Welcome to the Simulation of Advanced Materials (SAM) Lab at the University of Cambridge!

What We Do

We are a research team in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, using state-of-the-art computational methods to design and develop next-generation materials; primarily targeting energy applications.

We work at the intersection of materials science, chemistry, physics and artificial intelligence (AI); developing and deploying techniques from quantum chemistry (e.g. DFT), solid-state physics and machine learning (ML) to understand the atomic-level properties of materials. Using our insights from these calculations, run on massive high-performance computers, we predict, design and optimise the performance of materials in real-world technologies.

The team is led by Dr. Seán Kavanagh, and is part of the vibrant materials modelling community at Cambridge, including the Lennard Jones Centre.

Interested in joining the SAM Lab?

We are actively looking for motivated students and postdocs! Check out our current Research interest areas, and the Join page if you are interested in being part of the team.

Recent Highlights

Travelling to conferences to present and discuss ideas with other researchers, with time to be a tourist and explore, is one of the best parts of the job. From Psi-K 2025: