Dr Basile Curchod
BSc, MSc, PhD
Expertise
Our research group uses theoretical and computational chemistry to understand how light interacts with molecules.
Current positions
Associate Professor
School of Chemistry
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Biography
In March 2022, Basile moved to the Centre for Computational Chemistry at the University of Bristol as an Associate Professor in Theoretical Chemistry. Basile is the recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2022 Marlow Award, the PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship Award, and the 2023 Journal of Physical Chemistry A and PHYS Division Lectureship Award from the American Chemical Society. Basile is a member of the Early-Career Advisory Board of ChemPhotoChem and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Physical Chemistry A.
Research interests
The main pillars of our scientific research are the development and the application of theoretical methods for studying the dynamics of molecules in their electronically excited states.
Our research focuses on the development and the applications of theoretical methods for simulating the dynamics of molecules beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, i.e., when the coupling between electronic and nuclear motion cannot be neglected and leads to the appearance of the so-called nonadiabatic effects. The breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is common for photoinduced and electron-transfer processes, e.g. photochemical reactions, photosynthesis, solar cells, retinal isomerization in the primary step of vision, chemiluminescence, or in atmospheric chemistry, and leads to fascinating phenomena. In fact, nonadiabatic effects are ubiquitous as soon as a given chemical process requires more than one electronic state for its description, but their theoretical description remains an important and arduous challenge due to the necessity of revisiting several critical approximations commonly employed in theoretical chemistry.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
OAFI - Basile Curchod - EPSRC Programme Grant - UCL lead: A Universal Approach to Using Quantum Dynamics for Real World Problems: Applying Coherent States for MolecularDynamics Simulations (COSMOS)
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
01/10/2023 to 30/09/2029
8084 - SINDAM - ERC 803718 - Basile Curchod
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
01/03/2022 to 30/06/2024
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Recent publications
15/02/2024A Theoretical Perspective on the Photochemistry of Boron-Nitrogen Lewis Adducts
The journal of physical chemistry. A
Monitoring the evolution of relative product populations at early times during a photochemical reaction
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Ultrafast electronic relaxation pathways of the molecular photoswitch quadricyclane
Nature Chemistry
Atmospheric oxidation of new “green” solvents – Part 2
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Deciphering the Influence of Ground-State Distributions on the Calculation of Photolysis Observables
Journal of Physical Chemistry A
Teaching
I obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from Durham University and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2021.
Teaching activities:
Advanced Chemical Models and Predictions (CHEM30032): Unit director and lecturer.
Advanced Applications of Computing in Chemistry (CHEM30023): lecturer.
Building Blocks of Chemistry (CHEM10013): lecturer for tutorials and workshops.
Quantitative Chemistry I & II (CHEM10004): lecturer.
Final-year project (BSc and MSci): supervisor.
Group Project in Scientific Computing (SCIF30004): supervisor.
