Education and Training

Computational design and discovery of novel materials is a discipline straddling the frontier between many diverse fields, including  physics, materials, chemistry, and computer science, and with relevance to disciplines as diverse as earth sciences, mechanical engineering, or biology — MARVEL draws students from programs in all these fields.

The interdisciplinary nature of this endeavor is a challenge when it comes to training the next generation of computational material scientists: it fits poorly within traditional undergraduate curricula, and it requires a broad spectrum of postgraduate courses to train incoming researchers with very diverse backgrounds. Digital education offers a possible solution to both these challenges, as well as a strategy to provide a lasting impact beyond the end of the NCCR. Together with the promotion of computational thinking as a transferable skill to be incorporated into traditional undergraduate courses, it serves as foundations to the education and training activities of the NCCR during phase 3 and beyond.