Sokrates T. Pantelides

University Distinguished Professor of Physics and Engineering
William and Nancy McMinn Professor of Physics
Professor of Electrical Engineering

Overview:

Pantelides and his group employ atomic-scale and multiscale theoretical calculations (primarily density functional calculations) to investigate structural, electronic, optical, magnetic, and thermal properties of nanoparticles, nanostructures, two-dimensional materials, layered materials, complex oxides, semiconductor devices, ferroelectrics, and catalysis. The group has extensive collaborations with experimental groups that employ scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) Z-contrast imaging and electron-energy-loss spectroscopy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. universities, and Beijing, China. Another long-standing major collaboration is with Professors Ron Schrimpf, Dan Fleetwood, and the Radiation Effects in Microelectronics group at VU. Collaborations with Professors Josh Caldwell (photonics) and Piran Kidambi (2D materials are active. Some of Pantelides’s graduate students are trained in both theory and microscopy.

Awards:

-Award of the Chinese Academy of Science for International Scientific Cooperation, 2020
-Appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China
-Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, 2014
-Fellow, Materials Research Society, 2012
XXVI Panhellenic Conference on Solid State Physics Award for contributions to Physics in Greece and Cyprus, 2011
-Outstanding Referee Award, American Physical Society, 2008
-Fellow, American Associate for the Advancement of Science, 2003
-Chancellor’s Research Award, Vanderbilt University 2003
-Appointed Distinguished Visiting Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1995-2019
-Invited by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in Physics (1982-2002, 2009, 2017)
-Fellow, American Physical Society, 1980
-IBM Outstanding Innovation Award, 1979