Dr. Lukas Hoermann

Dr. Lukas Hoermann is a Marie Curie Research Fellow in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Warwick, investigating friction phenomena at the atomic scale.

Research Focus

Lukas’s research explores energy dissipation mechanisms during interfacial sliding, with a particular emphasis on designing superlubricating interfaces through nanoscale mechanical property analysis. His work combines:

• Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations
• Machine-learning interatomic potentials trained via electronic structure calculations
• Analysis of electronic and phononic friction contributions
• Structure prediction for organic/inorganic interfaces

Understanding friction at the atomic level is crucial for developing new materials with ultra-low friction properties, which has applications ranging from nanotechnology to mechanical engineering.

Background

Lukas completed his PhD at Graz University of Technology, where his thesis focused on structure search for organic/inorganic interfaces using coarse-grained modeling and machine learning under the supervision of Prof. Oliver T. Hofmann. Following his doctorate, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Solid State Physics in Graz before joining Warwick as a Marie Curie Fellow.

Academic Output

Lukas has published 16 peer-reviewed papers and has given 6 invited talks at international conferences, establishing himself as an emerging leader in computational tribology and surface science.

Professional Experience

• Marie Curie Research Fellow (2023-present), University of Warwick
• Postdoctoral Researcher (2022-2023), Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz
• Research Assistant (2018-2022), Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz
• Teaching Assistant (2014-2018), Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz