Scott Auerbach

Scott Auerbach is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with additional affiliations as Adjunct Faculty in Chemical Engineering and Faculty in the Materials Science and Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. He serves as Executive Director of the UMass iCons Program, promoting interdisciplinary science education. His research is conducted through the CRUNCH Lab (Chemistry Research Using Nice Computer Hardware), located in the Goessmann Chemistry Lab.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1993), an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1944–1995), and a B.S. summa cum laude from Georgetown University (1988).

Scott Auerbach's research focuses on modeling catalysts and materials for sustainability using advanced computational techniques. His group develops and applies simulation methods to study the self-assembly of nanoporous materials like zeolites and the dynamics of molecular transformations within confined nanopores. Key areas include zeolite crystal formation, data science approaches to material synthesizability, and kinetic vs. thermodynamic control in catalytic reactions. The group combines DFT, Monte Carlo simulations, and data science to understand complex crystallization pathways and reaction mechanisms.

The research integrates interdisciplinary collaborations with Wei Fan and Friederike Jentoft in Chemical Engineering at UMass, as well as Michele Ceriotti (EPFL) and Rocio Semino (Sorbonne). Projects include uncovering the role of fluoride in zeolite formation, accelerating crystal growth using multiple organic templates, developing a “cloud atlas” for zeolite structures, and a “sorting hat” framework to predict synthesizability of hypothetical materials. Despite the absence of listed publications in the source text, the research themes point to strong activity in computational materials science and sustainable catalysis.

While no specific scientific awards or prizes are mentioned in the provided text, his leadership roles and sustained research program suggest significant recognition in the field.

As Executive Director of the iCons Program, Auerbach mentors students in interdisciplinary research. His lab, the CRUNCH Lab, trains researchers in computational chemistry and materials science. Although no named students are listed, his role as a principal investigator implies advising of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. He has not received mention of external grants in the provided text, but his research scope suggests past and ongoing funding support.

The Auerbach CRUNCH Lab is central to his research, focusing on high-performance computational modeling of chemical systems. The lab emphasizes innovation in simulation algorithms and data science applications in materials chemistry. Future work aims to overcome crystallization barriers, map complex chemical transformation pathways, and expand data-driven frameworks for materials discovery.