Professor Georg Kresse stands as a preeminent leader in computational materials science, renowned for developing methodologies that have revolutionized first-principles calculations of matter. He currently holds the position of Professor for Computational Quantum Mechanics at the University of Vienna where he leads the Computational Materials Physics research group within the Faculty of Physics. Born in Vienna on July 21, 1967, Kresse earned his Doctorate in Technical Sciences from the Vienna University of Technology in 1993, establishing the foundation for his distinguished career in theoretical and computational physics. His early career achievements were recognized through the prestigious Erich Schmid Prize awarded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1997, marking him as a rising star in the field. His subsequent appointment as a Full Professor and election as a Full Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 2011 cemented his status as one of Europe's most influential computational scientists.
Professor Kresse's most significant contribution is the development of the Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package (VASP), which has become the world's leading software for first-principles calculations of solids and liquids. This groundbreaking computational tool, built upon Walter Kohn's density functional theory framework, is now utilized by approximately 4,000 research groups worldwide and routinely handles systems containing many thousands of electrons with remarkable efficiency. His highly influential 1996 paper on efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set has accumulated thousands of citations, establishing it as a cornerstone reference in computational materials science. VASP's widespread adoption has fundamentally transformed how researchers investigate material properties, enabling unprecedented insights into electronic structures across diverse scientific disciplines from physics and chemistry to materials engineering. The software's impact extends far beyond academia, driving innovation in industrial applications related to materials design and discovery.
Beyond his landmark software development, Professor Kresse continues to pioneer new frontiers at the intersection of quantum theory and machine learning methodologies. His current research focuses on advancing quantum field theory and quantum chemistry approaches that offer superior accuracy compared to traditional density functional theory calculations. Within the MECS initiative, he is leading efforts to integrate these state-of-the-art computational techniques with machine learning algorithms to model systems containing 100,000 atoms and relevant timescales for applications in electrochemistry and photocatalysis. As a recipient of multiple prestigious awards including the Ludwig Boltzmann Prize and the START Prize of the Austrian Science Foundation, Kresse maintains his position as a visionary leader whose work continues to shape the future trajectory of computational materials science. His ongoing mentorship of students and postdoctoral researchers ensures the continued advancement of computational methodologies for understanding and designing novel materials with tailored properties.
