Jónsson research group

Current group members:

• Prof. Hannes Jónsson
• Alejandro Pena-Torres, post-doc
• Amrita Goswami, post-doc
• Rohit Goswami, Ph.D. student
• Ivan Tambovtsev, Ph.D. student
• Alec E. Sigurðarson, Ph.D. student
• Magnus A. H. Christiansen, Ph.D. student (Elvar Ö. Jónsson co-advisor)

Associated members:

• Elvar Ö. Jónsson, Research Assistant Prof., Science Institute of UI
• Gianluca Levi, Group Leader, Science Institute of the Univ. of Iceland
• Elli Selenius, post-doc, Science Institute of UI
• Moritz Sallermann, Ph.D. student at UI and at RWTH Aachen University in Germany (co-advisor with Prof. Stefan Blügel in Forschungszentrum Jülich)
• Hendrik Schrautzer, Ph.D. student at the University of Iceland (co-advisor with Dr. Pavel Bessarab, Associate Professor at Linnaeus Univ.)
• Anoop A. Nair, Ph.D. student at University of Iceland (co-advisor with Dr. Elvar Ö. Jónsson, Science Institute)
• Thorben Pürling, Ph.D. student at UI and at RWTH Aachen University in Germany (co-advisor with Prof. Stefan Blügel in Forschungszentrum Jülich)
• Louis Thirion, Ph.D. student at UI and at Friedrich-Alexander U. in Erlangen-Nürnberg (co-advisor with Prof. Philipp Hansmann, FAU in Erlangen-Nürnberg)
• Ólafur Siemsen Sigurðarson, Ph.D. student at UI and at Linnaeus Univ. in Sweden (co-advisor with Dr. Pavel Bessarab, Associate Professor at Linnaeus Univ.)
• Óskar G. Kristinsson, M.S. student

Former Ph.D. students:

• Marie Villarba, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW in 1995, thesis title: 'Atomic-scale Processes Relevant to Metal Crystal Growth: Pt/Pt(111)'. FT Tenured Chemistry Faculty at Seattle Central Community College.
• Alexandra S. Goldstein, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 1995, thesis title: 'Computer Simulations of Amorphous Copper-Zirconium'. Software developer in Seattle.
• Greg Mills, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 1996, thesis title: 'A General Formulation of Quantum Transition State Theory'. Research Associate at Univ. of California Santa Barbara.
• Srinivasan Srivilliputhur, Ph.D. in Materials Science from UW (co-advisor with Prof. G. Kalonji) 1998, thesis title: 'Trijunctions in Thin Films: A Computer Simulation Study'. Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas.
• Enrique R. Batista, Ph.D. in Physics from UW 1999, thesis title: 'Development of a New Water-Water Interaction Potential and Application to Molecular Processes in Ice'. Deputy Director of the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
• Gísli H. Jóhannesson, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 2000, thesis title: 'Optimal Hyperplanar Transition State Theory'. Director of hte Mathematics and Physical Sciences Division of Keilir Academy in Iceland.
• Grace Siswanto Sun, Ph.D. in Physics from UW 2000, thesis title: 'Simulations of Platinum Growth on Pt(111) Using Density Functional Theory and Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations'. Enterpreneur in Beijing.
• Blas Uberuaga, Ph.D. in Physics from UW 2000, thesis title: 'Diffusion in Semiconductors: A Theoretical Study'. Laboratory Fellow at Los Alamos National Labs.
• Graeme Henkelman, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 2001, thesis title: 'Methods for Calculating Rates of Transitions with Application to Catalysis and Crystal Growth'. Professor at the University of Texas in Austin.
• Renee Van Ginhoven, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 2002, thesis title: 'Self-trapped Excitons, Defects and Water Impurities in Silica'. Senior Research Scientist at Air Force Research Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Todd Stedl, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 2003, thesis title: 'Computational Investigations of the Dynamics of Chlorine Dioxide'. Application Manager, Montreal.
• Andri Arnaldsson, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 2007, thesis title: 'Calculation of quantum mechanical rate constants directly from ab initio atomic forces'. Senior Geothermal Reservoir Scientist at Vatnaskil Consulting Engineers.
• Margaret Gabriel, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW 2007, thesis title: 'Electronic Defects in Silicon Dioxide'. Researcher at the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission, Grenoble.
• Líney Árnadóttir, Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UW (co-advisor with Prof. E. Stuve) 2007, thesis title: 'Oxidation of small organic molecules on Platinum, electrochemical and theoretical study'. Professor at Oregon State Univ., Catalysis Science at PNNL, and Guest Prof. at UI.
• Andreas Pedersen, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI 2008, thesis title: 'Long Time Scale Simulations of Materials using Distributed Computing'. IT consultant in Copenhagen.
• Edda Sif Pind Aradóttir, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI 2011, thesis title: 'Reactive transport models of CO2-water-basalt interaction and applications to CO2 mineral sequestration'. CEO of Carbfix in Iceland.
• Sigríður Guðmundsdóttir, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI 2011, thesis title: 'Calculations of Molecular Interactions with Edges and Steps on Platinum Surfaces'. Specialist at Rio Tinto in Iceland.
• Simon Klüpfel, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI 2012, thesis title: 'Implementation and reassessment of the Perdew-Zunger self-interaction correction'. Director of Informatics at Axelyf in Iceland.
• Pavel Bessarab, Ph.D. in Chemistry and Physics, thesis title: 'Theoretical description of stability and transitions between magnetic states'. Senior lecturer at the Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Linnaeus University.
• Hildur Guðmundsdsóttir, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI 2014, thesis title: 'Implementation of self-interaction correction to density functionals and application to Rydberg and defect states'. Works in at Össur in Iceland.
• Manuel Plasencia Gutiérrez, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI 2015, thesis title: 'Searching for saddle points and global minima'. Enterpreneur in Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Yao Zhang, Ph.D. in Chemistry from Brown University 2016 (co-advisor: Peter M. Weber), thesis title: 'Coherent Structural Dynamics of Rydberg-Excited Molecules'. Software engineer at Google.
• Javed Hussein, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI (co-advisor: E. Skúlason) 2016, thesis title: 'Calculations of carbon dioxide electroreduction to hydrocarbons and alcohols'. Project manager at Alvotech in Iceland.
• Harri Mökkönen, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI and Applied Physics from Aalto Univ. (co-advisor: T. Ala-Nissila) 2016, thesis title: 'Escape rates of externally confined polymers'. Senior Software Engineer at Huld.
• Sergei Vlasov, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI and Physics from ITMO University in St. Petersburg, (co-advisor: V.M. Uzdin, ITMO Univ.) 2017, thesis title: 'Quantum mechanical tunneling between magnetic states'. Team Lead Data Scientist at Conundrums in Berlin.
• Sergei Liashko, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI and Physics from ITMO University in St. Petersburg, (co-advisor: Prof. V.M. Uzdin, ITMO Univ.) 2017, thesis title: 'Temperature-induced magnetization reversals in micromagnetic systems', Software engineer in St. Petersburg.
• Gideon Müller, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI and Physics from RWTH Aachen Univ. (co-advisor: Prof. S. Blügel in Forschungszentrum Jülich) 2019, thesis title: 'Advanced methods for atomic scale spin simulations and applications to localized magnetic states'. Software Engineer at NVIDIA.
• Olli-Pekka Koistinen, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI and Computer Science from Aalto Univ. (co-advisor: Prof. A. Vehtari, Aalto Univ. in Finland) 2020, thesis title: 'Algorithms for Finding Saddle Points and Minimum Energy Paths Using Gaussian Process Regression'. Research Engineer at Suunto.
• Aleksei Ivanov, Ph.D. in Chemistry, simultaneously completed a separate PhD thesis in Physics at St. Petersburg State Univ. 2021, thesis title: 'Calculations of Ground and Excited Electronic States Using Self-Interaction Corrected Density Functionals'. Quantum Scientist at Riverlane in Cambridge, UK.
• Björn Kirchhoff, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2021, thesis title: 'Computational Studies of Oxygen Reduction Catalysts'. Postdoctoral fellow habilitating at Ulm University.
• Kusse Sukuta Bersha, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2021, thesis title: 'Determination of the Atomic Structure of Metal Nanoclusters from Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope Images'.
• Vilhjálmur Ásgeirsson, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2021, thesis title: 'Development and evaluation of computational methods for studies of chemical reactions'. Patent specialist at Árnason Faktor in Iceland.
• Mariia Potkina, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2022, thesis title: 'Stability and dynamics of chiral magnetic structures in ferro- and antiferromagnets'. Post-doc at ITMO University in St. Petersburg.
• Yorick L. A. Schmerwitz, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2024, thesis title: 'Saddle Point Search Methods for Calculations of Excited Electronic States', Post-doc at Max Planck Inst. in Mülheim in Germany (Neese group).
• Sander Hanslin, Ph.D. in Chemistry from UI and Physics from NTNU in Norway, 2024, (co-advisor with Prof. Jaakko Akola, NTNU Norway) thesis title: 'Voltage-dependent hydrogen evolution kinetics on MoS2 based electrocatalysts', Post-doc at DTU in Denmark (Nørskov group).
• Benedikt O. Birgisson, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2024, thesis title: 'Calculations of photoinduced energy relaxation and atomic rearrangement of molecules'. Adjunct at UI in Iceland.

Former post-docs:

• Hong Yan, Ph.D. in Physics. Professor of Finance, Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance.
• Arthur Smith, Ph.D. in Physics. Journal Information Systems, American Physical Society.
• Shelly Shumway, Ph.D. in Physics.
• Ante Bilic, Ph.D. in Physics. Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO.
• Fernando Vila, Ph.D. in Chemistry. Research associate in Physics Dpt., Univ. of Washington.
• Jakyoung Song, Ph.D. in Physics.
• Thomas Bligaard, Ph.D. in Physics. Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
• William Stier, Ph.D. in Chemistry. Lecturer at Bellevue Community College, WA, USA.
• Kiril Tsemekhman, Ph.D. in Physics. Chief Data Officer at Integral Ad Science.
• Stefan Andersson, Ph.D. in Chemistry. Staff scientist at SINTEF.
• Andri Arnaldsson, Ph.D. in Chemistry. Works at the engineering firm Mannvit.
• Jean-Claude Berthet, Ph.D. in Physics. Works at the engineering firm Mannvit.
• Peter Klüpfel, Ph.D. in Physics. Later post-doc in Toulouse, France.
• Egill Skúlason, Ph.D. in Engineering Physics. Now Professor at Univ. of Iceland
• Andreas Pedersen, Ph.D. in Physics. Now post-doc at ETH in Zurich.
• Susi Lehtola (at Aalto Univ.), Ph.D. in Physics. Now post-doc at U.C. Berkeley.
• Anna Garden, Assistant Professor at U. of Otago, New Zeeland.
• Carlos Argáez, Ph.D. in Mathematics. Now post-doc at Reykjavik University.
• Emile Maras, Ph.D. in Materials Science (co-advisor: Prof. Ala-Nissila, Aalto University).
• Donato Fantauzzi, Ph.D. in Chemistry. Works at Porche.
• Tushar Ghosh, Ph.D. in Chemistry, post-doc at Leuven University in Belgium.
• Maxime Van den Bossche, Ph.D. in Chemistry, works at 'Facilities for Research, ICTS, KU Leuven' in Belgium.
• Elvar Ö. Jónsson, Research Assistant Prof., Science Institute of UI
• Marta Galynska, Ph.D. in Chemistry, ressearcher in Poland.
• Asmus O. Dohn, Research Associate at DTU Physics Dpt.
• Gianluca Levi, now Group Leader at the Science Institute of the Univ. of Iceland.
• Kuber Rawat, later post-doc in Belgium.
• Ming Geng, later post-doc at Oslo Univ.
• Hemanadhan Myneni, later post-doc in Computer Science Dpt. at UI.

Former Master of Science students at UI:

• Finnbogi Óskarsson, thesis title: 'Theoretical calculations of hydrogen in magnesium and magnesium hydride with and without impurities'. Staff member at Icelandic Energy Research (ISOR).
• Gabriel Camargo, thesis title: 'Theoretical Studies of Magnesium Titanium Hydride and Evaluation of its Hydrogen Storage Properties'. Works in Brazil.
• Egill Skúlason, thesis title: 'Theoretical Calculations of Electrochemical Processes: Formation of Ammonia and Hydrogen'. Now Professor at Univ. of Iceland.
• Edda Sif Aradóttir, thesis title: 'Theoretical Calculations on Magnesium Transition Metal Hydrides: structure, stability and diffusivity'. Works at Reykjavik Energy.
• Jón Bergmann Maronsson, thesis title: 'Theoretical Calculations of Electrochemical Systems'. Works at Siminn.
• Jón Steinar G. Mýrdal, thesis title: 'Theoretical Studies of Aluminum Based Nano Scale Materials for Hydrogen Storage'. Researcher at Risoe/DTU in Denmark.
• Pavel Bessarab, thesis title: 'The Effect of Hydrogen on the Magnetic Properties of Supported Nano Scale Clusters'. Research Assistant Prof. at Univ. of Iceland.
• Dóróthea M. Einarsdóttir, thesis title: 'Implementation of harmonic quantum transition state theory for multidimensional systems'. High school teacher.
• Gabríel Gunnarssson, thesis title: 'Calculations of diffusion and surface reactions involving H-adatoms at low temperature' (co-advisor: Kjartan Th. Wikfeldt).
• Avan A. Faraj, thesis title: 'Calculations of adsorption and diffusion of H-atom on FCC(100) and BCC(100) transition metal surfaces' (co-advisors: Anna Garden, Research Assistant at UI; and Egill Skúlason, Professor at UI).
• Vilhjálmur Ásgeirsson, thesis title: 'Atomic processes on Ice Surfaces in Interstellar Molecular Clouds' (co-advisor: Kjartan Th. Wikfeldt). Now Ph.D. student at Univ. of Iceland.
• Reynir Kristjánsson, thesis title: 'The Effect of Dimensionality on Boosted Molecular Dynamics'.
• Heiðar Már Aðalsteinsson, thesis title: 'Quantum chemical calculations of redox properties of transition metal complexes'.
• Alec E. Sigurðarson, thesis title: 'Variational Density Functional Calculations of Rydberg Excited States with and without Self-Interaction Correction'.