The "Guangdong-Technion Leadership in Science and Technology Lecture Series" has been held at GTIIT to provide a platform for high-impact dialogues that explore topics that are pertinent to our faculty, our students, and our community.

On May 11 and May 18, the "Guangdong-Technion Leadership in Science and Technology Lecture Series" will invite Prof. Chris Pickard, Sir Alan Cottrell Professor of the University of Cambridge, to give lectures in popular and scientific perspectives respectively for GTIIT faculty and students.

Popular lecture: The theory led hunt for extreme materials

Date: May 11 (Wednesday)

Time: 19:00-20:00 (Beijing Time)   14:00-15:00 (Israel Time)

Venue: E310, GTIIT Educational Building

Host: Prof. Elissaios Stavrou (GTIIT MSE)

Language: English (Simultaneous interpretation will be available)

Zoom Link:

(1) By mobile phone: please scan the QR code to attend the lecture

(2) By PC: please click https://gtiit.zoom.us/j/96260157719 to attend the lecture

Abstract: Modern methods for computing the properties of realistic materials from first principles (starting from quantum mechanics) have led to a creation of robust, efficient, and widely used computer codes. Coupled with the explosion of available computational resources, it has become possible to search through the vast space of compositions and arrangements of atoms to discover new materials with extreme properties.

Scientific lecture: Mapping the complex chemistry of dense matter
Date: May 18 (Wednesday)

Time: 19:00-20:00 (Beijing Time)  14:00-15:00 (Israel Time)

Venue: E310, GTIIT Educational Building

Host: Prof. Elissaios Stavrou (GTIIT MSE)

Language: English (Simultaneous interpretation will be available)

Zoom Link:

(1) By mobile phone: please scan the QR code to attend the lecture

(2) By PC: please click https://gtiit.zoom.us/j/95016084904 to attend the lecture

Abstract: First principles methods for the prediction of structures and chemistry at high pressures have delivered a powerful tool for the computational exploration of dense matter. While early studies focused on the exotic properties of relatively simple systems, typically the elements and binary compounds, much of the matter in the Universe is likely to be found in more complex mixtures. At the same time, the promise of discovering materials with extreme properties relies on the ability of screen a wide variety of compounds. I will reflect on why ab initio random structure searching (AIRSS) is particularly suited to these challenges, and the importance of visualising the vast datasets we are now generating.

Introduction of Prof. Chris Pickard

Professor Pickard's research helps the modern scientist "see" and discover the universe at the atomic scale through Quantum Mechanics – from the centres of giant exoplanets, to pharmaceutical compounds, new battery materials and high temperature superconductors. He is the inaugural Sir Alan Cottrell Professor of Materials Science in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge. Previously he was Professor of Physics, University College London, and Reader in Physics, University of St Andrews. He has held EPSRC Fellowships, and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. He is a lead developer of CASTEP and introduced both the GIPAW approach to the prediction of NMR spectra and Ab Initio Random Structure Searching (AIRSS). In 2015 he won the Rayleigh Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics, awarded for distinguished research in theoretical, mathematical or computational physics.

Text/Photos: RIGS, GTIIT News & Public Affairs