Research

Research Priorities: Multiferroics, Materials Theory, Magnetism, Ferroelectricity, Quantum Materials, Superconductivity

Nicola Spaldin is a British chemist and materials researcher. She gained particular recognition for her research into multiferroics, which are simultaneously ferromagnetic and ferroelectric. For her research, she uses a combination of first principles and techniques to better understand the fundamental physical properties of novel materials. The goal of Nicola Spaldin’s work is to develop new materials with novel functionalities that might be useful for example for high-efficiency data storage and beyond-silicon microelectronic devices.

Nicola Spaldin develops and applies a combination of first principles and phenomenological theoretical and computational techniques to understand and predict the properties of materials with unconventional electronic and magnetic properties. To this end, the materials researcher designs new materials, both for microelectronic applications and for research into fundamental questions in the field of physics.

Nicola Spaldin gained great recognition for her work leading to the development of the class of materials known as multiferroics. This novel class of materials reacts to both magnetic and electrical fields. This is not a naturally occurring combination. These properties make multiferroics promising materials which might, for example, be able to replace silica in computer chips in the future and enable new energy-efficient technologies.

Career

• since 2011 Professor of Materials Theory, Department of Materials, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• 2010 Visiting Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Materials Theory Division, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
• 2007 Visiting Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• 2006-2010 Professor, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
• 2003 Visiting Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
• 2002-2006 Associate Professor, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
• 2000 Visiting Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
• 1997-2002 Assistant Professor, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
• 1996 Postdoctoral Researcher, Applied Physics Department, Yale University, New Haven, USA
• 1996 PhD in Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• 1991-1996 Research Associate, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• 1991 BA in Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Functions

• since 2021 Member, Scientific Council, European Research Council (ERC)
• 2014-2018 Director of Studies, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Projects

• since 2019 Synergy Grant, ERC
• 2007-2010 Director, International Center for Material Research, National Science Foundation (NSF), USA
• 2003-2006 Director, Chemical Bonding Center, NSF, USA
• 2000-2005 Director, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) in Optical Materials, NSF, USA

Honours and Memberships

• 2023 Gothenburg Lise Meitner Award, Gothenburg Physics Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2022 Europhysics Prize, European Physical Society
• 2022 Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics, Joachim Herz Foundation, Hamburg, Germany
• since 2022 Foreign Member, French Académie des sciences, France
• since 2022 Foreign Member, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
• since 2022 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
• 2021 IUPAP Magnetism Award and Néel Medal, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)
• since 2021 Member, Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), Switzerland
• 2020 2020 Golden Owl Award, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• 2019 Swiss Science Prize, Marcel Benoist Foundation, Bern, Switzerland
• since 2019 Foreign Member, National Academy of Engineering, USA
• since 2018 Honorary Fellow, Churchill College Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
• since 2017 Fellow, Royal Society, UK
• 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award, Paris, France
• 2017 Lise Meitner Lecture, German Physical Society and Austrian Physical Society, Austria
• 2017 Mid-Career Researcher Award, Materials Research Society, Warrendale, USA
• 2015 Körber European Science Prize, Körber Foundation, Hamburg, Germany
• 2012 Rössler Prize, ETH Zurich Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland
• since 2011 Fellow, Materials Research Society, Warrendale, USA
• 2010 James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials, American Physical Society, USA