High-Pressure Crystallogaphy Habilitation Thesis

Acknowledgements This Habilitation thesis presents my work of the last 5 years, mostly done at ETH Zurich and partly at University College London. This was a really exciting time, and I owe a great deal of gratitude to my numerous colleagues and friends. Price: For his friendship and inspiring discussions, both scientific and personal. David's style (best described as " light-hearted wisdom ") and his incredible speed of thought have greatly affected me. Prof. Walter Steurer: For supporting and encouraging my (successful) efforts to build a strong independent research group. Dr. Shigeaki Ono: For being an ideal collaborator – talented, open, hard-working, friendly and extremely interesting person. I remember with pleasure our walks in Meiji-jingu (Tokyo) and Kensington (London). friendship and a stimulating collaboration on metadynamics. For hospitality during my stays in Lugano. For expanding the field of my research interests and attracting me to new challenges. exciting " electrified " scientific spirit of our group (the spirit of perpetuum mobile), for their friendship and collaboration. I am infinitely grateful to all of them. and other things. Mario Valle, for his excellent work in visualisation, and for the personal friendship we have developed over years. I appreciated Mario's visits to Zurich, our lunches and dinners with an enjoyable mixture of personal and professional conversation. Dewaele, for her friendship and love, as well as exciting scientific discussions.