PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Claudio Zeni

As of October 2026, Claudio Zeni is a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge’s AI for Science group, applying machine learning to materials simulation and discovery. He earned a PhD in computational physics at King’s College London, where he developed Gaussian-process force fields for materials, including nanoparticles. At Microsoft Research, he coauthored MatterGen, which generates inorganic materials to meet property constraints, and MatterSim, which predicts materials behavior across temperature and pressure ranges. In 2025, he coauthored the Nature paper on MatterGen, and in 2026 he worked on MatterSim-MT, a multi-task model for materials characterization.

Works
29
Citations
1,131
h-index
10
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2020

    A PhD in computational physics

    He earns a PhD in computational physics at King’s College London in 2020 and develops Gaussian-process force fields for material simulations, including metallic nanoparticles.

  2. 2021

    Simulating gold nanoparticle melting

    In 2021, he fits machine-learning force fields and runs melting simulations to study the thermal stability of gold nanoparticles.

  3. 2022–2023

    SISSA research and MatterGen

    In 2022, he publishes a study of machine-learning-potential extrapolation while affiliated with the International School for Advanced Studies. By December 2023, he is a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research and coauthors MatterGen, a generative model for property-guided materials design.

  4. 2024

    MatterSim across conditions

    In 2024, he coauthors MatterSim, a deep-learning model for atomistic simulation and property prediction across the periodic table, from 0 to 5,000 K and pressures up to 1,000 GPa.

  5. 2025

    MatterGen in Nature

    In 2025, Nature publishes MatterGen with Zeni among seven authors who contributed equally. The model generates stable, diverse inorganic materials and can be fine-tuned to meet property constraints.

  6. As of October 2026

    Senior Researcher at Microsoft

    In May 2026, he coauthors MatterSim-MT, a multi-task foundation model for materials simulation and property characterization. As of October 2026, he is a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge’s AI for Science group, working on materials simulation and discovery.

Career

  1. Since 2023Microsoft ResearchSenior Researcher
  2. From 2022International School for Advanced Studies
  3. 2021–2023Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati

Education

  1. 2020King's College LondonPhD

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. A generative model for inorganic materials design2025 · Nature · 508 citationsWith Andrew Fowler and Daniel Zügner
  2. Efficient nonparametric n -body force fields from machine learning2018 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 149 citations
  3. MatterSim: A Deep Learning Atomistic Model Across Elements, Temperatures and Pressures2024 · 114 citationsWith Andrew Fowler and Daniel Zügner
  4. Data-driven simulation and characterisation of gold nanoparticle melting2021 · Nature Communications · 70 citations
  5. MatterGen: a generative model for inorganic materials design2023 · 66 citationsWith Andrew Fowler and Daniel Zügner

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. 14% of AI career moves in the 2020s went from a university to a companyIncludes Claudio Zeni. Our estimates of how university-to-company career transitions changed by decade, including roles added alongside an earlier job.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes Microsoft. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Microsoft. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  4. Google alumni founded or led 87 other organizations, the most among the labs we compareIncludes Microsoft. We trace 212 organizations founded or led by AI lab alumni, and 223 career moves between the labs.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Claudio Zeni yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Gaussian process regression for nonparametric force fields - King's College London kclpure.kcl.ac.uk. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Claudio Zeni Microsoft microsoft.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Data-driven simulation and characterisation of gold nanoparticle melting nature.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Exploring the robust extrapolation of high-dimensional machine learning potentials | Phys. Rev. B journals.aps.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. MatterGen: Property-guided materials design - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. MatterGen: a generative model for inorganic materials design arxiv.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. MatterSim: A Deep Learning Atomistic Model Across Elements, Temperatures and Pressures arxiv.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  8. A generative model for inorganic materials design | Nature nature.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  9. Advancing AI for materials with MatterSim: experimental synthesis, faster simulation, and multi-task models - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  10. MatterSim-MT: A multi-task foundation model for in silico materials characterization arxiv.org. Checked 19 October 2026.