Abstract Grids -the collection of heterogeneous computers spread across the globe -present a new paradigm for the large scale problems in variety of fields. We discuss two representative cases in the area of condensed matter physics outlining the widespread applications of the Grids. Both the problems involve calculations based on commonly used Density Functional Theory and hence can be considered to be of general interest. We demonstrate the suitability of Grids for the problems discussed and provide a general algorithm to implement and manage such large scale problems