Mike Pols received his Bachelor’s degrees (cum laude) in Applied Physics and Chemical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in 2018. He continued studying at TU/e for his Master’s degrees (cum laude) in Applied Physics and Chemical Engineering which he graduated from in 2021. The work of his Master’s thesis was focused on the development of a reactive force field (ReaxFF) for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of metal halide perovskites.

Continuing the line of research set out during his Master’s thesis, Mike joined Shuxia Tao's group in March 2021 as a doctoral candidate. He aims to develop the reactive force field (ReaxFF) for metal halide perovskites further to study the degradation mechanisms of metal halide perovskites at the atomic scale. For his PhD project, he will collaborate closely with force field experts Sofia Calero (MSM, TU/e) and Adri van Duin (Penn State University, US).