Mentoring the marginalized: thoughts by Shobhana Narasimhan

A huge and frequently unaddressed problem in science and academia is that people feel that they are faced with the task of climbing a huge mountain, all by oneself. Mentors can be the sherpas who lend a helping hand and share some of the burden, so that one no longer feels quite so alone. Shobhana Narasimhan, Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, India – and member of the SNSF's MARVEL Review Panel – shares her thoughts on the matter.

American NSF invests in designing materials for the future

The US National Science Foundation has announced a $65.3M investment in 37 new awards in the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future program.

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — John Perdew

The 27th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. John Perdew, Professor of physics and chemistry at Temple University on "More-predictive density functionals, symmetry breaking, and strong correlation"

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Ingrid Mertig

The 28th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Ingrid Mertig, professor of physics at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg on "Transversal transport coefficients and topological properties".

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Sharon Glotzer

The 29th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Sharon Glotzer, department chair of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, entitled "A theory of entropic bonding".

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Garnet Chan

The 30th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Garnet Chan, professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. He will be discussing the possibility of exponential quantum advantage in quantum chemistry.

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Alán Aspuru-Guzik

The 31st NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Alán Aspuru-Guzik, professor of chemistry and computer science at the University of Toronto, and entitled: "There is no time for science as usual: Materials Acceleration Platforms".

CECAM-MARVEL Mary Ann Mansigh series: Programma 101, the little computer that could

CECAM and MARVEL present the second installment of our Mary Ann Mansigh Conversation series and invite you to (re)discover the machine that transformed the specifications and the look and feel of calculators, opening the path to our modern laptops. With the help of two invited speakers, we shall explore the cultural environment that fostered the development of Programma 101 and learn more about the technical characteristics.

CECAM-MARVEL Classics in molecular and materials modelling: Athanassios Panagiotopoulos and Dominic Tildesley

Athanassios Panagiotopoulos (Princeton University) and Dominic Tildesley (University of Southampton) will give a joint lecture in what will be the fifth event in the series "Classics in molecular and materials modelling" hosted by CECAM and MARVEL. Their joint lecture will address fluid phase equilibria by computer simulations.

CECAM-MARVEL Classics in molecular and materials modelling: Rex Godby, Lucia Reining and Steven Louie

Rex Godby, Lucia Reining and Steven Louie will give a joint lecture in what will be the sixth event in the series "Classics in molecular and materials modelling" hosted by CECAM and MARVEL. Their joint lecture will address ab initio studies of electronic excitations using many-body perturbation theory.

MARVEL Junior Seminar — November 2021

The MARVEL Junior Seminar series is continuing in videoconferencing mode. We are therefore pleased to propose the 45th MARVEL Junior Seminar: Guido Gandus (ETHZ/Empa) and Tara Tošić (ETHZ) will present their research. The seminar will be chaired by Stefano Falletta (EPFL).

MARVEL Junior Seminar — December 2021

The MARVEL Junior Seminar series is continuing in videoconferencing mode. We are therefore pleased to propose the 46th MARVEL Junior Seminar: Kevin Jablonka (EPFL) and Stepan Tsirkin (UZH) will present their research. The seminar will be chaired by Kristians Cernevics.

EPFL Excellence in Engineering summer internship program: applications open!

The application portal for the 2022 edition of the E3 EPFL Excellence in Engineering summer internship program is now open. The program is organized by the School of Engineering of EPFL and offers an intensive research training opportunity to Bachelor and Master students from all around the world, with various scientific backgrounds.

Meet again the #NCCRWomen of MARVEL

The #NCCRWomen campaign shows how women in Swiss research are changing the world! Meet Giuliana Materzanini, Miriam Pougin, Emiliana Fabbri, Jigyasa Nigam and Chiara Ricca, all researchers of the NCCR MARVEL.

#NCCRWomen in school — a researcher in my classroom

Meet the #NCCRWomen and invite a researcher in your classroom to exchange with her about who she is, what she does and why she is doing it. Open to the teachers of the high school level.

Coding club for girls all around Switzerland

MARVEL supports the Coding club for girls, a project initiated by the EPFL Science Outreach Department (SPS) with the support of the Federal Office for Gender Equality. It offers free coding workshops for girls 11 to 16 years old organized in French, German and Italian throughout Switzerland.

CECAM-MARVEL Mary Ann Mansigh series: Science writing and science editing - from journals to journalism

CECAM and MARVEL present a new event in our Mary Ann Mansigh Conversation series. In a discussion with Nature Physics editor Nina Meinzer and former Nature/Chemistry World news editor Mark Peplow, we will explore how scientific editing and scientific journalism work, how they are being transformed by new technologies, how young scientists can learn to better interact with editors and writers - or become editors and writers themselves. 

MARVEL Junior Seminar — April 2024

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 58th MARVEL Junior Seminar: Marija Stojkovic (THEOS, EPFL) and Gian Gentinetta (CQSL, EPFL) will present their research. 

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Massimiliano Di Ventra

The 36th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Massimiliano Di Ventra, University of California, San Diego. He will be presenting a lecture entitled: "MemComputing: when memory becomes a computing tool".

CECAM-MARVEL Classics in molecular and materials modelling: Shoshana Wodak and Bill Jorgensen

Shoshana Wodak (the Flemish Free University of Brussels) and Bill Jorgensen (Yale University) will give a joint lecture on "Methods for computational biology and drug discovery", in what will be the tenth event in the series "Classics in molecular and materials modelling" hosted by CECAM and MARVEL.

2024 Summer camp for high-school students

The 1-week camp entitled Des atomes aux ordinateurs, à la découverte de la programmation scientifique  is open to teenagers in the last two years of high-school, with no high-level in maths or physics prerequisite. A prior knowledge of the basics of programming is recommended. It is possible to acquire these notions independently if necessary (within 3-4 hours). Half of the seats are reserved for young women. In 2024, it will take place from 24 to 28 June at EPFL.

MARVEL Review and Retreat January 2025

The eleventh MARVEL Review and Retreat will take place on January 13-15, 2025. The event will gather all MARVEL members, group leaders as well as postdocs and students. Presentations will show to all the community where the projects stand and what are the next steps. 

CECAM-MARVEL Mary Ann Mansigh series: Science writing and science editing - from journals to journalism

CECAM and MARVEL present a new event in our Mary Ann Mansigh Conversation series. In a discussion with Nature Physics editor Nina Meinzer and former Nature/Chemistry World news editor Mark Peplow, we will explore how scientific editing and scientific journalism work, how they are being transformed by new technologies, how young scientists can learn to better interact with editors and writers - or become editors and writers themselves. 

MARVEL Junior Seminar — April 2024

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 58th MARVEL Junior Seminar: Marija Stojkovic (THEOS, EPFL) and Gian Gentinetta (CQSL, EPFL) will present their research. 

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Massimiliano Di Ventra

The 36th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Massimiliano Di Ventra, University of California, San Diego. He will be presenting a lecture entitled: "MemComputing: when memory becomes a computing tool".

CECAM-MARVEL Classics in molecular and materials modelling: Shoshana Wodak and Bill Jorgensen

Shoshana Wodak (the Flemish Free University of Brussels) and Bill Jorgensen (Yale University) will give a joint lecture on "Methods for computational biology and drug discovery", in what will be the tenth event in the series "Classics in molecular and materials modelling" hosted by CECAM and MARVEL.

2024 Summer camp for high-school students

The 1-week camp entitled Des atomes aux ordinateurs, à la découverte de la programmation scientifique  is open to teenagers in the last two years of high-school, with no high-level in maths or physics prerequisite. A prior knowledge of the basics of programming is recommended. It is possible to acquire these notions independently if necessary (within 3-4 hours). Half of the seats are reserved for young women. In 2024, it will take place from 24 to 28 June at EPFL.

MARVEL Review and Retreat January 2025

The eleventh MARVEL Review and Retreat will take place on January 13-15, 2025. The event will gather all MARVEL members, group leaders as well as postdocs and students. Presentations will show to all the community where the projects stand and what are the next steps.