Methods and Models for Molecular Sciences

Academic Year 2018-2019
The topic of the PhD can be broadly defined as the development, validation and application of integrated computational strategies allowing vis-à-vis comparison between theoretical results and experimental data. On these grounds, the PhD course in Methods and Models in Molecular Sciences has the objective of training young scientist to perform competitive research in several fields of molecular sciences employing a panel of simulation techniques ranging from multiscale methods to virtual and augmented reality. The PhD program prepares top-level researchers, who routinely go on to do research in very prestigious institutions, in Italy and abroad. The PhD course is based on the research carried out at the DreamsLab Center of Scuola Normale Superiore (see http://dreamslab.sns.it) also in collaboration with the NEST Laboratory, the Biology Laboratory, the group of Cosmology, and the SAET Laboratory (History, Archeology, Epigraphy, Tradition of Antiquity). Advanced training can be performed on:
- Astrochemistry and molecular astrophysics.
- Computational medicinal chemistry.
- Computational spectroscopy.
- Materials and devices with low environmental impact and related to renewable fonts of energy.
- Methods and models for cultural heritage.
- Rational design and characterization of new polymeric and nano-structured materials.
The scientific activities are supported by large-scale high performance computing resources and last-generation hardware to produce and visualize advanced 3D graphics through virtual and augmented reality. Scientific research and technological support are financed by several international projects (e.g. the 5-year ERC Advanced grant DREAMS). The theoretical models and computational approaches developed by the research team are made available to the whole scientific community through widely distributed user-friendly programs (e.g. the Gaussian code) and are currently used by a large number of researchers all over the world both in academic institutions and in industry. Reference experimental data are made available to the researchers of the group as a result of several long-standing collaborations with leading experimental teams operating, inter alia, at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the principal Inter-University Consortia devoted to chemistry (INSTM, CSGI, CERM). Furthermore, within the Scuola Normale Superiore, an increasing number of collaborations and memoranda of understanding allows PhD students to perform stages and develop collaborative projects in several Universities and Research Centers in Europe, USA, and Asia.
TEACHING ACTIVITY
Available scholarships: 5
Coordinator: Antonino Cattaneo
Ph.D. Board:
Carlo Adamo, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris – Chimie ParisTech
Vincenzo Barone, SNS
Chiara Cappelli, SNS
Antonino Cattaneo, SNS
Isabella Daidone, Università dell’Aquila
Henrik Koch, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
Cristina Puzzarini, Università di Bologna
Walter Rocchia, IIT – Genova
Dimitrios Skouteris, SNS
Nicola Tasinato, SNS