'Possibly the most ambitious conference in materials and molecular modelling ever organised in the UK..at least I can't think of another that comes close in the past 20 years';
'I think that the distribution of attendees at the parallel sessions reflects the proportion of groups working in the respective areas. It is indeed promising to see so much interest in the new methods and method development! It's a sign of the vitality of the community'.
The above comments were made by members of the organising committee of this year's online, 2-day MMM Hub ++ Conference about materials and molecular modelling and high performance computing, and they reflect the conference's success and the strength of the support shown by the community of researchers and developers in this field.
The MMM Hub and Thomas Young Centre, together with the Collaborative Community Projects (CCPs): CCP5, CCP9, MCC, UKCP and CCPBioSim, organised the conference. STFC's Dr. Alin Elena was part of the organising committee and chaired two of the 'Surfaces and Interfaces' parallel sessions, with others led by delegates or chairs of the supporting CCPs.
Dr. Andrey Brukhno (STFC) gave a presentation: 'Interscale Simulation: a Novel Combined Methodology to Bridge Between
Scales and Methods in the session 'Biomolecules and Biological Soft Matter', which was one of three parallel thematic areas on the first day. The first afternoon was dedicated to providing a platform for Early Career Researchers to present their research.
Overall, the conference attracted more than 250 particpants from 17 countries across the world including Mexico, Iraq, Russia and Australia. Above are screenshots of the virtual conference including the entrance portal (left), and the booths for posters and exhibitors (right).
Dr. Elena was also on the organising committee and a session chair of the hybrid online and in-person workshop: 'Integrating Quantum Computers in Condensed Matter Physics Simulations', held over two days at the National Physical Laboratory, London. Supported by CCP5, CCP9, CECAM Daresbury node and NQCC, the aim of the event was to '....bring together experts from the quantum computing community with experts in condensed matter to give an overview of the field and of current developments, and to generate ideas for further quantum computing applications within condensed matter physics.'
Approximately 120 participants overall (including 25 venue attendees) listened to the talks given by invited speakers including Prof. Viv Kendon (Chair of CCP-QC), Dr. Tom O'Brien (Google), and Dr. Panagiotis Barkoutsos (IBM).
CCP5 is the Collaborative Computational Project for computer simulation of condensed phase materials at length scales spanning from atomistic to mesoscopic levels
CCP9 is the Collaborative Computational Project for the Study of the Electronic Structure of Condensed Matter
