We are pleased to send you the 55th issue of the NCCR MARVEL newsletter
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Newsletter - January 30, 2024

Dear MARVEL'ers,

Please find below our latest newsletter, with highlights and news linked to the MARVEL community.  

This month, you can read about the previously neglected effect of magnetostriction, and why muons can switch sites in antiferromagnetic oxides.

You can see the new cover of Nature Review Physics, that illustrates the article presenting the most comprehensive verification effort so far on solid-state density functional theory codes, and involves 9 MARVEL researchers. 

You can also read a brief account of the latest MARVEL Review and Retreat, which welcomed 130 participants in Grindelwald this month.

The next MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will feature Elisa Molinari on February 14 and address "The excitons that you might not expect". Just before that, on the same day, note the new event of the CECAM series "from women's eyes".  Mark your calendars too for the next MARVEL junior seminar which will take place on February 23 (note that unlike usual seminars, this is a Friday). 

Research highlight

In search of muons: why they switch sites in antiferromagnetic oxides

A study involving MARVEL scientists and just published in Physical Review Letters has found that in manganese oxide, a textbook antiferromagnetic material,  the site of an implanted spin-polarized muon is not well identified, but can change due to a previously neglected effect: magnetostriction.

Read MARVEL Highlights here

On the cover

DFT verification study on the cover of Nature Physics Review

The January 2024 issue of the journal dedicates the front page to the article "How to verify the precision of density-functional-theory implementations via reproducible and universal workflows", already published online in November 2023. The study is the most comprehensive verification effort so far on solid-state DFT codes, and involves 9 MARVEL researchers, including Giovanni Pizzi who is the corresponding author.

A look back at the MARVEL retreat

The MARVEL 2024 Review and Retreat

Over 130 participants met in Grindelwald from 17 to 19 January to share new results and discuss plans for the final 2 years of the project. The creation of sustainable digital infrastructures for materials science, machine learning and large language models, new Swiss facilities and the exploration of quantum computing approaches were among the key topics of discussion.

MARVEL Junior Seminar

MARVEL Junior Seminar — February 2024

Feb 23, 2024, from 12:15 until 13:15, Coviz2 (MED 2 1124), EPFL + Zoom

The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim to intensify interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups – this is held in hybrid mode, in order to maintain in-person contacts and allow off-campus attendees to follow the seminars remotely! We are pleased to propose the 57th MARVEL Junior Seminar: Federica Troni (CECAM, EPFL) and Beliz Sertcan (University of Zurich) will present their research. 

From women's eyes

From women's eyes

Feb 14, 2024, from 14:00 until 15:00, Online

We would like to invite you to join us for the CECAM online celebration of the UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 14. Shobhana Narasimhan (JNCASR, Jakkur, Bangalore) and Virginie de Mestral (ETH Zurich) will share with us their experiences and perspective on women’s access and participation in our domain. We are also looking forward to contributions and questions from the audience — boys and girls alike! 

MARVEL Distinguished Lecture

[CANCELED] MARVEL Distinguished Lecture — Elisa Molinari

Feb 14, 2024, from 16:00 until 17:15, Zoom

The 36th NCCR MARVEL Distinguished Lecture will be given by Prof. Elisa Molinari, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and Cnr-Nano, Modena, Italy. She will be presenting a lecture entitled: "The excitons that you might not expect." 

Equal opportunities

Four new INSPIRE Potentials fellows will join MARVEL for their Master's research projects

We are happy to announce that Serena Bragadini (UNIMORE, Italy), Valentina Sanella (Univ. Milano-Bicocca, Italy), Hela Mhiri (ENIT, Tunisia and ENSTA, Paris, France) and Jayashree Narayan (IISER Mohali, India) were granted INSPIRE Potentials – MARVEL Master's Fellowships after the October 2023 call. The four women are joining MARVEL labs for a 6-month Master's research project — congratulations!

Fix the leaky pipeline! — Kickoff event 2024

Feb 06, 2024, from 12:15 until 14:00, Online/hybrid

The next run of the Fix the Leaky Pipeline program (FLP), a career building program for women in science, will be launched by an online/hybrid kickoff event on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, 12:15 – 14:00.

Join the MARVEL Members and Alumni LinkedIn page!

We want to give a second life to the "NCCR MARVEL Members and Alumni" LinkedIn group following the demand of previous members. It is meant to keep in touch with our fellow MARVEL colleagues and friends. This is a private group and either you received an invitation, or your membership has to be confirmed by our administrators. Then feel free to post job positions, ideas of collaborations, networking events. Let's activate our community!

>>  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8825865

Save the date!

Ig Nobel Award Tour Show 2024

Apr 16, 2024, from 18:30 until 20:30, EPFL Forum Rolex + online

On Tuesday April 16, after a 5-year break, with the support of the NCCR MARVEL, EPFL will welcome for the fifth time the Ig Nobel Award Tour Show, with Marc Abrahams and the Ig Nobel Prize winners Chris Moulin, Damien Bouffard and Minna Lyons. We will be talking about people who habitually stay up late, about sexual activity of anchovies, or about repeating a single word many, many, many, many, many, many, many times. A great evening ahead!

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