Dallas R. Trinkle

Research Group

For prospective students

If you've gotten to this page–great! You're already ahead of roughly two-thirds of the students who contact me without first learning about what our group does. This is the easiest way to find out about our research group, and to start learning if computational materials science is interesting to you. It's a challenging mix of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and computational science that can answer questions that aren't accessible by other means.

How should you contact me? Email is by far the preferred manner, even if you're already on campus. I try to get back with everyone that emails me within a week. Note: I delete without reading all emails addressed to “Sir/Madam” or—and this does happen—to someone other than me.

What do I want to know? Your curriculum vita is useful; in addition, I want to know that you're interested in computational materials science. I want to know that a student (a) has looked at the kind of work going on in our group, and (b) has something to say about it. A student need not have done computational work previously—research is a learning experience, and you won't learn just doing things you've done before—but a strong background in math and materials science/physics/chemistry is required for the kind of work we do.

How should I apply? If you are currently an undergraduate or graduate student at Illinois, you should email me to talk with me about possible research topics. If you are not a student at Illinois, and are interested in applying, please see the Illinois Grad application information; your application goes through the department, and then I can view it.