This is the official website of the Structure and Dynamics Group (SanD) of the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines Diliman. SanD was established in 2003 and is one of the youngest of the six research laboratories of the NIP. The areas of specialization of SanD scientists include computational physics, condensed matter physics, statistical physics, and quantum information theory. A recurring theme of SanD's research is the interplay between the structure of a physical system and its dynamical behavior. SanD is also developing competency in high-performance computing on a custom-built computing cluster to take advantage of multi-core computers for intensive numerical calculations.
Former SanD student Paul Ang participated in the Second Training Workshop on Regional Climate Modeling for Southeast Asia at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi last 22-26 October 2018. Organized by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment in South-East Asia (CORDEX-SEA), the workshop included training sessions for the RegCM4 regional climate model and lectures on the latest progress of CORDEX-SEA.
SanD researchers presented 23 papers at the 36th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas Physics Conference in Puerto Princesa City last 6 to 9 June 2018. This international conference was one of the largest organized by SPP with 369 participants coming from 11 countries. The sessions were highlighted by talks on frontier topics by 30 invited speakers coming from strong academic and research institutions, several of whom have ties with SanD members.
The poster presentation of Daniel Marquez was recognized as the best technical poster at the recently concluded DOST-SEI ASTHRDP Graduate Scholars' Conference held last 18-19 June 2018. His presentation on the magnetic interaction in a two-dimensional electron gas is part of his MS thesis work supervised by Cristine Villagonzalo.
The ICTP Asian Network on Condensed Matter and Complex Systems links scientists of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste and several research groups in Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. The network node in the Philippines is coordinated by SanD faculty Cristine Villagonzalo and involves physicists from MSU-IIT, UP Diliman, and UP Los Baños.
Materials Science and Engineering masters student Meltion Chiong III was one of the poster presenters in the 9th Electronic Structure and Processes at Molecular-based Interfaces (ESPMI9) Conference held last 8-10 November 2017 at the National University of Singapore. His research employs density functional theory to describe the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide by the metalloorganic molecule cobalt-salen. The conference was jointly organized by the the Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics of the National University of Singapore.
SanD is collecting Math and Physics textbooks and scientific calculators via drop-off at the UPPA Tambayan. Received items will be packaged for the Mindanao State University–Main Campus Department of Physics by 08 December 2017.
