Two PhD studentships are available in the "Computational Spintronics Group" in the Physics Department at Trinity College Dublin (IRELAND). The project is sponsored by Science Foundation of Ireland and is part of a collaboration between TCD and the group of Prof. K. Burke at Rutgers University (USA).

Both PhD projects will involve the development and the numerical implementation of quantum transport techniques combined with density functional or other electronic structure methods. Most of the implementations will be based on the existing Dublin quantum transport code Smeagol. Strong collaborations with other groups both in Europe and the USA are envisaged. Both the students will be based in Dublin, although long visiting periods at Rutgers are
planned.

The first of the two projects is focused on the investigation of the effects of non-local exchange and correlation functionals on molecular transport. This will define the range of applicability of existing methods, and it will form the basis for a fully quantitative transport theory.

The main aim of the second project is the development of a fully quantitative transport theory incorporating inelastic effects. These are essential for the description of realistic molecular devices under bias. Problems connected with quantum dissipations and current induced forces will be addressed.

The studentships will commence ideally on the 1st August 2005. We are seeking for strongly motivated students with an excellent general background in Physics and good computational skills. A previous experience in electronic structure method or transport theory will be considered as a plus.

Candidates are invited to send a CV together with the full addresses of two potential referees (including e-mail) by post or e-mail to:

Dr. Stefano Sanvito
Department of Physics
Trinity College
Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel: +353-1-6083065
Fax: +353-1-6711759
E-mail: sanvitos@tcd.ie