Curriculum dynamic physical chemistry

Integrating Research and Education to Create a Dynamic Physical Chemistry Curriculum... 

Schwenz, R. W. Moore, R. J. Physical Chemistry Developing a Dynamic Curriculum-, American Chemical Society Washington, DC, 1993. 

In 1993 Richard W. Schwenz and Robert J. Moore published a book, under the auspices of the American Chemical Society, entitled Physical Chemistry Developing a Dynamic Curriculum (/). This book followed a 1988 project by the Pew Mid-Atlantic Cluster on revision of the physical chemistry laboratory curriculum, and NSF funded workshops in 1990 and 1991 on physical chemistry curriculum development. Together they called for substantial changes in the content of the physical chemistry lab. 

Exploiting the principles of statistical mechanics, atomistic simulations allow for the calculation of macroscopically measurable properties from microscopic interactions. Structural quantities (such as intra- and intermolecular distances) as well as thermodynamic quantities (such as heat capacities) can be obtained. If the statistical sampling is carried out using the technique of molecular dynamics, then dynamic quantities (such as transport coefficients) can be calculated. Since electronic properties are beyond the scope of the method, the atomistic simulation approach is primarily applicable to the thermodynamics half of the standard physical chemistry curriculum. 

As part of the education for graduate students, ETH Zurich, like many other European universities, does not offer a graduate school , but advanced lectures in molecular dynamics and molecular simulation (W. F. van Gunsteren), and numerical quantum chemistry (T. K. Ha, H. P. LUthi) are offered. In these courses the modern methods in molecular dynamics and ab initio quantum chemistry are addressed and discussed based on examples from the current research literature. These lectures are also part of the ETH Computational Science and Engineering curriculum, a program which offers a degree based on an education with an interdisciplinary character (chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and computer science see http //www.inf.ethz.ch/departinent/WR/RW/). 

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