Monica Pozzo
Professore/ssa Associato/aBiografia
I am a Physicist with a background in theoretical Plasma Physics, observational/theoretical Astrophysics (star formation; supernovae), and Condensed Matter Physics (catalysis, hydrogen storage, graphene, terrestrial planetary cores). My current research interests focus on materials modelling using first-principles calculations performed with the formulation of Quantum Mechanics known as Density Functional Theory (DFT), using high performance computing. One of my research interests focuses on material design applied to graphene and hydrogen storage by combining DFT calculations and experimental techniques in collaboration with experimental groups. Among the various results published on these topics I note the discovery of the formation and growth of graphene via carbon nano-domes on an iridium substrate. I am also interested in the investigation of the properties of (terrestrial) planetary cores, with particular focus on the Earth’s core. I have calculated, using first principles computational methods, transport properties such as its thermal and electrical conductivities, ionic diffusion, viscosity. I have also been interested in chemical interactions of different alloy mixtures with mantle minerals at the extreme pressure and temperature conditions experienced by our planet during its geological history. An important finding of this research was the reopening of the debate on the thermal budget within the Earth and the generation of the magnetic field by producing the first direct calculations of the thermal and electrical conductivities of the core, which turned out to be much higher than previous estimates. These showed that, throughout the Earth’s history, it is very difficult to generate and sustain the magnetic field using thermal convection in the core, and additional possible mechanisms for the working of the geodynamo are currently being investigated.
Facoltà
Materia d'insegnamento
Fisica della Materia
Dipartimento
Docente di riferimento
LM31 - Ingegneria gestionale
Eventuali altri ruoli
Point of contact of the department for the research area “Simulation and modelling of complex systems”; Point of contact of the department for Internationalization/Erasmus
Ricevimento
Ogni lunedì dalle ore 17:00 alle ore 19:00.
Modalità di prenotazione degli uffici
Convegni Scientifici
53 abstracts to main international conferences and seminars, of which: 9 talks, 3 invited talks (invited as "critical participant" and "keynote speaker" to two of these)(Japan; UK; Denmark) and 3 invited university seminars (Imperial College London, U.K.; Bayerisches Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth, Germany; Birkbeck, University of London, UK).
Invited to organise a SEDI (Studies of the Earth's Deep Interior) focus session at the 2013 AGU fall meeting in San Francisco, nominated convener of 2 oral sessions and 1 poster session of the meeting.
53. M. Pozzo, D. Alfè , A systematic DFT investigation of 3d, 4d and 5d TM-doped Mg(0001) surfaces for hydrogen storage materials, communication to be presented to Pacifichem 2025, The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies 2025, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 15-20 December 2025.
52. Dario Alfè, Monica Pozzo, Alfred Wilson, Andrew Walker, Chris Davies, The inner core nucleation paradox, communication presented to Convegno: Quantum Mechanics applied to Earth Sciences, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy, 26-27 March 2025.
51. Wilson, M. Pozzo, D. Alfè, A.M. Walker, A. Pommier, S. Greenwood, and C. Davies, Thermochemical evolution of Earth's core. The effect of light element flux across the core-mantle boundary on the geodynamo, communication presented to AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 11-15 December 2023.
50. Wilson, A. Walker, D. Alfè, M. Pozzo and C. Davies, Can we solve the inner core nucleation paradox?, communication presented to AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 11-15 December 2023.
49. M. Pozzo, D. Alfè and C.J. Davies, Earth's core thermal conductivity: reconciling experimental and computational determinations, communication presented to AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, USA, 12-16 December 2022.
48. A.J. Wilson, M. Pozzo, D. Alfè, A.M. Walker, S. Greenwood, A. Pommier and C.J. Davies, Exploring the Solubility of SiO2 in Earth's Liquid Core, communication presented at the AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, USA, 13-17 December 2021.
47. M.Pozzo, Materials modelling with HPC, invited keynote talk, Symposium on ``Computational sciences for the 21st Century'', University College London, London, U.K., 20 June 2019.
46. M. Pozzo, A window into the Earth's deep interior, invited talk to the evening seminar series of Birkbeck Society of Geological and Planetary Science, Birkbeck, University of London, London, U.K., 23 March 2018.
45. Monica Pozzo and Dario Alfè, Electrical resistivity saturation of solid iron at Earth's core conditions from density functional theory, communication presented to ``SEDI 2016'', Study of Earth's Deep Interior, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 12-16 December 2016.
44. Dario Alfè and Monica Pozzo, Earth's Core-Mantle equilibrium and a heat sink at the Core Mantle Boundary, communication presented to ``SEDI 2016'', Study of Earth's Deep Interior, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 12-16 December 2016.
43. D. Curcio, L. Omiciuolo, M. Pozzo, P. Lacovig, S. Lizzit, N. Jabeen, L. Petaccia,D. Alfè, A. Baraldi, Molecular lifting, twisting, and curling during metal-assisted polycyclic hydrocarbon dehydrogenation, communication presented to the APS March Meeting 2016, Baltimore, Maryland, 14-18 March 2016.
42. M. Pozzo, Transport properties of iron and iron mixtures at Earth's core conditions, invited talk to the afternoon seminar series, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, 22 October 2015.
41. E. Miniussi, D. Alfè, M. Pozzo, S. Günther, P. Lacovig, S. Lizzit, R. Larciprete, B. S. Burgos, T. O. Mente\c{s}, A. Locatelli, A. Baraldi, Fine tuning of graphene-metal adhesion by surface alloying, communication presented to the 2nd joint AIC-SILS conference, Florence, 15-18 September 2014.
40. Monica Pozzo, Christopher Davies, David Gubbins and Dario Alfè, Thermal and electrical conductivity of solid iron and iron-silicon mixtures at Earth's core conditions, communication presented to ``SEDI 2013'', Study of Earth's Deep Interior, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 9-13 December 2013.
39. Monica Pozzo, Chris Davies, David Gubbins and Dario Alfè, Transport properties of the Earth's core from first principles, invited talk as critical participant to the ``Workshop on transport properties in the Earth's core'', Kawaguchiko Lake, Japan, 15-18 October 2013.
38. Monica Pozzo, Chris Davies, David Gubbins and Dario Alfè, Thermal, electrical conductivity and transport properties of the Earth's core, communication presented to the Gordon Research Conference ``Interior of the Earth'', Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, 2-7 June 2013.
37. E. Miniussi, D. Alfè, M. Pozzo, S. Günther, P. Lacovig, S. Lizzit, R. Larciprete, B. S. Burgos, T. O. Menteş, A. Locatelli, A. Baraldi, Fine tuning of graphene-metal adhesion by surface alloying, communication presented to the ImagineNano 2013 conference, Bilbao, Spain, 23-26 April, 2013.
36. Monica Pozzo, Chris Davies, David Gubbins and Dario Alfè, Thermal and electrical conductivity of the Earth's core, communication presented to the TYC International Advisory Board, King's College London, 18th April 2013.
35. Monica Pozzo, Chris Davies, David Gubbins and Dario Alfè, Thermal and electrical conductivity of iron and iron alloys at Earth's core conditions, communication presented to the 16th International Workshop on Computational Physics and Material Science: Total Energy and Force Methods, ICTP, Trieste, Italy, 10-12 January 2013.
34. Dario Alfè, Monica Pozzo, Christopher Davies, and David Gubbins, Thermal and electrical conductivity of the Earth's outer core, communication presented to ''SEDI 2012'', Study of Earth's Deep Interior, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, 1-6 July 2012.
33. S. Lizzit, P. Lacovig, G. Zampieri, L. Petaccia, R. Larciprete, E. D. L. Rienks, G. Bihlmayer, M. Pozzo, D. Alfè, A. Baraldi, Ph. Hofmann, Graphene on metal surfaces: growth and electronic properties by core level photoemission, communication presented to ''GraphITA'' conference, Gran Sasso National Laboratories, Assergi-L'Aquila, Italy, 15-18 May 2011.
32. P. Lacovig, M. Pozzo, D. Alfè, P. Vilmercati, A. Baraldi, S. Lizzit, Carbon nano-domes on Ir(111) as intermediate between carbidic clusters and quasi-free-standing graphene, communication presented to the 6th European Topical Conference on hard coatings, Salamanca, Spain, 20-24 September 2010.
31. P. Lacovig, M. Pozzo, D. Alfè, P. Vilmercati, A. Baraldi, and S. Lizzit, Graphene Growth on Ir(111): A Fast XPS Study, communication presented to the CINF-DTU Summer School on Reactivity of nanoparticles for more efficient and sustainable energy production, Sandbjerg Gods, Denmark, 22-27 August 2009.
30. M. Pozzo, Type II SNe and dust, invited talk to the Dark Dust Day meeting, DARK Cosmology centre at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark, 14 March 2006.
29. M. Pozzo, SN 2002hh: the dust obscured twin of SN 1987A, invited talk to the afternoon seminar series, Imperial College London, 19 October 2005.
28. R.D. Oudmaijer, D. Baines, J.M. Porter, M. Pozzo, Spectro-astrometry of Herbig Ae/Be stars, communication presented to ``Stars with the B[e] phenomenon'', Island of Vlieland, The Netherlands, 1-16 July 2005.
27. M. Pozzo, W.P.S. Meikle, A. Fassia, T. Geballe, P. Lundqvist, N.N. Chugai, J. Sollerman, Dust signatures from late-time infrared and optical observations of SN 1998S, communication presented to ``1604 -2004: Supernovae as Cosmological Lighthouses'', Padua, Italy, 16-19 June 2004.
26. M. Pozzo, R.D. Jeffries, T. Naylor, Interpreting the low-mass PMS stars in Cep OB3b, communication presented to the 198th AAS Meeting, Pasadena, California, USA, June 3-7, 2001.
25. M. Pozzo, R.D. Jeffries, T. Naylor, Is there an age spread in Cep OB3b?, communication presented to NAM2001, Cambridge, UK, April 2-6, 2001.
24. R.D. Jeffries, M. Pozzo, T. Naylor, S. Harmer, F.M. Walter, X-ray Emission from a Low-Mass Association around Gamma Velorum, communication presented to ``X-ray Astronomy 2000'', Mondello, Sicily, Italy, September 4-9, 2000.
23. M. Pozzo, R.D. Jeffries, T. Naylor, E.J. Totten, S. Harmer, M. Kenyon, The discovery of a low mass, pre-main sequence stellar association around Gamma 2 Velorum, communication presented to the 3rd Three-Island Euroconference on clusters and associations: ``From Darkness to Light: Origin and Evolution of Young Stellar Clusters'', Cargese, Corsica, France, April 2-8, 2000.
22. T. Naylor, M. Pozzo and R.D. Jeffries, The age spread of Cepheus OB3b, communication presented to the 3rd Three-Island Euroconference on clusters and associations: ``From Darkness to Light: Origin and Evolution of Young Stellar Clusters'', Cargese, Corsica, France, April 2-8, 2000.
21. M. Pozzo, A. Beklemishev and M. Tessarotto, Relativistic gyrodynamics in the presence of strong gravitational fields, communication presented to the APS "1999 Centennial Meeting", Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March 20-26, 1999.
20. M. Tessarotto, P. Nicolini, L. Faoro and M. Pozzo, Propagation of perturbations in relativistic kinetic theory, communication presented to the XXth Iupap International Conference on Statistical Physics, Paris, France, July 20-24, 1998.
19. M. Pozzo, M. Tessarotto, R. Zorat and R.B. White, Variational approach to non-Hamiltonian particle gyrokinetic theory, communication presented to the 39th APS-Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, Pittsburgh (PA), USA, November 17-21, 1997.
18. Monica Pozzo and Massimo Tessarotto, Analisi delle teorie girocinetiche relativistiche, communication presented to the LXXXIII Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana di Fisica, Como, Italy, October 27-31, 1997.
17. M. Pozzo, M. Tessarotto, and R. Zorat, Direct perturbative gyrokinetic approach for non Hamiltonian systems, communication presented to the 7th European Fusion Theory Conference, Juelich, Germany, October 8-10, 1997.
16. M. Tessarotto, M. Pozzo, R.B. White and R. Zorat, New approach to non-Hamiltonian particle gyrokinetic theory, communication presented to the International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, April 28-30, 1997.
15. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Theoretical features of relativistic particle gyrokinetic dynamics, communication presented to the International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, April 28-30, 1997.
14. M. Tessarotto and M. Pozzo, Green function method in weak turbulence theory for toroidal plasmas, communication presented to the 38th APS-Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, Denver, Colorado, USA, November 11-15, 1996.
13. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Covariant relativistic gyrokinetic dynamics of magnetoplasmas, communication presented to the 38th APS-Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, Denver, Colorado, USA, November 11-15, 1996.
12. Massimo Tessarotto and Monica Pozzo, Speed of propagation problem in relativistic plasmas, communication presented to the 38th APS-Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, Denver, Colorado, USA, November 11-15, 1996.
11. M. Tessarotto and M. Pozzo, Relativistic gyrokinetic equation in the presence of shear flows, communication presented to the 6th European Conference on Fusion Theory, Utrecht, The Netherlands, October 2-4, 1996.
10. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Weakly relativistic corrections to the Fokker-Planck collision operator, communication presented to the 6th European Conference on Fusion Theory, Utrecht, The Netherlands, October 2-4, 1996.
9. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Covariant approach to relativistic gyrokinetic dynamics in plasmas, communication presented to the LXXXII Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana di Fisica, Verona, Italy, September 23-28, 1996.
8. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Speed of propagation of disturbances in relativistic plasmas, communication presented to the LXXXII Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana di Fisica, Verona, Italy, September 23-28, 1996.
7. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Theoretical features of weakly relativistic electron dynamics in fusion plasmas, communication presented to the Joint Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop on ``Theory of Fusion Plasmas'', Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy, August 26-30, 1996.
6. M. Pozzo, M. Tessarotto and R. Zorat, Linear and nonlinear dynamics in the presence of strong drifts: formulation and applications, communication presented to the Joint Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop on ``Theory of Fusion Plasmas'', Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy, August 26-30, 1996.
5. M. Tessarotto and M. Pozzo, Unified Green function approach to ballooning perturbations in toroidal plasmas, communication presented to the Joint Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop on ``Theory of Fusion Plasmas'', Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy, August 26-30, 1996.
4. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Relativistic gyrokinetic equation in the presence of strong drifts, communication presented to the International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference, Philadelphia (PA), USA, March 18-20, 1996.
3. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Kinetic theory of weakly relativistic plasmas, communication presented to the 37th APS-Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, Louisville (KT), USA, November 6-10, 1995.
2. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Statistical mechanics of the Darwin system, communication presented to the LXXXI Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana di Fisica, Perugia, Italy, October 2-7, 1995.
1. M. Pozzo and M. Tessarotto, Relativistic gyrokinetic equation in the presence of shear flows, communication presented to the LXXXI Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana di Fisica, Perugia, Italy, October 2-7, 1995.
Le Principali aree di ricerca in ambito accademico riguardano:
My research focuses on studying thermo-physical properties of materials, using computational methods based on the formulation of Quantum Mechanics known as Density Functional Theory (DFT), using high performance computers. Amongst the materials I am interested in, I have studied iron and iron alloys at the extreme conditions found in the Earth’s core, materials relevant for the chemical storage of hydrogen, and advanced materials such as graphene, focussing in particular on its growth on the surface of metallic substrates.
Research actity
75 refereed publications (plus others in preparation) in international journals and proceedings of international conferences (including Nature, Nature Geoscience, Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, ACS Nano, JACS, Carbon, Physical Review X, Physical Review Letters, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Chemical Science, Astrophysical Journal among the others), two of which are highly cited (top 1%); about 4000 citations, h-index=33 (Scopus).
53 abstracts to main international conferences and seminars, of which 9 talks, 3 invited talks (invited as "critical participant" and "keynote speaker" to two of these)(Japan; UCL; Denmark) and 3 invited university seminars (Imperial College London, U.K.; Bayerisches Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth, Germany; Birkbeck, University of London, UK).
Invited to organise a SEDI (Studies of the Earth's Deep Interior) focus session at the 2013 AGU fall meeting in San Francisco, nominated convener of 2 oral sessions and 1 poster session of the meeting.
Invited as external examiner of PhD thesis "Heat flow in terrestrial-type bodies from high P,T electrical resistivity measurements of Au, Fe-Si and Fe-Ni-Si solid and liquid alloys" - Meryem Berrada (The University of Western Ontario, Canada); June 2022.
Research collaborations
University of Leeds (School of Earth and Environment), University of Oxford (Department of Earth Sciences), University College London (Department of Earth Sciences) in the U.K. and Università di Napoli Federico II (Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini”) - Earth's core conductivities, transport properties, core-mantle thermodynamic equilibrium, implications for the Earth's thermal history and the powering of the geodynamo.
University of Trieste; Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A; IOM-CNR, Laboratorio TASC;CNR-ICS, Roma - Joint theoretical-experimental investigation on various aspects of surface Physics, including structural and electronic properties of graphene grown on transition metals, and their effect on metal clusters adsorption.
Positions held
03/2025 to present Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, UCL, London, U.K.
04/2024 to present Associate Professor, Universitas Mercatorum, Rome, Italy.
03/2024 to 03/2025 Research Fellow, Institute for Materials Discovery (IMD), UCL East, London, U.K.
10/2023 to 03/2024 Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of Earth Sciences, UCL, London, U.K.
04/2006 to 09/2023 Senior Research Fellow, Department of Earth Sciences, UCL, London, U.K.
01/2003 to 04/2006 Post Doctoral Research Associate, Imperial College London, U.K.
01/2001 to 12/2002 Post Doctoral Research Associate, Imperial College London, U.K.
12/1997 to 09/2001 PhD student, Keele University, Keele, U.K.
12/1995 to 10/1997 Graduate Research Assistant, Consortium of Magneto-Fluid Dynamics (CMFD), Trieste University, Italy.
Maternity leave
Jun. 2008 – Dec. 2008
Oct. 2004 – Apr. 2005
Sep. 2001 – Mar. 2002
Organisational memberships
01/2019 to present Women in High Performance Computing (WHPC).
01/2007 to present Thomas Young Center (TYC), London, UK.
01/1996 to 12/2003 Gruppo Nazionale di Fisica Matematica (GNFM) - CNR.
Editorial
02/2021 to present Editorial Board Member of Applied Sciences - section Earth Sciences.
Grant review panel member
2020 to 2023 Swedish Research Council. Evaluating ~25 proposals out of ~60 in total per call, assigning ~62.4 million SEK (5.06 million GBP) to ~12 approved projects at a panel meeting over three days.
Gran proposal reviewer
2021 German Research Foundation (GRC).
2015 and 2016 National Science Foundation (NSF) - Division of Earth Sciences, Geophysics Program.
2012 Research Grant Council (RGC) of Hong Kong.
Journal reviewer
Nature Communications; Nature Communications Chemistry; Nature Physics; Nature Geoscience; Science; Physical Review B; Physical Review Letters; International Journal of Hydrogen Energy; Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors; Scientic Reports; Earth and Planetary Science Letters; J. Geophys. Res. - Solid Earth; MAGMA; Geophysical Research Letters; Frontiers in Earth Science; Journal of Physical Chemistry; Journal of Applied Physics; Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter; Surface Science; Applied Surface Science; Journal of Alloys and Compounds; Journal of Chemical Physics; Physics Letters A; Comptes Rendus Physique; Physics of Plasmas.
Teaching
2024/25 to present: "Fisica della Materia" module, Department of Engineering and Sciences, Universitas Mercatorum, Rome, Italy.
28/11/2024: “An introduction to DFT simulations”, lecture for the MSci students in Data-driven Materials Science 2024/25, Institute for Materials Discovery (IMD), UCL East, London, U.K.
05/2024 to 10/2024: Co-supervision of MSci students and marking of MSci thesis in Data-driven Materials Science 2023/24, IMD, UCL East, London, U.K.
05/2024 to 07/2024: VASP (Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package) hands-on sessions for the Master students projects, IMD, UCL East, London, U.K.
24/04/2024: “DFT investigation of Cu/Al2O3 interfaces”, lecture for the MSci students in Data-driven Materials Science 2023/24, IMD, UCL East, London, U.K.
2022/23 and 2023/24: Geosciences Report module for 3rd yr students, Department of Earth Sciences, UCL, London, U.K.
2013/14 to 2022/23 : "Models of Earth Materials" lectures for the Deep Earth and Planetary Modelling course, delivered to 4th yr students, Department of Earth Sciences, UCL, London, U.K. (including practical and relative marking).
02/2004: "Teamwork Three Hour Workshop" delivered to PhD students, organised by the Graduate School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Imperial College London, U.K.
10/2002 to 03/2006: 2nd yr Laboratory Demonstrator (Spectroscopy Experiments), Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, U.K. (including marking of about 50 lab-books per a.y. plus interviews).
03/1995 to 06/1995: support Maths teacher at Istituto Tecnico Sandrinelli, Trieste, Italy.
Mentoring, enabling roles, recruitment and safety
2020/21 to 2022/23: TYC@UCL Mentoring Scheme coordinator for female researchers.
2022/23: panel member for postdoctoral candidates interviews, UCL and UCL East.
2021/22 to 2022/23: ECR lead for the Department of Earth Sciences, UCL.
2020/21, 2021/22 and 2024/25: panel member for PhD candidates interviews, UCL and UCL East.
2017/18 to 2022/23: Fire Evacuation Marshal, UCL.
1988 to 1995: private tutor in Maths and Physics for Secondary School students, Trieste, Italy.
Research Grants awarded in competition
2020 – 2023 NERC: Resolving the Inner Core Nucleation Paradox, GBP 209000 award as Researcher co-I.
2018 – 2021 NERC: Potassium in the Earth's Core, GBP 427415 award as Researcher co-I.
2015 – 2018 NERC: Chemical Interactions in the Earth's Core, GBP 383370 award as Researcher co-I.
2004 – 2007 NASA: Spitzer Studies of Supernova Ejecta and Dust, 4 awards for telescope time with the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope as co-I.
2005 PPARC: Late-time Study of the Very Nearby Type IIP Supernova 2004dj and Late-time IR Study of the Very Nearby Type IIP Supernova 2005af, 2 awards for telescope time (with the WHT in La Palma, Canary Islands and the AAT in Siding Spring, Australia respectively) as PI.
2004 PPARC: Late-time Study of the Nearby Type IIP Supernova 2004am, award for telescope time (with the WHT) in La Palma, Canary Islands) as co-I.
2003 NASA: Infrared Study of Nearby Type II Supernova 2002hh, 2 awards for telescope time (with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii) as co-I.
2002 NOAO: Low-mass pre-main-sequence stars in Vela OB2, award for telescope time (with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile) as co-I.