California explores Solvation - CalSOLV
RESOLV has a sister research center in the Golden State!
Under the direction of theoretical chemist Teresa Head-Gordon, several groups at UC Berkeley have established the local research consortium California explores Solvation (CALSOLV). Since 2014, Berkeley scientists address the intricate details of solvation in close collaboration with the researchers in Germany. The RESOLV/CALSOLV partnership thrives on topics such as X-ray spectroscopy of liquids and solutions, enzyme catalysis, and ab initio calculations of solvated structures and chemical reactions. The RuhrCal collaboration has started to produce multiple joint publications.
“Collaboration between scientists from Berkeley and the RESOLV cluster would greatly expedite the progress in addressing solvation crucial problems.”
— Teresa Head-Gordon
Scientists of each consortium are busy flying on the Düsseldorf-San Francisco route, constantly seeking a fruitful exchange of knowledge. Martina Havenith received a Visiting Miller Research Professorship from UC Berkeley that allowed her to perform research in Berkeley in September-October 2014. On the other hand, Teresa Head-Gordon and her colleagues from UC Berkeley have presented solvation related talks at various RESOLV events (e.g., Bunsentagung 2015 or Fully RESOLVed - 10 Years is not enough in 2022). Furthermore, Teresa Head-Gordon was awarded the Humboldt Research Award in 2024 and will visit RESOLV for a longer research stay soon. Training of young researchers is a pivotal goal of the partnership, too: An exchange program gives researchers of RESOLV and CalSOLV scholarships to visit the corresponding sister institute in USA/Germany for at least 2-3 months.