Building on work in refs. , this study provides an atomistic description of copper nanocluster (Cu n , n = 1-4) adsorption onto three different tungsten dichalcogenide monolayers. Descriptors such as the copper-surface and copper-copper interaction energies provide an understanding of the nanocluster structure adsorption, and can be used to predict the final morphology of copper thin films on these surfaces. For example, our previous work on the morphology of Cu clusters on MoS 2 and TaN shows that if the copper-surface interaction is larger than the copper-copper interaction, then 2D growth of the metal can be expected, with 3D growth expected if the copper-copper interaction energy is larger than the copper-surface interaction energy . Furthermore, if the metal adsorption energy is larger than the cohesive energy of the corresponding bulk metal, than 2D growth is expected .