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I expect something along the lines of a 10am – 5pm schedule, but I’m flexible on the exact timings if you have a conflict. What’s important is that you’re communicating with your fellow group members in-person and that I have a window of time where I can expect to find you in the office. I understand that as a computational/theoretical chemist, you technically don’t need to be in the office to get your work done, but physically being in the office contributes to a collaborative environment.

This is a common concern among many students, and it isn’t a major concern if you have very little coding experience. We are not software developers, we are theorists at heart, so it is more important that you are comfortable with pen-and-paper math. That being said, we will get you up to speed on how to work with the terminal, scripting languages like python, Github, and other such tools to modify existing codebases we work on.

The two basic ones that all computational students take their first year are “Quantum Mechanics” (CHEM 6491) and “Statistical Mechanics” (CHEM 6481). Beyond that there are: * “Chemical Kinetics and Reaction Dynamics” (CHEM 6482) * “Computational Chemistry” (CHEM 6485) * “Molecular Spectroscopy” (CHEM 6492) * “Condensed Matter Physics I” (PHYS 6210) * “Condensed Matter Physics II” (PHY 6211) What is more important to consider when taking classes is whether the class develops your understanding of a topic or methodology that would be useful to you.

Yes, though we should define how we use it. We do not treat AI as an all-knowing solution generator, nor should anyone else in our opinion. It’s a tool just like any other that we use. Perfect example is writing. An AI agent can be a nice springboard to bounce ideas off and get an initial thought for your writing or helping you make edits by giving options of better ways to say something or words to use. Basically, just like having another person in the room which you talk to about your writing to get past the writer’s block. THE AI SHOULD NEVER WRITE FOR YOU, just like how you wouldn’t have someone else write your manuscript for you, you should be the author of your work, not the AI.

Again, we are not software developers at heart, so AI has become very handy for this use case. It’s great for quick prototyping small codes that would take some developers months to figure out. It’s also great at giving quick 2-line solutions that an inexperienced coder may write in a complicated 6-line solution. However, you should understand what it writes and make sure it is correct. It is a good idea generator, but it doesn’t get everything right.