The roadmap of the European Materials Modelling Council has identified a strong need in European industries for materials modelling, especially on the atomic, molecular and quantum level. A key bottleneck is the lack of scientists that can translate industrial problems into modelling strategies, to carry out simulations with the right tools, or to derive results of practical engineering value.
EUSpecLab addresses this problem by training a new generation of innovative material scientists that will bridge the gap between industrial processes and theoretical understanding, and leverage novel informatics tools in artificial intelligence.

EUSpecLab will train students in the theory, development and application of computer codes for the modelling of cutting-edge spectroscopies. Examples are the time and spin-resolved spectroscopies at the forefront of fundamental research in the characterization and designing of the new materials that will shape the future of our society. The results will be exploited using machine learning, to leverage first principles results and explore vast classes of materials. To provide beyond state-of-the-art training, EUSpecLab gathers the expertise of scientists in quantum physics/chemistry, in theory/ modelling and experimental methods, in computer science and artificial intelligence, in atomic and spin/time structure, working in academic laboratories and in companies involved in the making and modelling of materials. The students will become fluent with high-level programming, able to develop innovative computational approaches and software. With the involvement of the software or applied research companies, the Researchers will be exposed to the process of transforming research programs into professionally supported simulation platforms with applications to industrial problems.
The UNICAM research unit will recruit one Researcher (PhD student) working on the development of EXAFS data analysis for disordered systems (liquids and glasses) and its application to:
- studies of matter under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature
- studies of local-medium range structure effects on steels samples charged with hydrogen of interest for industrial applications (H reservoirs, fusion reactors) (in the framework of an intersectoral secondment to RINA Consulting Centro Sviluppo Materiali SpA)
UNICAM will also host and train to XAS experiments ESRs students seconded from other partner organizations and a school on materials properties, electronic correlation, spectroscopies and excitations.