Gerbrand Ceder

R. P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Metallurgy and Materials Science Engineer, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, 1988
PhD Materials Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1991 

Room 13-5056, 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA  02139
617-253-1581 (phone) 617-258-6534 (fax)
gceder@mit.edu
Research Group

Professor Ceder's group specializes in designing and understanding advanced materials by means of computational modeling and experimental research. By combining theoretical and experimental efforts in one group, the effectiveness of both is enhanced. First principles computations, whereby the properties of materials are predicted from basic physics, has become one of the most powerful tools in Materials Research and Design. This group develops these tools and applies them to technologically relevant problems, often in collaboration with key industrial or government partners. Materials phenomena include: phase stability and cohesion in solids, diffusion, interaction of matter with radiation, and phase transformation. Applications have included: high temperature superconductors, electrodes for rechargeable batteries, and high temperature alloys. The environment is highly multidisplinary, containing students with a range of backgrounds making use of cutting edge techniques from such fields as materials science, engineering, chemistry, physics, computer science, and mathematics.

Selected Publications

G. Ceder, Y-M. Chiang, D.R. Sadoway, M.K. Aydinol, Y-I. Jang, and B. Huang, "Identification of Cathode Materials for Lithium Batteries Guided by First-Principles Calcuations," Nature, 392, 694–696 (1998).

A. van de Walle, G. Ceder, and U. Waghmare, "First-Principles Computation of the Vibrational Entropy of Ordered and Disordered Ni₃Al," Physical Review Letters, 80, 4911–4914 (1998).

G. Ceder, "Designer Materials: Predicting the Properties of Materials from Scratch," Science, 280, 1099–1100 (1998).

G. Ceder, A. Van der Ven, C. Marianetti, and D. Morgan, "First Principles Alloy Theory in Oxides, Modeling and Simulation in Materials," Science and Engineering, 8, 311–321 (2000).

A. Van der Ven and G. Ceder, "Lithium Diffusion in Layered Li_xCoO₂," Electrochem. and Sol. St. Lett. 3 (7) (2000).

2006–2007 Teaching Involvements

Fall 2006 3.20 Materials at Equilibrium
Fall 2006 3.29/3.291 Special Problems in Emerging and Fundamental Materials
Spring 2007 3.29/3.291 Special Problems in Emerging and Fundamental Materials
Spring 2007 3.320 Atomistic Computer Modeling of Materials

The Sept. 2006 MRS Bulletin cover depicted an image generated by Tim Mueller in Prof. Ceder's group. The Ceder group's work on developing new technologies for rechargeable lithium batteries was reported in the Feb. 17, 2006, issue of Science. See the MIT News Office for further details.

In Oct. 2005, Tech Talk wrote about the research Prof. Ceder and his colleagues are doing in applying cluster expansion, a computational technique commonly used for alloy design, to proteins.

Prof. Ceder and the Lab for Computational Materials Science were profiled in Tech Talk and in the Jan. 2004 issue of Technology Insider. The July 2003 issue of Technology Insider's article on "Portable Power for the 21st Century and Beyond" details work done by Prof. Ceder and his group.