A neat solution for hydrodynamic heat transport

In a new article in Physical Review Letters, MARVEL scientists from the THEOS lab at EPFL have made a leap forward in modelling and explaining phonon hydrodynamics, a heat conduction regime where heat flows like water in a pipeline. Their brand new mathematical description makes the phenomenon easier to test experimentally and clarifies the physics behind it. When applied to the in-plane section of graphite at a temperature of 70 K, it also points to a bizarre phenomenon that can emerge with hydrodynamic transport and by which heat can flow in reverse, from a colder region towards a hotter one. Being able to insert such a system into consumer electronics products would have huge applications, for example hydrodynamic heat management could help prevent batteries or other devices from overheating.

There’s an app for that: atomistic materials calculations made more accessible by the AiiDAlab Quantum ESPRESSO app

Powerful atomistic simulation tools have transformed materials research, but their complexity still limits who can use them and how easily results can be reproduced: a gap that a new web-based app now helps close. The AiiDAlab Quantum ESPRESSO app, described in a recent publication in npj Computational Materials, can run not only isolated calculations but also complete, end-to-end computational workflows involving multiple passages over several different materials, lowering the barrier for both experimentalists and computational experts. This is achieved through the tight integration of the widely-used Quantum ESPRESSO simulation software package with the AiiDA engine, a workflow-management system to help automate complex simulations in materials science and a core pillar of NCCR MARVEL, which has provided substantial support to its development alongside contributions from the broader community.

A new reference model for machine-learning–driven materials discovery

Researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Computational Science and Modeling (COSMO) have reached a significant milestone in material science, reaching the top position on Matbench Discovery, the leading benchmarking platform for machine-learning interatomic potentials.  The achievement was made possible by PET-OAM-XL, a new model, which builds on the foundations laid by the recently published PET-MAD model. 

Interviews with Giovanni Pizzi, Virginie de Mestral, Xingao Gong, Nicola Marzari

During the Psi-k 2025 that took place from 25 to 28 August 2025 in Lausanne, we interviewed several MARVEL members or top experts in computational materials science and asked them how they see the future of the field. Over the past few months we have been publishing the resulting interviews that present a range of diverse perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that await the community. The interviews are also an opportunity to assess the impact of MARVEL and its impact on the field overall. This month we complete the series with the interviews with MARVEL members Giovanni Pizzi from PSI and Virginie de Mestral from ETH Zurich, with the Funan University professor Xingao Gong, and with MARVEL director Nicola Marzari. All the interviews are collected in a playlist on the Materials Cloud YouTube channel.   

MARVEL Junior Seminar — February 2026

The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim to intensify interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups – this is held in hybrid mode, in order to maintain in-person contacts and allow off-campus attendees to follow the seminars remotely! We are pleased to propose the 70th MARVEL Junior Seminar: Nataliya Paulish (Materials Software and Data Group, PSI) and Wei Bin How (Laboratory of Computational Science and Modelling - COSMO, EPFL) will present their research.

MARVEL Junior Seminar — March 2026

The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim to intensify interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups – this is held in hybrid mode, in order to maintain in-person contacts and allow off-campus attendees to follow the seminars remotely! We are pleased to propose the 71st MARVEL Junior Seminar: Katja Sophia Moos (Center for Scientific Computing, Theory and Data, PSI) and Julia Gerecke (Laboratory of Quantum Information and Computation - QIC, EPFL) will present their research.

MARVEL Junior Seminar — April 2026

The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim to intensify interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups – this is held in hybrid mode, in order to maintain in-person contacts and allow off-campus attendees to follow the seminars remotely! We are pleased to propose the 72nd MARVEL Junior Seminar: Zacharie Waysenson (Laboratoire de Physique de l’École Normale Supérieure, Sorbonne Université) and Maria Andolfatto (Laboratory for Materials Simulations, PSI) will present their research.

2-week MARVEL-ICTP College: Materials simulation in the age of AI

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.

Three new INSPIRE Potentials fellows will join MARVEL for a research project

We are happy to announce that Lisa Ruth Andreozzi (Sapienza, Roma), Natalie E. Hooven (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), and Ruth Mora Soto (Univ. Politècnica de Catalunya) were granted INSPIRE Potentials – MARVEL Master's Fellowships after the November 2025 call. The three women will join MARVEL labs for a 3 to 6 month research project — congratulations!

Shining light on women professors of Basic Sciences at EPFL

Three new collections of portraits of women professors in Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics are now on display across EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences, ten years after the initial installation in Materials Science. Come and discover this new opportunity to showcase role models and encourage young women to choose a career in science.

Summer camps at EPFL for girls and boys in August 2026

Registration to the science summer camps organized by the EPFL's Science Outreach Department in August 2026 are opening on Monday 24 March at 12:30 and will fill up quickly. With the objective of promoting MARVEL-related fields, especially toward girls, and encouraging them to choose scientific and engineering careers, MARVEL has supported throughout the years the summer camp in chemistry for girls and boys 11-13 years old (taking place in 2026 from 3 to 7 August) and the summer camp on materials science Matériaux super géniaux for girls 11-13 years old (in 2026, from 10 to 14 August). 

A MARVEL PhD student at the EPFL Finals of "My Thesis in 180 Seconds"

Join us to the cheer on Claire Paetsch, MARVEL PhD student in the group of Anirudh Raju Natarajan, selected to participate in the EPFL finals of "My Thesis in 180 Seconds," an international contest asking competitors to present their research, in plain language, to a non-specialist audience and a jury made up of researchers, journalists and business people in just three minutes.   

Ig Nobel Award Tour Show 2026

On Thursday 23 April 2026, with the support of the NCCR MARVEL, EPFL will welcome for the seventh time the Ig Nobel Award Tour Show, with Marc Abrahams and a line-up of Ig Nobel Prize winners. Save the date. The details of the program will be shared later. As usually, a great evening ahead! 

MARVEL Fest: party-ing away

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.

Two Faculty Positions in Materials Science for a Sustainable Future – Chalmers University of Technology

Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg (Sweden) invites applications for two Assistant or Associate Professor positions as WISE Fellows in the area of Materials Science for a Sustainable Future.

University Assistant/Associate Professor in Materials Science at the University of Cambridge, UK

The Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge, UK, invite applications for a University Assistant/Associate Professorship position. The successful candidate will have an outstanding research record in a Materials Science related field and strong commitment to teaching. The post is available from 1 July 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.