COSY Academy Day will merge expertise on WG1, WG2, WG3, WG4, and WG5.
The program will include practical sessions (with a duration of two hours and a half) having doctoral candidates (Katarzyna M. Krupka and Keshav Sishodia) and an early-career researcher (Silvia Alessandrini) as trainers. It will also encompass instructive lectures (with duration of 35 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions) by international experts on confined molecular systems, including Wolfgang Ernst, the AVC (Cristina Puzzarini), Alberto García-Vela, Markus Meuwly, Nadine Halberstadt, and the AC (María Pilar de Lara-Castells). Part of the instructive lectures will take place the 1st day of the event (2 October) from 14:00 to 17:20. As topics, they will include an overview on the experimental characterization of metal clusters synthesized within helium nanodroplets, an overview of concepts and methodological strategies to address novel aspects of metal clusters, down to the subnanometer scale, as well as instructive talks on the calculation of vibrational states of triatomic metallic clusters and machine-learned potential models for atomistic simulations. The second day, 3 October, will be chaired by the Social Media Manager of the COST Action and Marie Curie doctoral candidate, Katarzyna M. Krupka. The goal of her 1st practical session will be to learn how to calculate intermolecular interactions using Symmetry Adapted Peturbation Theory (SAPT) in two versions (Hartree-Fock and Density Functional Theory). The 2nd practical session will be preceded by an overview lecture delivered by Nadine Halberstadt on the simulation of equilibrium properties and dynamics processes of helium nanodroplets using Helium Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (He-TDDFT). A hands-on session to run He-TDDFT simulations by Keshav Sishodia will follow. Finally, in the afternoon of October 3, a session addressing gas-phase astrochemistry, both reactivity and spectroscopy, will be delivered by Cristina Puzzarini (overview lecture) and Silvia Alessandrini (hands-on session). The COSY Academy Day is dedicated to PhD students or young postdocs working either in theory or experiment, covering illustrative cases across all WGs. The maximum number of participants is determined by the capacity of the training conference room (24 participants). The trainees should bring their laptops for the practical sessions, taking place in the ‘Pabellón Trasanlántico’ at CSIC Residence.
Scientific Committee:
María Pilar de Lara-Castells – Action Chair (CSIC group ABINITFOT)
Katarzyna M. Krupka – Social Media Manager (CSIC group ABINITFOT)
Alberto García-Vela – CSIC group ABINITFOT
Silvia Alessandrini – University of Bologna
Venue:
The meeting will take place in the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) Central Campus.
CSIC Central Campus is located in one of the most important and commercial streets of Madrid (Serrano), in the Embassies’ quarter, not far from the downtown, ten minutes walking from the Paseo de la Castellana, 30 minutes by Metro from Puerta del Sol (downtown centre) and half an hour by taxi from Madrid-Barajas airport. CSIC Central campus can be conveniently reached by Subway Line 6 (GRAY LINE), “Republica Argentina” station (exit “Joaquín Costa, pares), as depicted in the map below.
City bus (EMT) lines # 16, 19, and 51 and N1 (night service) pass by the CSIC Central Campus. Information about current fares and time tables can be obtained in the EMT web page (in Spanish). Briefly,
Bus 16: Moncloa – Avenida de Pío XII
Bus 19: Plaza de Cataluña – Plaza de Legazpi
Bus 51: Puerta del Sol – Plaza del Perú
Bus N1 (night service): Plaza de la Cibeles – Sanchinarro
From the airport:
Madrid-Barajas airport has four terminals. As described in the homepage of the airport, all terminals are conveniently connected to the Metro Subway Line 8 (PINK LINE), which ends up in “Nuevos Ministerios”, 10 min. walk from the CSIC Central Campus (see the map below). You can download the Map of the Subway Network in pdf format here.
Several bus lines run from the Madrid-Barajas airport to downtown Madrid (click here). For example, you can use the EMT Airport Express Service 24h to/from “Plaza de Cilbeles”.
Taxis are also available at Madrid-Barajas airport (about half an hour to CSIC Central Campus and a fixed rate of 33 euros).
October 2: Conference Room at “Centro de Física Miguel Antonio Catalan” (C/Serrano 121, Madrid)
October 3: CSIC Residence (C/Pinar, 21-23, Madrid)
Program:
2 October
- 13:30–14:00: Registration
- 14:00–14:30: Wolfgang Ernst – “Clusters and Nanoparticles Grown Inside Superfluid Helium Nanodroplets”
- 14:30–15:00: María Pilar de Lara-Castells – “Unsupported and Surface-Supported Atomic Metal Clusters. Interplay Between Jahn-Teller Distortions, Fluxionality, and Catalysis”
- 15:00–16:00: Coffee Break
- 16:00–16:30: Alberto García-Vela – “Finding the Vibrational States of Triatomic Metallic Ag₃ Clusters Showing Jahn-Teller Distortions”
- 16:30–17:00: Markus Meuwly – “Machine-Learned Potentials for Quantitative Atomistic Simulations”
3 October
- 09:00–11:00: Katarzyna M. Krupka – “Let us run SAPT calculations! Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation Theory for intermolecular interactions.”
- 11:00–11:30: Coffee Break
- 11:30-12:00: Nadine Halberstadt – “How to simulate equilibrium properties and dynamic processes in ⁴He nanodroplets using ⁴He-(TD)DFT”
- 12:00-14:00: Keshav Sishodia – “Let us run He-(TD)DFT simulations!”
- 14:00–15:00: Lunch
- 15:00–15:30: Cristina Puzzarini – “Overview on Astrochemistry”
- 15:30–17:30: Silvia Alessandrini – “Hands-on gas-phase astrochemistry: reactivity and spectroscopy”
- 17:30-18:00: Coffee Break
Registration (sold out!):
COSY Academy Day
October 2nd-3rd, 2025, CSIC (Madrid)
The deadline for registration: September 3rd, 2025, or up to reach the maximum number of participants.
Please fill in the form below and upload the supporting documents as a single file containing:
– CV (1-page max);
– a motivational letter (1-page max.)
