Every year, the MN Faculty of the University of Oslo recognizes the new YRT and ERC grantees with a ceremony. Thursday 7 April it was time to celebrate the winners of both 2020 and 2021 calls. At this event, Hylleraas researchers Dr. Abril Castro and Dr. André Laestadius were celebrated for their new research projects.
Dr. Abril C. Castro was awarded a FRIPRO Young Research Talent Grant from the Research Council of Norway for the project Accurate Prediction and Interpretation of NMR Spectra in Transition-Metal Complexes (SpecTraM). This research project aims to provide a broader modelling of NMR properties in heavy transition-metal compounds, combining robust and non-conventional quantum-chemistry methods capable of accurately represent the interactions of the molecule within the environment and the NMR parameter of interest. SpecTraM is a 3.5-year project with a budget of 8 million NOK, allowing the project leader to hire one PhD student.
Dr. André Laestadius was awarded the ERC Starting Grant Regularized Density-Functional Analysis (Regal). The aim of the proposal is to study and apply generalizations of the Moreau–Yosida regularization to DFT. This unconventional approach may have transformative impact on the development of approximate functionals as well as the KS iteration scheme itself. The project begins on 1st September 2022. On the project, André will hire two PhD students and two postdocs. The budget is 1.5 million euros.
The grant winners, MN Faculty staff, and other prominent attendants joined the celebration at the Physics building of the Blindern campus. Ingse Noremsaune from the Section of Research opened the ceremony and the Rector at the University of Oslo, Svein Stølen, gave a speech. The audience listened and cheered the winners, becoming a joyful celebration of success and achievement.
Congratulations to Abril and André!