The research activity of the division is mainly concerned with the development and application of new methods of theoretical studies of the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and ions in crystal fields.
Special attention is paid to the problem of electron correlation.
This method allowed for the first time for systematic ab initio studies of electron correlation effects in larger atomic systems, including transition metals and rare-earth atoms. The latter fact causes a dramatic reduction of the number of unknowns in the equations for the cluster amplitudes, which allowed to obtain results of unprecedented accuracy. The new effective operators obtained strongly modify the transition amplitudes and explain the violation of the standard selection rules. Recently, studies of the impact of the lanthanide electronic structure on the superconducting characteristics of cuprates have been undertaken. The division has been the main organizer of several Schools of Advanced Methods in Quantum Chemistry in Bachotek.