{"id":1364,"date":"2026-07-18T16:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T16:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/?page_id=1364"},"modified":"2026-07-18T20:23:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:23:42","slug":"education-highlights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/?page_id=1364","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>I develop computational and quantitative approaches to understand complex systems across the physical, mathematical, and educational sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Computational Molecular Science<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matter exhibits an extraordinary diversity of dynamical behaviours across molecular and nanoscale systems. My research investigates these phenomena through atomistic simulations, molecular dynamics, and statistical mechanics, with particular emphasis on gas\u2013surface interactions, nanoparticles, porous materials, and nonequilibrium processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The objective is to reveal the microscopic mechanisms governing molecular motion, energy transfer, adsorption, diffusion, and chemical dynamics, providing fundamental insights relevant to materials science, surface chemistry, and nanotechnology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Latest publications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>J.C. Castro-Palacio, H. Thake, R. Maurer, G. Held and R. Grau-Crespo. Understanding the Chiral Modification of the Cu{111} Surface with Aspartic Acid (manuscript in preparation).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>M. Urbiztondo, J.C. Castro-Palacio, R. Grau-Crespo and S. Hamad. Gradient-Aware Genetic Algorithms for Global Optimization of Molecular Adsorption on Surfaces, submitted to ACS Materials Au (May 2026).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>B. Khammar, F. Fern\u00e1ndez-Lima, P. Fern\u00e1ndez de C\u00f3rdoba, J. A. Monsoriu, and J. C. Castro-Palacio.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/1402-4896\/addf1c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cavity formation dynamics in gold nanoparticles (10\u201350 nm) upon femtosecond laser irradiation<\/a>. Phys. Scr.\u00a0 100, 075920, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mathematical Modelling and Stochastic Systems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many natural, economic, and social phenomena are inherently uncertain. My research develops probabilistic and computational methods to describe stochastic systems and quantify uncertainty across diverse application domains.<br>Current work focuses on probability theory, stochastic analysis, and quantitative modelling, with applications ranging from social and behavioural sciences to quantitative finance. By combining rigorous mathematics with computational methods, this research seeks to explain how randomness shapes the behaviour of complex systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Latest publications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>J. C. Castro-Palacio, P. Fern\u00e1ndez de C\u00f3rdoba, A. Gonz\u00e1lez-Cort\u00e9s, J.M. Isidro, A. Noverques, M. Orellana-Panchame, S. Sahu, and E. A. S\u00e1nchez-P\u00e9rez,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aimspress.com\/article\/doi\/10.3934\/math.20251109\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Generalized Chi distribution for non-integer degrees of freedom in modelling biological collectivities<\/a>, AIMS Mathematics, 10(10), 25033\u201325048, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>D. Puig-Castro, A. Coronado-Ferrer, J. C. Castro-Palacio, P. Fern\u00e1ndez-de-C\u00f3rdoba, N. Ortigosa, and E. A. S\u00e1nchez-P\u00e9rez, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/sym17071039\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/sym17071039\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Non-Centered Chi Distributions as Models for Fair Assessment in Sports Performance<\/a>, Symmetry 17, 1039, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Quantitative Science of Education<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our educational research applies quantitative methods to investigate how students acquire scientific knowledge and how instructional practices can be improved through evidence-based approaches.<br>Research focuses on higher education, physics education, learning analytics, and the statistical evaluation of teaching innovations, contributing to the development of more effective educational environments and scientifically informed pedagogical practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Latest publications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>L. Velazquez, B. Atenas, N. Cruz Hern\u00e1ndez, J. C. Castro Palacio, and J. A. Monsoriu, Credit Allocation Matters: From Workload Misalignment to Student Progression and Graduation Costs, submitted to Studies in Higher Education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>B. Atenas, L. Velazquez, N. Cruz Hern\u00e1ndez, J. C. Castro Palacio, and J. A. Monsoriu, Efficiency limits of graduation rates in structured curricula: Insights from solvable stochastic models, submitted to Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>J. Ll. Su\u00f1er, F. M. Mu\u00f1oz-P\u00e9rez, P. Yuste, J. C. Castro-Palacio, J. A. Monsoriu, <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1361-6552\/ae62e8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Generating Interactive Smartphone Physics Laboratories Using Artificial Intelligence<\/a>, Phys. Educ. 61, 035041, 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>L. Velazquez, B. Atenas, N. Cruz Hern\u00e1ndez, J. C. Castro Palacio, and J. A. Monsoriu, D<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/03075079.2025.2572513\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/03075079.2025.2572513\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iagnosing Grade Inflation: A Curriculum Analytics Approach to Quality Assurance in Higher Education<\/a>, Studies in Higher Education, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>L. Velazquez, B. Atenas, N. Cruz Hern\u00e1ndez, J. C. Castro Palacio and J. A. Monsoriu, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/03075079.2025.2571640\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ECTS Credits and Quality: Evidences for Public Policy Reform<\/a>, Studies in Higher Education, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I develop computational and quantitative approaches to understand complex systems across the physical, mathematical, and educational sciences. Computational Molecular Science Matter exhibits an extraordinary diversity of dynamical behaviours across molecular and nanoscale systems. My research investigates these phenomena through atomistic simulations, molecular dynamics, and statistical mechanics, with particular emphasis on gas\u2013surface interactions, nanoparticles, porous materials,&hellip;<\/p>\n<div><a class=\"excerpt-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/saadata.com\/?page_id=1364\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> <\/span><span class=\"meta-nav\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1364","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1435,"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1364\/revisions\/1435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saadata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}