MARVEL Fest: party-ing away

Jul 09, 2026, 9:00 until Jul 10, 2026, 13:00, EPFL, Forum Rolex

On July 9-10, 2026, MARVEL final event at EPFL will close 12 years of research and activities on computational materials science. This event will be dedicated to the accomplishments of MARVEL and to the relevance of these to the industrial and technological ecosystem, inviting alumni and key players worldwide in academia and industry, SNSF review panel, scientific and industrial advisory boards, EPFL leadership, and scientific journalists. Discover the preliminary program of July 9.

Thursday July 9th will be dedicated to people and science, bringing together colleagues and partners who have shaped the initiative over the years.

Venue: Forum Rolex, EPFL

Schedule

09:00 - Welcoming and introduction: Nicola Marzari (MARVEL Director, EPFL)

09:15 - The quantum of material
Chair: Joost VandeVondele

  • Quantum and AI for a Future of Materials Marvels
    Matthias Troyer (Microsoft)
  • Ana Akrap (University of Zagreb)
  • First-Principles Methods for Magnetotransport Calculations in Real Materials with WannierTools
    Quansheng Wu (Institute of Physics - Chinese Academy of Sciences)
  • There’s Plenty of MARVEL at the Bottom: Quantum Materials from Topology to Technology and Industry
    Antimo Marrazzo (SISSA, Trieste, Italy)

10:55 - Coffee break

11:30 - The design of materials
Chair: TBC

  • Anatole Von Lilienfeld (University of Toronto)
  • From Promising to Realistic Energy Materials
    Julia Wiktor (Chalmers University of Technology)
  • Unraveling subnanocluster stability, fluxionality and adsorbate coverage with MLIPs
    Rubén Laplaza Solanas (University of Sevilla)

12:45 - Signature, CECAM-PSI agreement (Andrea Cavalli, Barbara Montanari, Christian Rüegg)

12:55 - Lunch

14:15 - Round Table: The future of materials
Chair: TBC

  • Raffaela Cabriolu (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
  • Anya Gryn’ova (University of Birmingham)
  • Giulia Mangione (Stellantis)
  • Kevin Jablonka (Technical University of Munich)
  • Senja Barthel (Vrije Universitet Amsterdam)

15:00 - The machine learning of materials
Chair: Michele Ceriotti

  • Jigyasa Nigam (MIT, Boston)
  • Philippe Schwaller (EPFL, Lausanne)
  • Enabling Catalyst Innovation with Machine Learning: Connecting High‑Throughput Computation and Experiment
    Sandip De (BASF, Germany)

16:15 - Coffee break

16:45 - The community of materials
Chair: Sara Bonella

  • From Research Communities to AI‑enhanced Collectives: Why the Social Fabric of Science Matters More Than Ever
    Barbara Montanari (STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK)
  • Electronic-structure research and community in sub-Saharan Africa: a
    personal and a collective journey
    Garu Gebreyesus (University of Ghana)
  • Project GlasAgent - Building blocks for agentic glass development
    Leopold Talirz (SCHOTT, Germany)

18:00 - Apero

19:00 - End

The private session on Friday July 10th will be dedicated to the discussion of the final report, presenting an overview of the 12 years, with a reflection on the initial vision and goals, main achievements, lessons learned, etc. The meeting will gather the review panel,  the representative of EPFL as home institution, as well as MARVEL management and Executive board.

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