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MaNEP Newsletter n°50 - June 2026
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Dear colleagues, dear members of the MaNEP association,
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I hope that you are going through safely during the wave of heat sweeping across Europe this week.
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This event should make us even more conscious of the importance of science, and scientific predictions, as well as the importance of investing in and using science to cure some of the global problems of our planet.
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It is therefore our duty (and pleasure since science is also our passion) to convey this message to both younger generations, and of course to decision-making people. This message is beautifully carried in this newsletter by example of passion in science with the portraits of P. Paruch and G. Jotzu and in the article of C. Lichtensteiger.
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Our scientific community is also a strong reminder that acting all together in an open way is the right way to move forward, a message sometimes forgotten in a world that sometimes tends to fragment and wall up. At our scale, the MaNEP association with its very strong collaborative component should therefore stay strong and continue to play such a role.
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We should of course also not forget the people who, before us, built the solid foundation on which the MaNEP NCCR and later the MaNEP association were created and more generally contributed to the high scientific level of condensed matter in Switzerland. Thanks thus to B. Batlogg and L. Degiorgi for writing this nice tribute to the memory of P. Wachter.
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This newsletter also reflects, as usual, the outstanding research work done by the members of the association. This is obvious, both by looking at the prizes obtained and the exciting research work that is reflected in the publications and perspectives. Congratulations to all, for these fantastic works and results.
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We have also several forthcoming events with, in particular, the SWM2026 meeting (Aug. 25th - 27th) in Les Diablerets. There is an exciting program, and we can already congratulate the Program and Organization committees (under the respective chairs of T. Neupert and I. Maggio-Aprile) for setting up what promises to be an exciting event. SWM2026 will also be the occasion to have our MaNEP forum, with this year a heavy agenda going from the renewal of the board to our continuing brainstorming on the future of the MaNEP association.
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I am certainly looking forward to seeing many of you this summer in Les Diablerets.
Meanwhile enjoy reading the newsletter.
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Thierry Giamarchi
University of Geneva
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What's new ?
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Discover the world of cutting-edge materials research with Patrycja Paruch from the DQMP at the University of Geneva. In this episode of the SCNAT portrait series, Prof. Paruch reveals how she investigates the relationship between the structure and properties of materials at the nanometer scale using advanced scanning microscopy - and what drives her passion.
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By Céline Lichtensteiger, UNIGE
Science has a major role to play in society - whether to better understand the world we live in, tackle the major challenges of our time, or help us shape the future. Quantum physics has already had a deep impact on our society, both philosophically and technologically, and is not going to stop here.
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Peter Wachter, Professor at the Department of Physics of ETH Zurich until 1999, passed away on October 26, 2025, at the age of 94.
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Corinna Burri, in the QPS group, at PSI, won the PSI Thesis Medal 2026 for her doctoral thesis entitled "Imaging and control of van der Waals layer stacking in 1T-TaS2 cryomemory devices".
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In recognition of his contributions to understanding the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism in quantum materials, Zurab Guguchia, from the LMU at PSI received the ICSM 2026 International Career (Lifetime) Achievement Award in Superconductivity.
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Gregor Jotzu, Professor at EPFL and head of the Dynamic Quantum Materials Laboratory (DQML), has been selected as one of the 15 CIFAR Global Scholars for 2026-2028. He has been named one of three recipients in the category of Quantum Materials.
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Scientific Perspective
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By Dariusz J. Gawryluk and Marisa Medarde PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences, Paul Scherrer Institute
The recent discovery of superconductivity in nickel-based oxides has revitalized the research activity in this field, which faced some stagnation since the mid 2000’s due to the absence of new major experimental discoveries and theoretical progress on copper and iron-based superconducting oxides. Nickelates, sharing some structural and electronic similarities with the cuprates, have long been considered promising candidates for superconductivity.
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Scientific highlights
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By Mark Fischer and Titus Neupert, UZH
The quantum Hall effect - one of the most celebrated manifestations of topology in condensed matter physics - is characterized by dissipationless chiral edge states that arise when two-dimensional electrons are confined to Landau levels under a strong perpendicular magnetic field. Extending this physics to three dimensions has long posed a a conceptual challenge.
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By Jean-Philippe Brantut and Tabea Bühler, EPFL
Quantum materials often host several forms of order that interact in subtle ways: sometimes competing with each other and sometimes reinforcing one another. This interplay underlies the remarkable variety of phases found in strongly correlated systems and is key to their tunability and future applications.
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Discover more of the MaNEP Network's research and innovations through other publication highlights.
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Portrait
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What has been your main research activity and key results in recent years ?
Ever since finding out that even a single proton must be described as a quantum many-body system, I have been curious to understand how order emerges out of complexity. Initially I worked on entangled photons and ultracold atoms in optical lattices - very clean and controllable systems. But in recent years I have moved to the comparatively messy world of materials, which is rewardingly rich and full of surprises.
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Upcoming events
August 17, 2026, Calgary, Canada
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(images credit: X. Ravinet - UNIGE, MaNEP, SCNAT, Physiscope - UNIGE, ETHZ, PSI, UZH, Nature Physics, EPFL,Titouan Veuillet - EPFL)
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MaNEP Switzerland Network
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24, quai Ernest-Ansermet - 1211 Geneva 4
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