Q&As

Dr Zhimei Sun – professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Beihang University – talks to Nature Computational Science about her career trajectory, her research on computational materials science and materials informatics, as well as her advice to young women scientists in these fields.

Dr Paulien Hogeweg — professor of bioinformatics at Utrecht University, who in the 1970s, together with Ben Hesper, coined the term ‘bioinformatics’ — talks to Nature Computational Science about her work on the Cellular Potts model, the integration of spatial information in modeling approaches, and her ongoing research on multilevel evolution.

Dr Barbara Liskov — a mostly retired Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a pioneer in object-oriented programming and distributed systems and the winner of the 2008 ACM A. M. Turing Award, which is the highest distinction in computer science — talks to Nature Computational Science about her work on data abstractions, her career trajectory and recognizing the contributions of women in computer science.

Dr Angela K. Wilson, director of the Michigan State University Center for Quantum Computing, Science and Engineering and John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, talks to Nature Computational Science about protein-based carbon-capture, the use of machine learning in computational chemistry, and making the research field more equitable for female researchers.

Dr Diyi Yang, Assistant Professor of computer science at Stanford University, talks to Nature Computational Science about understanding human communication in a social context, building natural language processing systems that are human-centered, and the challenges that female researchers face in the field.

Dr Perrine Hamel — Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University’s Asian School of the Environment and Principal Investigator at the Earth Observatory of Singapore — talks to Nature Computational Science about making cities more sustainable and resilient by incorporating green infrastructure into urban environments, as well as about our current progress with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to sustainable cities and climate action.

Dr Cristina Villalobos — Myles and Sylvia Aaronson endowed professor in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), Director of the Center of Excellence in STEM Education, and Fellow of the American Mathematical Society — talks to Nature Computational Science about her work on empowering underrepresented groups in STEM education and gives her insights into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) related to equitable education and gender equality.

Dr Carla Gomes, Ronald C. and Antonia V. Nielsen Professor of Computing and Information Science, director of the Institute for Computational Sustainability, and co-director of the newly established AI for Science Institute at Cornell University, discusses with Nature Computational Science her research on sustainability and how we can address the world’s most pressing issues little by little.

Dr Y. Shirley Meng, Professor of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and Chief Scientist at the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS), discusses her research on energy storage materials and the importance of multidisciplinary collaborations.

Dr Alexandre Caldas, a Director at the United Nations (UN) as Chief of Country Outreach, Technology and Innovation in the Science Division at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Chair of the United Nations Geospatial Network across 40 agencies of the UN, talks to Nature Computational Science about the importance of data availability, the Sustainable Development Goals, and evolving policy.

Dr Michael Falk, professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics at Johns Hopkins University, talks to Nature Computational Science about his academic training at the intersection of physics and computer science, his research in condensed-matter physics, as well as his experience in improving diversity and inclusion in the physics research community.

Dr Núria López-Bigas, ICREA Research Professor and group leader in biomedical genomics at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, discusses with Nature Computational Science about her research on cancer genomics.

Dr Valentino Cooper, a Distinguished R&D Staff Member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, talks to Nature Computational Science about his research on density functional theory and on designing high-entropy materials and piezoelectrics.

Dr Martin Head-Gordon, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, talks with Nature Computational Science about his research on electronic structure theory, quantum chemistry software development, applications in renewable energy, as well as his time working with John Pople, who was recognized by the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Dr Saul Perlmutter, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and a 2011 Nobel laureate in physics, discusses the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe and the essential role of computing in this field of research.

Dr Lu Sham, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of California, San Diego, talks with Nature Computational Science about his current research, the density functional theory (DFT) work that was recognized by the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry — awarded to his co-author Dr Walter Kohn — and where he thinks the field is heading.

Dr Arieh Warshel, distinguished professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California and 2013 Nobel laureate in chemistry, discusses with Nature Computational Science past and current research, his Nobel Prize, and the benefits and challenges of using computational modeling in his work.

Dr John Wettlaufer, A. M. Bateman Professor of Geophysics, Mathematics, and Physics at Yale University, research professor at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, and a member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, discusses the contributions from the laureates of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics, his insights into complex system modeling, and his personal experience serving as a Nobel Committee member.

Dr Sean Gibbons, assistant professor at the Institute for Systems Biology and a Washington Research Foundation Distinguished Investigator, discusses with Nature Computational Science how he uses computational science to gain insights into the gut microbiome and to address the major challenges of this field, as well as his advice to young LGBTQIA+ scientists.

Dr Srijan Kumar, assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in science, discusses with Nature Computational Science how he uses machine learning and data science to identify and mitigate malicious activities on online platforms, including misinformation and anti-Asian hate speech.