ICTP School in Santiago, Chile

The Latin-American School on Computational Materials Science was held in Santiago de Chile on January 19-30. The School was organized by ICTP in collaboration with Universidad Andres Bello and Universidad de Chile, Santiago, and the Democritos Centre for Research in Atomistic Simulation, Trieste. The school included theoretical lectures on electronic-structure methods and computational laboratories aimed at training students to the use of advanced scientific codes for their own research. The codes are based on the numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation for the electrons, without any empirical input, and allow for the description of the mechanical, vibrational, electrical, magnetic and several other properties of materials with "chemical" accuracy.  The relatively low financial investment required for the computational equipment makes these methods ideal to carry out cutting-edge theoretical research in developing countries. About 60 participants from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, and Peru, attended the School. Lectures and computer laboratories were lead by 15 instructors from Italy, USA, Spain, Chile and Brazil. The School was organized by Eduardo P. Menendez (Universidad de Chile and ICTP Associate), Walter Orellana (Universidad Andres Bello), Stefano Cozzini (Democritos, Trieste), Paolo Giannozzi (Università di Udine), and Sandro Scandolo (ICTP).