Dear all, I hope you are doing well. This year, for the first time, we are going to start a Journal Club from Nanotechnology Student Advisory Council (NSAC). *Emroz Khan *is volunteering to lead the effort of the Journal Club. The Journal Club will focus on a specific topic for 6-8 weeks before moving to another topic. Our first topic for the Journal Club will be *Topological Insulators*. The Journal Club kicks off on Friday, July 14, 2017, at 3.30 PM in Birck Atrium. The first talk will be given by *Todd F Van Mechelen* (from Prof. Zubin Jacob's group). He will be presenting a brief history of topological insulators and related concepts, followed by a discussion on a recently discovered topological metal (Weyl semimetal). (https://doi.org/10.1126/ science.aaa9297) The paper is attached to this email. Last year's Nobel prize in physics was awarded for the theoretical discoveries of topological phases of matter. The field is still new and active, and it is believed that organizing a journal club around it should facilitate keeping track of the recent developments as well as expose students from other groups to the basic concepts. Some key features of this journal club are: - Each session would be around 30-45 mins long. - The speakers will be those who are currently active in this field. - A recent paper of substantial impact would be walked through. (Discussion of own research is reserved for NSAC coffee hours) - At least first 10-15 mins will be allocated for common understanding so that people with no background has some takeaway. - The relevant paper will be emailed to everyone at least a couple of days before the talk. - There will be refreshments. We will be sending out following announcements regarding the Journal club to bnc-grad list only. If you are a visiting scholar or faculty who would like to get involved in the journal club, please sign up using the following link: *https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/nsac_jc <https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/nsac_jc>* Date: Friday, July 14, 2017 Time: 3:30pm Place: BNC Atrium Speaker: *Todd F Van Mechelen* Topic: Brief history of topological insulators Best Regards, -Sajid Choudhury President, NSAC