CCP5/RSC Workshop: “Advances in Theory and Simulation of non-Equilibrium Systems”
A two-day workshop entitled “Advances in Theory and Simulation of non-Equilibrium Systems” was held at Imperial College, London 26-27th June 2013. This event was organized through the Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics Group (SMTG), part of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The principal sponsor was CCP5 with additional financial support from SMTG and the National Nuclear Laboratory(NNL).
The workshop was organisedby Karl Travis and Fernando Bresme. Both are current members of SMTG, former executive committee members of CCP5, and have been active in the area of non-equilibrium simulation for a number of years.
The aim of the workshop was to review and discuss recent advances in the development of non-equilibrium algorithms and the applications to which they are increasing being employed, together with theoretical developments at the level of statistical mechanics and classical thermodynamics. The organisers wanted to give an opportunity for PhD students / Research Associates and early career academics to present their work but also to bring in invited speakers who have made major contributions to the field. The nine invited speakers included: Denis Evans (ANU, Australia), Dick Bedeaux (Norway), Peter Cummings (Vanderbilt, USA), Billy Todd (Swinburn, Australia), Peter Daivis (RMIT, Australia), Tim Spencer (Sheffield Hallam), David Heyes (Imperial College), Claire McCabe (Vanderbilt, USA) and Bernard Rousseau (Paris Sud, France). In addition there were 19 contributed talks. The talks were arranged into 8 sessions running over two full days with a social mixer (sponsored by NNL) on the evening of the first day.The full programme can be viewed at ( or via the attached pdf.
The workshop exceeded all expectations; a total of 55 delegates, from industry and academia, registered for the meeting.The talks were of a very high standard and there was plenty of discussion following each one. They covered a wide range of topics from fundamentals of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, to nano-confined fluids through to Lattice Boltzmann simulationsof multicomponent flows. Feedback received during, and after the workshop was so positive and praiseworthy that the organisers have decided to have a similar meeting every 2 years. In addition, they will be organizing an annual NEMD 1-day workshop designed for PhD students and involving a series of lectures on NEMD methods and hands-on practicals, expanding on the NEMD lecture and practical Karl Travis used to deliver at the CCP5 summer school and the material that Fernando Bresme teaches at the CDT on Theory and Simulations of Materials at Imperial, which covers liquid state theory and practicals on computer simulations of molecular fluids. The venue of this workshop will be decided at a later date.