The first VLab workshop took place at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, July 20-23, 2005. It offered an opportunity for scientists involved in research related to planetary materials and/or planetary processes to exchange information and ideas. The main underlying themes were:
- planetary science grand challenges (thermochemical state of the lower mantle, water in the deep mantle)
- materials science grand challenges (strongly correlated systems, solid solutions and phase equilibrium, electronic correlation and quantum dynamics in ices)
- advances in first principles methodologies (methods, approximations, codes)
- Information technology applicable to materials computations
The workshop was primarily a meeting of the VLab group and the community of scientists with overlapping interests. Despite the targeted nature of the science, the spectrum of areas of expertise covered was very broad. Theoretical chemists and materials physicists, along with information technology scientists, came together with Earth and planetary scientists to define novel key problems, identify technologies, and outline strategies to advance planetary materials science.