancy between theoretical predictions and experimental data on copper-tungsten nanomultilayer, materials made by stacking alternating, ultra-thin layers of the two materials. Experiments show a transition from compressive to tensile interface stress when thickness and pressure pass a certain threshold, but DFT calculations could not model it. Thanks to a neural-network potential developed by Bill Curtin's group at EPFL, Vladyslav Turlo and his team at Empa showed that the transition is due to intermixing of the two elements at the interface, a result then validated by experiments. The study is published in Acta Materialia. 

Hybrid crystal-glass materials from meteorites transform heat control

A new study involving former MARVEL member Michele Simoncelli and  MARVEL director Nicola Marzari combines a first-principles approach with machine learning to identify a unique material with distinctive thermal properties. The material combines crystal and glass thermal properties and is the first of its kind. It was discovered in meteorites and has also been identified on Mars. The fundamental physics driving this behavior could advance  understanding and design of materials that manage heat under extreme temperature differences—and, more broadly, provide insight into the thermal history of planets. The study is published in PNAS.

Major conference on theory and simulation of materials wraps up at SwissTech

Psi-k 2025, the largest conference worldwide for materials theory and prediction, electronic structure and ab-initio simulations, took place from 25 to 28 August at the SwissTech Convention center on the EPFL Campus in Lausanne. It attracted over 1,300 participants who could attend 345 talks overall, with 6 plenary talks, 35 symposia organized in 6 parallel sessions, and a poster session including over 760 posters. MARVEL Director and EPFL professor Nicola Marzari gave the opening plenary lecture  on 25 August. The event was a huge success and showcased the growth and livelihood of the computational materials science community. 

Three new INSPIRE Potentials fellows will join MARVEL for their for their Master's research projects

We are happy to announce that Veronika Lamparská (Univ. Stuttgart), Sofia Petrova (KU Leuven), and Mridhula Venkatanarayanan (EPFL) were granted INSPIRE Potentials – MARVEL Master's Fellowships after the April 2025 call. The three women will join MARVEL labs for a 6-month Master's research project — congratulations!

EPFL summer lab visit allowed young girls to discover materials simulation

As part of the summer camp "Matériaux super géniaux" organized by the EPFL Science Outreach department and supported by the NCCR MARVEL, 20 girls aged 11 to 13 could discover some secrets of materials simulation through a visit of THEOS lab at EPFL, part of the NCCR MARVEL. They could also learn how to conduct an interview and practice it with MARVEL scientific manager Lidia Favre-Quattropani. A look back at these activities.

2-week MARVEL-ICTP College in computational materials science

This 2-week MARVEL-ICTP College in computational materials science will take place on June 1-12, 2026 at ICTP in Trieste. The event is dedicated to MARVEL PhD students and early postdocs, as well as students all around the world, with support also for those coming from emerging economies. This will be our core educational event, bringing ~200 researchers to work and live together for 2 weeks.

MARVEL final event at EPFL

On July 9-10, 2026, MARVEL final event at EPFL will close 12 years of research and activities on computational materials science. This event will be dedicated to the accomplishments of MARVEL and to the relevance of these to the industrial and technological ecosystem, inviting alumni and key players worldwide in academia and industry, SNSF review panel, scientific and industrial advisory boards, EPFL leadership, and scientific journalists.