[Event] Inaugural Lecture by Prof. David Bowler

 At the same time, computational modelling has increased in both predictive accuracy and size of system that can be addressed so that it can make quantitative predictions for realistic models of surfaces, but needs guidance in what to model.  I will discuss how a combination of both experiment and theory can lead to a significant synergy, giving novel insights.  However, it is not trivial to understand the capabilities and limitations of different techniques, and considerable effort is needed to build bridges between the disciplines, to find a common language.

I will also discuss other areas where bridge building has featured in my career: linear scaling density functional theory, which bridges between traditional methods and less accurate, larger scale methods; teaching, where it is vital to bridge between the understanding of the teacher and the student; between different cultures, focussing on my strong links with Japan; and between science and religion, where artificial divides have been created.

Biography:

David Bowler studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, and, after a year's voluntary work in a church and two years' work modelling GaAs field-effect transistors for a start-up company, worked on growth of silicon surfaces for his D. Phil at Oxford University.  After one year's post-doctoral work at Keele University, he moved to UCL.  He was awarded an EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1999 and a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2001.  He was appointed as Lecturer in Physics in 2002, and Principal Investigator in the London Centre for Nanotechnology in 2006.  In 2004 he spent nine months as Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, where he is now Principal Investigator in the International Centre for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, and was Professeur Invité in the University of Bordeaux 2012-2013.