Newsletter - October 3, 2019

Dear MARVEL'ers,

Please find below our latest newsletter, with news, highlights and events linked to the MARVEL community.

This month, read about the ground-breaking work our colleagues are doing in developing machine learning methods for predicting electron density and in band topology in certain symmetric crystalline metals. You’ll see that our group leaders are continuing to gain wide recognition, with Prof. Nicola Spaldin being awarded the awarded the 2019 Marcel Benoist prize—the "Swiss Nobel Prize"—for her groundbreaking research on multiferroics.

For your agendas, there’s the CCMX-NCCR MARVEL Materials Science Day in Bern on 8 October and the next series of Junior Seminars starts 11 October. Please note too that the next application deadline for the INSPIRE Potentials fellowships is 15 October.

Highlight

Science paper proposes non-Abelian band topology

A paper published in the journal Science by NCCR MARVEL's QuanSheng Wu, postdoc in the group of Oleg Yazyev at EPFL, Alexey Soluyanov, professor at the Physics Institute of the University of Zurich as well as group leader in Design & Discovery Project 6, and colleague Tomáš Bzdušek at Stanford University introduces non-Abelian topological charges that characterize line nodes inside the momentum space of certain symmetric crystalline metals with weak spin-orbit coupling. The analysis goes beyond the standard approach to band topology, and implies the existence of 1D topological phases not present in existing classifications.

Machine learning approach predicts electron densities with DFT accuracy

Clémence Corminboeuf, Michele Ceriotti and colleagues at EPFL have developed a machine learning model that can predict the electron density from atomic coordinates. The approach may facilitate the characterization of non-covalent interactions, helping researchers understand complex interactions between biomolecules and potentially assist in the design of self-assembled materials and drugs. The research was recently published in the journal Chemical Science.

Nicola Spaldin wins 2019 Marcel Benoist Prize for work on multiferroic materials

Nicola Spaldin, ETH Zurich professor and NCCR MARVEL project leader has been awarded the 2019 Marcel Benoist prize—the "Swiss Nobel Prize"—for her groundbreaking research on multiferroics. This new class of materials responds to both magnetic and electric fields, a combination that does not generally occur simultaneously. This unusual property makes multiferroics promising materials that could, for example, replace silicon in future computer chips.

MARVEL Junior Seminar — October 2019

Oct 11, 2019, from 12:15 until 13:30, EPFL, MED 0 1418

Welcome to the 27th MARVEL Junior Seminar on Friday October 11, 2019, 12:15 pm, EPFL, room MED 0 1418. Maria Fumanal (LSMO/LCMD, EPFL and IBM) and Thibault Sohier (THEOS, EPFL) will present their research. The seminar will be chaired by Stefano Falletta.

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Upcoming event

CCMX-MARVEL Materials Science Day 2019

Oct 08, 2019, from 9:00 until 17:30, Welle 7, Bern

NCCR MARVEL and CCMX, the Competence Centre for Materials Science and Technology, are co-organizing their third Materials Science Day where both experimental and modeling approaches will be addressed. The morning will be dedicated to MARVEL projects related to Materials for Energy, including modeling and first experimental validation. During the afternoon, we will present progress with ongoing CCMX Materials Challenges. Participants from industry and academia are welcome to discover new projects, make new contacts and initiate collaborations.