. "Modelling and engineering of nanoscale materials"@en . . "6" . "Engineering applications rely more and more on highly specialized materials exhibiting unique\r\nfunctionalities. In recent years, for example, advanced functional materials such as hybrid\r\nperovskites, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks have proven\r\ninvaluable to overcome many of the challenges associated with the development of highperformance photovoltaics, efficient heat management systems or stimulus-responsive sensor\r\nmaterials. The rational design of such advanced functional materials requires insight at the\r\natomic level. In this respect, molecular modelling is an interdisciplinary field that allows gaining\r\ninformation on the physical phenomena that govern the behaviour of these materials at the\r nanoscale. It has attracted increasing interest due to the systematically growing computer\r\ncapabilities and the continuous optimization of physical models and numerical algorithms. The\r\napplication fields are very diverse, going from chemistry, molecular physics, solid-state physics,\r\nand materials physics to nanophysics.\r\nIn this course, nanoscale modelling techniques are introduced by building upon concepts from\r\nquantum mechanics, statistical physics, and atomic and molecular physics, focusing on the\r\napplicability of these concepts and the rational approximations necessary to model real-life\r\nnanostructured materials with industrial relevance. To model these nanosized functional\r\nmaterials, a variety of simulation techniques are discussed and applied in this course. These\r\nmodelling techniques vary from quantum mechanics based methods, which are ideally suited to\r\nstudy complex nanosystems of limited sizes or at restricted time scales, to classical force field\r\nbased methods, which are able to describe phenomena taking place on the microsecond scale\r\nin systems of several tens of nanometers in size. These techniques are then applied to study\r\nstructural, mechanical, spectroscopic, and thermal properties of molecules and solids. The\r\ncourse focuses on the development of functional materials for engineering applications in the\r\nconversion and storage of energy, the sensing of chemical and physical stimuli, and heat\r\nmanagement on the nanoscale. The student will learn to work with different software packages\r\nwhich are commonly used in scientific research.\nThe most common strategy to model nanoscale systems is to apply the Born-Oppenheimer\r\napproximation, in which the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom are decoupled. The\r\nenergy of the system then reduces to a parametric function of the position of the atomic nuclei.\r\nThe resulting multidimensional energy hypersurface is referred to as the potential energy\r\nsurface (PES) and governs the structural flexibility of the considered material. This course\r\ndemonstrates how the PES can be constructed from quantum mechanical information\r\n(electronic-structure methods) or more approximate techniques (force fields), and how\r\nadequate sampling of the PES allows recovering macroscopic properties of the material. These\r\nmethods are used to gain insight into materials behaviour at the nanoscale and develop design\r\nstrategies based on atomic information.\r\nThe course consists of the following main parts:\r\n1 Introduction to molecular modelling: typical engineering applications, typical time and length\r\n1 scales, interatomic interactions\r\n2 Sampling techniques to derive macroscopic properties from the potential energy surface:\r\n1 normal-mode analysis, partition functions, molecular dynamics, rare-event sampling\r\n1 schemes, Monte Carlo approaches, vibrational spectroscopy\r\n3 Many-body electronic-structure methods: Hartree-Fock, post-Hartree-Fock, density1 functional theory, electronic spectroscopy\r\n4 Basis sets for the description of electronic states: localized basis sets, plane-wave basis\r\n1 sets, pseudopotentials, projector-augmented wave method\r\n5 Molecular mechanics to model larger systems on longer time scales: force field methods,\r\n1 atom-in-molecule partitioning\r\n6 First-principles materials design to rationally identify materials with outstanding performance\r\n1 in, for instance thermal engineering (thermal conductivity, heat capacity), mechanical\r\n1 engineering (elastic constants, structural flexibility), electronic engineering (band gap, charge\r\n1 carrier mobility, UV/visible/infrared spectrum)\r." . . "Presential"@en . "FALSE" . . "Nanotechnology"@en . . . . . . "Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy"@en . . "https://images.communicate.vub.ac.be/Web/VUB/%7Be03fbc44-87f1-488a-badd-e287777c0353%7D_WE_oplBrochure_MB_EN_Physics-Astronomy_8P.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=eloqua&utm_content=MARCOM%20REKRUTERING%20brochure%20download%20ENG&%3Cutm_campaign= https://www.vub.be/en/studying-vub/all-study-programmes-vub/bachelors-and-masters-programmes-vub/master-in-physics-and-astronomy/program/master/master-physics-and-astronomy-minor-research\n" . "120"^^ . "Presential"@en . "The Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy: Minor Research is composed of 30 ECTS compulsory courses, 30 ECTS master thesis, 10-12 ECTS external mobility courses and 48-50 ECTS minor Research Electives. Our Master is jointly organized with UGent.\n\nPhysics aims at understanding the world around us by observing it from the smallest scales to the scale of the universe itself. From those observations, models are built to allow us to understand, explain and eventually predict the behavior of nature. The Master in Physics and Astronomy provides a comprehensive education in physics covering the particle physics, general relativity, astrophysics and the study of complex systems.\n\nThis master will give you quantitative and analytic skills that are useful to solve many problems arising in many areas beyond physics."@en . . . "2"@en . "TRUE" . . "Master"@en . "Thesis" . "1092.10" . "Euro"@en . "3620.00" . "Recommended" . "As a physicist you will be in high demand on the job market. With a master in Physics and Astronomy from VUB, you will have the knowledge and skills to land a job in one of many diverse sectors.\n\nThere is plenty of work in scientific research at universities and research institutes. In industry, in modelling, statistics and informatics. Alternatively, work on risk analysis and modelling in the banking, finance or pharmaceuticals sectors. You will also be valuable in the field of education. Infinite opportunities, in fact!"@en . "2"^^ . "TRUE" . "Upstream"@en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .