2023

Athina Anastasaki, Head of Polymeric Materials, receives the 2024 Werner Prize for outstanding research in the field of chemistry.

Athina Anastasaki, Head of the Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, received the EuChemS Lecture Award in recognition of her major achievements, and her outsanding research profile on the field of polymer chemistry.

Frans Spaepen was bestowed with an honorary doctorate at the ETH Day in 2020. Because this celebration only occurred online during the Corona pandemic, we now have organized a one-day symposium to celebrate the event. The symposium will end with the Staudinger-Durrer Lecture, presented by Prof. Spaepen, and his honoring with the Staudinger-Durrer Prize by the rector of ETH Zurich, Prof. Günther Dissertori.

Dr. Sara Morgenthaler, study coordnator and lecturer, wins the Golden Owl 2023 awarded by VSETH, for excellent teaching. Congratulations!

Carla Fernandez-Rico, an ETH Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Soft and Living Materials, and Complex Materials, has been selected among six other talented scientists, as the 2023 winner of the Women Interactive Materials Award.

Safe the Date: The Department of Materials invites you to the inaugural lectures by Prof. Arkadiy Simonov, Prof. Tanja Zimmermann and Prof. Tae-Lim Choi

After the Corona pandemic, people at LMPT finally had the opportunity to present their accumulated results at international conferences over the Summer and Fall 2023. The results were well received by the international community.

The Laboratory of Polymeric Materials presents the photocatalytic depolymerization of polymers synthesized by ATRP.

Researchers from the Laboratory for Nanometallurgy developed an approach that utilizes two self-assembly processes in series to build an optical metamaterial with two distinct functional components: a disordered network and spherical nanoparticles.

Prof. em. ETH Dr. Nicholas D. Spencer and Prof. Antonella Rossi (University of Cagliari, I) have both won the Tribochemistry Award of the Japanese Society of Tribologists (JAST). The awardees are renowned for their research in tribochemistry over a period spanning three decades. The researchers collaborated at the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology in the Department of Materials, ETH Zurich.

Material surfaces encompass structural and chemical discontinuities that often lead to the loss of the property of interest in so-called dead layers. It is problematic in nanoscale oxide electronics, as it results in a thickness threshold required for the emergence of the materials functionality. An international team, led by Professors M. Trassin and M. Fiebig at D-MATL, reports a groundbreaking achievement: the stabilization of ultrathin ferroelectricity, right from the very first unit cell.

The laureate of the 2023 Lise Meitner Award is Professor Nicola Spaldin, who is awarded for “Fundamental theoretical contributions and discoveries in the field of multiferroics”.

The Laboratory of Polymeric Materials presents the bulk depolymerization of polymers synthesized by either ATRP or RAFT polymerization.

The 18th edition of the MaP Graduate Symposium took place on 22 June 2023 at ETH Zentrum. The Department of Materials was again very successfully represented this year. It is therefore not surprising that several of the awards were given to members of the D-​MATL.

Athina Anastasaki, Head of the Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, has been selected as one of the Chemical & Engineering News Talented 12, which recognizes young rising stars in chemistry who are not afraid of taking risk in the early stages of their career.

At its meeting of 24 and 25 May 2023 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed Dr Hedan Bai (*1993), currently Postdoctoral Researcher at Northwestern University, Illinois, USA, as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Robotic Materials in the Department of Materials.

Laura Heyderman, who leads the Mesoscopic Systems Group at PSI and ETH Zurich, has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). Her nomination recognises almost 30 years of research into magnetic materials and magnetism on the nanoscale, most notably, in the field of artificial spin ice.

Athina Anastasaki, Head of the Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, wins the 2023 ACS Macroletters/Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Investigator Award which seeks to recognize two individuals, early in their careers (under 40), who have had a major impact on the field of polymer science.

This year, the expert jury immediately reached a unanimous decision: from among the five inventions nominated for the Spark Award 2023, the whole panel chose the novel corrosion protection developed by researchers from the Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials.

Finally again – a Master’s degree graduation ceremony without special restrictions. It was wonderful to see the smiles of our 37 graduates and celebrate together with their families and friends!