[Small] First-Principles Modelling of Defects in Solids Conference

The conference on “First-principles Modelling of Defects in Solids”, supported by the MaP Doctoral School | Science and Technology of the Small thematic track, took place 13-15 June 2022 at ETH Zentrum.

by Barbara Lau-Hauser

The conference, organised as a three-day workshop, offered an overview of the latest advances in the theory and simulation of defects in materials. It consisted of a set of invited lectures given by internationally renowned speakers, contributed talks, poster sessions, as well as social events designed to foster interactions between participants.  

Statistics: participants of the conference

84 people - scientists from 32 institutions across 16 countries - participated in the event. Each day of the three-day conference was assigned a theme:

  • Day 1: Point defects from Density Functional Theory (DFT)
  • Day 2: Defects beyond DFT: machine learning and emergent approaches
  • Day 3: Defects in low-dimensional systems and electronic devices

The diversity of defects in materials was well covered, and each invited talk was followed with at least two to three questions from the audience. Twelve participants each gave a six-minute contributed talk. This blitz format was very dynamic and kick-started many discussions over the coffee breaks across all levels of academic hierarchy.

Talks by the big longstanding names in the field (Van de Walle, Valenti and Yazyev), as well as by some of the earlier career researchers (Lado & Cheng) made a big impression on the audience. The poster session was very interactive and one of the important highlights of our conference as it gave students an excellent opportunity to present their own work. Finally, a social dinner was instrumental in forging professional networks in a relaxed environment. This was much needed after the pandemic home office period.

For the student organisers, organising a conference with such a high calibre of speakers and big audience was an invaluable experience. They were given very positive feedback from participants as well as from the speakers. Prof. Valenti, Freysoldt and Van de Valle in particular encouraged them to organise the event again next year.

Organising committee: Stefano Falletta (EPFL), Guido Gandus (D-ITET / Empa), Michele Pizzochero (Harvard), and Tara Tošić (D-MATL)

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