MOLECULAR UNIVERSE

The Basel team is lead by Prof J.P.Maier (JPM) and includes two groups : Prof. J.P.Maier (JPM)'s group and Prof. M. Meuwly's group.

Expertise in Research and Complementarity
The group of Prof J.P.Maier (JPM) has been among the world leaders for over two decades in the development and application of spectroscopic methods to characterize the electronic and infrared spectra of astrophysically interesting carbon chains, their ions and related species. The same group also houses experts in the field of molecular physics, in particular in the area of collisional excitation calculations. Prof.Maier holds the chair of physical chemistry at the University of Basel and has had substantial support for this research area from the Swiss Science National Foundation (SNSF) and the University of Basel. JPM contributions to the understanding to the spectroscopy and dynamics of ions, radicals and ionic complexes were recognized in the past by a number of scientific prizes from the U.K., Switzerland and Germany and led in 1999 to his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. The current research group retains its momentum in this area and comprises of around 10 PhD students and 5 Postdocs. The group has maintained a number of collaborations or close scientific links with European and North American research groups. Among the European ones, several are proposed participants in the "Molecular Universe" network.

The group of Prof. M. Meuwly is internationally recognized for its contributions to the understanding of intermolecular interactions and dynamics ranging from small molecules and molecular clusters to condensed phase systems. Prof. Meuwly is a Swiss National Science Foundation Research Professor supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the University of Basel and the industry. The group is specialized in describing and modifying potential energy surfaces for the elucidation of high-resolution and vibrational spectra. To this end methodologies such as the vibrational adiabatic correction or the potential morphing method have been devised and are being further developed. There is also considerable knowledge in mixed quantum classical simulation techniques. The current group consists of 3 (2F/1M) PhD students and 4 (3M/1F) postdocs.
Expertise in Training and Knowledge Transfer
The PhD students will be employed in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Basel. PhD students are educated at the postgraduate level, participate in regular research seminars and contribute to the education of students at the graduate and master level. In addition, they attend seminars in the departments of Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, and at the Biozentrum. This provides the basis for interdisciplinary education.
Over the past four years, JPM has supervised around 20 PhD students (16M, 4F) of whom 10 have graduated and 10 are currently pursuing their PhD. He has also supervised 10 PDFs (9M, 1F), of whom 5 are current.

Involvement of Key Scientific Staff.

Significant References

Spectroscopy
1. Gas phase electronic spectra of carbon chain radicals compared with diffuse interstellar band observations T.Motylewski, H.Linnartz, O.Vaizert, J.P.Maier, G.A.Galazutdinov, F.A.Museev, J.Krelowski, G.A.H.Walker and D.A.Bohlender, Astrophys.J., 531, 312 (2000)
2. Electronic spectra of carbon chains- relevance to astrophysics J.P.Maier, in The Physics and Chemistry of Clusters; Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 117, eds E.E.B.Cambell and M.Larsson, World Scientific, London, p.219 (2001)

Interaction and Nuclear Dynamics
3. Nutt DR, Meuwly M Migration in native and mutant myoglobin: Atomistic simulations for the understanding of protein function PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 101 (16): 5998-6002 APR 20 2004
4. Meuwly M, Hutson JM Potential energy surfaces and bound states for the open-shell van der Waals cluster Br-HF JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS 119 (17): 8873-8881 NOV 1 2003
5. Meuwly M, Hutson JM Morphing ab initio potentials: A systematic study of Ne-HF JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS 110 (17): 8338-8347 MAY 1 1999