UCLan reports on an undergraduate student success:

The ground-breaking research of an undergraduate Applied Physics student has been published in a top scientific journal.

The work of Ludwig Schreier, an Erasmus exchange student, has appeared on the back cover of the March 2009 issue of Soft Matter, a world leading science journal linking the disciplines of physics, chemistry and biology.

Xiaohu, Ludwig and Marco next to Dell cluster

In his third year BSc project, Ludwig predicted how nano-scale material structures could be manipulated with the help of an ordinary electric field. The work was undertaken with the help of Marco Pinna, a research student within UCLan’s Computational Physics Group.

Ludwig comments: “I’d heard good things about UCLan from my fellow students at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden (Germany) and so I decided to experience it for myself.”

“I was delighted to take up the opportunity offered through the Erasmus exchange program and have really enjoyed my study at UCLan and stay in Preston.”

Soft Matter is published by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). According to the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), it is the highest ranking publication in its field.

Dr Andrei Zvelindovsky, UCLan’s Reader in Computational and Theoretical Physics, commented: “We always have international students on our courses together with students from UK. A mixture of different cultures makes the study of Physics at UCLan very dynamic and enriching. Our students work on ‘live’ projects at the forefront of modern science utilising our computational lab facilities which are some of the most modern in the UK.”

In 2008 UCLan’s study facilities for Physics were enhanced by a dedicated, state-of the-art Undergraduate Research Lab for Computational Physics supported by a grant from UCLan’s Centre for Research-informed Teaching.

The centre also supported Ludwig’s summer internship at UCLan, enabling him to write-up his research paper.

Ludwig’s work will be highlighted twice during March: in addition to being published by the RSC it will also be presented at the American Physical Society March 2009 National Meeting, Pittsburgh, the largest international physics forum.

Dr Zvelindovsky concluded: “The fact that this undergraduate student’s work has been published in the most prestigious international journal in its field and is to be presented at the world’s biggest gatherings of physicists, is clear evidence of the world-class nature of UCLan’s physics undergraduate programme. We will continue to support our students through our research groups which incorporate the most modern science of the 21st century.”