PRISM24b

TO INSPIRE, BE INSPIRED
AWARD CEREMONY
December 17th, 2024 - 3:00 pm
Aula Marconi - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
P.le Aldo Moro 7 - Roma
CNR-ISM
Communication Office
comunicazione@ism.cnr.it

C N R - I S T I T U T O D I S T R U T T U R A D E L L A M A T E R I A
PRISM24
Since 2021 the PRISM - Prize of the
Istituto di Struttura della Materia has
been awarded by ISM, and is aimed at
scientists having achieved outstanding
breakthroughs in the past five years in
the field of Science of Materials, in
particular in the topics related to the
CNR-ISM mission.
Two Prizes are awarded each year:
- PRISM Senior for scientists older than
35 years,
- PRISM Junior for those under 35.
The winners will have the possibility to
avail of CNR-ISM expertise and
infrastructures for their researches.
Furthermore the winners are invited to
give a seminar during a workshop,
conference or school focused on the
Prize's scientific topics.
C N R - I S M
C O M M U N I C A T I O N O F F I C E
C O M U N I C A Z I O N E @ I S M . C N R . I T

C N R - I S T I T U T O D I S T R U T T U R A D E L L A M A T E R I A
WINNERS
Nikita Kavokine’s research is in the field of nanofluidics – the study of fluid transport at the
smallest scales, where the continuum of hydrodynamics meets the atomic, and even the
quantum nature of matter. Nikita graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS, Paris)
in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in theoretical physics.
He then completed a PhD at ENS, in the group of Prof. Lydéric Bocquet, where he did
both theoretical and experimental work on many-body effects in nanoscale fluid
transport, graduating in 2021. Nikita then spent a year as a Research Fellow in the Flatiron
Institute’s Center for Computational Quantum Physics, working with Prof. Antoine
Georges on numerical approaches to disordered quantum systems. In 2022, he joined the
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, where he was a Group Leader in the
Department of Molecular Spectroscopy. Since 2024, Nikita is an Assistant Professor at
EPFL (Switzerland), where he leads the Quantum Plumbing Lab – an interdisciplinary
laboratory which studies quantum effects in nanoscale fluid transport and leverages them
to address sustainability and renewable energy challenges.
C N R - I S M
C O M M U N I C A T I O N O F F I C E
C O M U N I C A Z I O N E @ I S M . C N R . I T

C N R - I S T I T U T O D I S T R U T T U R A D E L L A M A T E R I A
WINNERS
Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at
the University of Toronto and is also the Canada 150
Research Chair in Theoretical Chemistry and a
Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute. He is
a CIFAR Lebovic Fellow co-directing the Accelerated
Decarbonization program. Alán also holds a Google
Industrial Research Chair in Quantum Computing. Alán is
the director of the Acceleration Consortium, a University
of Toronto-based strategic initiative that aims to gather
researchers from industry, government, and academia
around pre-competitive research topics related to the lab
of the future
Alán began his independent career at Harvard University in
2006 and was a Full Professor at Harvard University from
2013-2018.
He received his B.Sc. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1999 and his
PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, where he was also a postdoctoral fellow from
2005-2006.
Alán conducts research in the interfaces of quantum information, machine learning and chemistry. He
was a pioneer in the development of algorithms and experimental implementations of quantum
computers and quantum simulators dedicated to chemical systems. He has studied the role of
quantum coherence in the transfer of excitonic energy in photosynthetic complexes and has
accelerated the discovery by calculating organic semiconductors, organic photovoltaic energy,
organic batteries and organic light-emitting diodes. He has worked on molecular representations and
generative models for the automatic learning of molecular properties. Currently, Alán is interested in
automation and "autonomous" chemical laboratories for accelerating scientific discovery.
Among other recognitions, he received the Google Focused Award for Quantum Computing, the
Sloan Research Fellowship, The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award, and was selected
as one of the best innovators under the age of 35 by the MIT Technology Review. He is an elected
fellow of the American Physical Society, an elected fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS), and received the Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry from
the American Chemical Society. Alán appeared as one of the top 100 most powerful Canadians in
2024 by the Maclean’s Magazine under the AI Category.
Alán is editor-in-chief of the journal Digital Discovery, as well as co-founder of Zapata AI, Kebotix,
Intrepid Labs, and Axiomatic AI.
C N R - I S M
C O M M U N I C A T I O N O F F I C E
C O M U N I C A Z I O N E @ I S M . C N R . I T

ABSTRACT
Quantum Plumbing: The Mysteries of Nanoscale Flows
Nikita Kavokine
Liquids are usually described within classical physics, whereas solids require
the tools of quantum mechanics. I will show how in nanoscale channels this
distinction no longer holds. At these scales, the liquid flows become
intertwined with electron dynamics in the channel walls, resulting in a wealth
of phenomena beyond the reach classical fluid mechanics. My talk will focus
on the quantum friction effect, the challenges it poses for the foundations
of hydrodynamics, and the perspectives it opens for nanoscale energy
conversion.
The Materials for Tomorrow, Today.
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
In this talk, I argue that for materials discovery, one needs to go beyond
simple computational screening approaches followed by traditional
experimentation. I have been working on the design and implementation of
what I call “materials acceleration platforms” (MAPs). MAPs are enabled by
the confluence of three disparate fields, namely artificial intelligence (AI),
high-throughput quantum chemistry (HTQC), and robotics. The integration
of prediction, synthesis and characterization in an AI-driven closed-loop
approach promises the acceleration of materials discovery by a factor of 10,
or even a 100. I will describe our efforts under the Mission Innovation
umbrella platform around this topic.
C N R - I S M
C O M M U N I C A T I O N O F F I C E
C O M U N I C A Z I O N E @ I S M . C N R . I T

C N R - I S T I T U T O D I S T R U T T U R A D E L L A M A T E R I A
LIST
OFWINNER
PRISM21
MATTEO MITRANO - JUNIOR CATEGORY
VALERIA NICOLOSI - SENIOR CATEGORY
PRISM22
STEFANIA CACOVICH - JUNIOR CATEGORY
RICCARDO COMIN - SENIOR CATEGORY
PRISM23
NICOLA GASPARINI - JUNIOR CATEGORY
FEDERICO CAPASSO - SENIOR CATEGORY
C N R - I S M
C O M M U N I C A T I O N O F F I C E
C O M U N I C A Z I O N E @ I S M . C N R . I T

AWARD CEREMONY
December 17th, 2024 - 3:00 pm CET
Aula Marconi - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
P.le Aldo Moro 7 - Roma
PROGRAM
15:00 Welcome and introduction of the PRISM prize
Maria Chiara Carrozza - CNR President
Stefano Fabris - Director of CNR Departement of
Physical Sciences and Technologies of Matter
Aldo Di Carlo - CNR-ISM Director
15:30 Quantum Plumbing: The Mysteries of Nanoscale Flows
Nikita Kavokine - winner Junior PRISM category
16:00 The Materials for Tomorrow, Today.
Alán Aspuru-Guzik - winner Senior PRISM category
16:30 Award ceremony
16:50 Conclusion
We look forward to seeing you; please register at
https://forms.office.com/e/kRHu9sqC0Z
Supported by
Department of
Electronic Engineering
TO INSPIRE, BE INSPIRED
CNR-ISM - Communication Office - comunicazione@ism.cnr.it