Dr. Thomas Purcell Appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona

Dr. Thomas Purcell, group leader at the Nomad Laboratory of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, has been appointed as Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona starting January 2024.
 

Academic Journey

Dr. Purcell began his academic journey with a degree in Chemistry at New York University, followed by a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Northwestern University. In 2018, he joined the Fritz Haber Institute and was appointed group leader in 2022.

Research Focus

His research group ,,Artificial intelligence-assisted discovery of thermoelectric materials” aims to integrate accurate AI models into high-throughput workflows to accelerate the discovery of new, high-performing thermoelectric materials.

Interview with Dr. Thomas Purcell

In a recent interview, Dr. Purcell spoke about his time at the Fritz Haber Institute, his work, and his future plans.

Dr. Purcell joined the Fritz Haber Institute in August 2018 and won an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship in the spring of 2019, which he started in January 2020. He was appointed group leader in January 2022. During his time at the institute, he developed the SISSO++ code and high-throughput workflows for modeling the thermal conductivity of materials.

When asked how the Fritz Haber Institute and the Max Planck Society supported his career, Dr. Purcell explained that they provided him with valuable leadership experiences, such as the art of managing and caring for staff. These skills will be of great importance in his new position as Assistant Professor. He was also introduced to the field of computational material discovery. He also highlighted the excellent structure of the Max Planck Society for researchers and praised the Fritz Haber Institute for providing all the necessary resources he needed for his research work.

Regarding the collaboration in his team, Dr. Purcell emphasized the strong collaboration with his original group leaders Dr. Christian Carbogno and Dr. Luca Ghiringhelli, as well as with Dr. Yi Yao, a postdoc he supervised.

In his new position at the University of Arizona, Dr. Purcell plans to further develop the AI frameworks and workflows that he started at the Fritz Haber Institute and work on thermoelectric and organic electronic materials.

We at the FHI have greatly enjoyed working with him and wish him all the best for his future endeavors.