Paulo Hora Acioli

Paulo Hora Acioli is a Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Northeastern Illinois University (College of Arts and Sciences). He holds a Ph.D. (1995) and M.Sc. (1991) in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master's (1988) from Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil.

• Academic Appointments: Professor at NEIU (2015-present), Chair of Earth Science & Physics (2012-2020), and Visiting Professor at Universidade de Brasilia (2015).

Research Interests: Theoretical/computational studies in atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter, cluster physics, and STEM education. His work spans multiple projects:

• Cluster Physics: Electronic structure of metal clusters (Al_nMo^-, NiAl₁₂^-) using DFT and Monte Carlo methods.
• Viral Diffusion: Modeling pandemic spread via 2D diffusion equations, published in American Journal of Physics (2020) and Digitalization and Innovation in Health (2023).
• Organic Conductors: Thermoelectric effects in polymers and graphene nanoribbons.
• DNA-Noble Metal Interactions: Ab initio studies of silver/gold-nucleobase systems for anti-cancer drug design.

Scientific Grants: Funded by NSF-IUSE (Grant #1431839) for peer-mentored STEM education and DOE-BES (Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357) for metal cluster studies.

Labs & Collaborations: Collaborates with researchers from Universidade de Brasilia, Argonne National Laboratory, and Emory University. Mentions students in projects like spiral wave simulations and wind turbine design, though formal advisees are not listed.