Our general research strategy is to study trends in chemical reactivity of solid surfaces and identify discontinuities in their behavior. Explaining trends and discontinuities can help us understand the fundamental reasons behind changes in reactivity. We can then proceed, in strong interaction with experiments, to design surfaces characterized by the desired properties. Modern machine learning methods are enabling us to study relevant phenomena with characteristic length/time scales much larger than those that direct quantum mechanical methods can handle.

The major focus of our current research efforts is on the fundamental reactivity studies for a wide range of important applications, including: fuel cells electrocatalysis, bimetallic catalysis, the development of novel low temperature and environmentally benign catalytic processes, and sensors based on chemoresponsive systems.