From May 22 to 26, the SPICE Workshop on Computational Quantum Magnetism took place. The who is who of researchers in the field met in the scenic setting of Schloß Waldthausen which lies in Lennebergwald, a natural reserve in immediate vicinity to Mainz. 64 participants from 42 affiliations in 19 countries came together to spent five days working on the most advanced computational techniques to study complex magnetic materials to examine the latest developments and challenges. The intensive program covering a wide range of aspects connected to Computational Quantum Magnetism incorporated various scientific talks and tutorials, as well as a poster session with numerous contributions from the students.
Director of SPICE Sinova, JGU President Krausch and State Secretary Deufel – View the JGU press release.
Yesterday, Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch, the president of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität and Prof. Dr. Jairo Sinova, director of SPICE, inaugurated the Spin Phenomena Interdisciplinary Center at the festive opening ceremony in the tradition-steeped hall of Atrium Maximum. After more than a year of getting settled and building up the Center, Sinova and his team now officially start tackling their mission. In his speech, Sinova defined that mission as the advancement of spin related materials science by globally connecting nature, cultures and people. The ambitious goal that Sinova has set for the next five years is to reduce the time span between scientific discoveries that require multiple disciplines. SPICE has set out to accomplish this by initiating and promoting the systematical interdisciplinary integration of complementary fields.
Sinova particularly stressed his appreciation for the support this project receives from JGU, Rheinland-Pflanz and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. These ideal conditions, he said, enabled him to pursue this goal and to make a contribution to establishing Mainz as a magnet for international top scientists and as a globally renowned center of materials science. In his welcome speech, President Krausch pointed out the outstanding job the Ministry has done facilitating Sinova's transfer from Texas A&M to JGU and wished SPICE a good start and success for the realisation of its vision.
It was an honour for Prof. Dr. Sinova and Prof. Dr. Krausch to welcome Dr. Hesse, the general secretary of the Humboldt Foundation and State Secretary Deufel from the Ministry of Science, Education and Culture of Rheinland-Pfalz. Both gave speeches expressing their esteem for Humboldt Professor Sinova and for JGU as a location of scientific excellence and wished the SPICE team all the best on their mission. Last but not least, Prof. Dr. Neubert, director of the MITP and coordinator of the PRISMA Cluster of Excellence announced plans for a synergetic collaboration between the MITP and SPICE. He pointed out the parallels between Sinova and himself. He too is a member of the Humboldt family, he too spent most of his career in the US and he shares the enthusiasm for teamwork and networking, Sinova appealed to when he said:
"It is together that we can globally connect nature, cultures, and people. It is together that we can make Mainz and Germany a magnet for the top dynamic scientists in the world. It is together that we can move minds and cross boundaries."
AvH General Secretary Hesse and Mathias Neubert, Director of the MITP and PRISMA Coordinator
In a matter of minutes, the desktop of the physicist was turned into a chef's countertop.
Today the SPICE organizational team and Matthias Neubert, Director of the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidi Stein, Head of Administration and Tobias Hurth, MITP Scientific Coordinator, met to discuss possibilities of intensifying the collaboration between the two research Centers and exploring potential synergies. All this while taking a nine course culinary tour through Sinova's home country, Spain. Besides research and teaching, making work a fun and entertaining experience is one of Sinova's great passions.
We are very happy to have Professors Ora Entin-Wohlman and Amnon Aharony from Tel Aviv University/Ben Gurion University as our guests. Prof. Entin-Wohlman gave a talk on “Thermoelecticity in nano-junctions” and Prof. Aharony shared his knowledge about "how to write and read quantum information on mobile qubits."
We had the pleasure to welcome Thierry Valet on February 11 and 12. If it was that he was not completely unaware of German Carnival traditions, we do not know. In any case, he was lucky not to wear a tie when he took off for a meeting with Jairo Sinova and Matthias Kläui. Mr Valet is known for the Valet-Fert Theory and Model on giant magnetoresistance in CPP geometry and the application of his research in spin engineering.
In collaboration with TRR 146, MAINZ and the Max Planck Institute for Polymere Research, SPICE hosts an introductory workshop on simulation methods for selected topics in soft and hard condensed matter: liquids, polymers, spintronic, and magnetic materials.
