Professor Tomáš Jungwirth from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences has been included in the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list of the world's most cited scientists for the fourth time. This annual list recognizes researchers whose contributions have demonstrated broad and significant influence in their fields.
On October 28, 2025, the President of the Czech Republic awarded the Medal of Merit to Professor Tomáš Jungwirth, head of the Spintronics and Nanoelectronics Department at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Professor Jungwirth and his team were behind a discovery that paves the way for digital data storage that is a thousand times faster.
Altermagnets and magnonics have both made the headlines repeatedly last year. Miina Leiviskä, a MSCA COFUND Physics for Future fellowship postdoc at the Institute of Physics of the CAS, blends these topics that have so recently upturned the world of physics. Are they at the core of future computing, or is it not so simple?
Czech physicist Tomáš Jungwirth is one of the most important figures in contemporary world science thanks to his groundbreaking research in the field of spintronics. In 2024, he gained awards on several prestigious platforms, confirming his key contribution to scientific knowledge.
"A scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.” This quote by Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford could be applied to the recent achievements of Libor Šmejkal. He was selected from hundreds of nominated scientists to be awarded the Breakthrough Scientific Discovery of the Year 2023 title in the Falling Walls competition for his theoretical work on altermagnetism and non-dissipative nanoelectronics. He was able to explain his discoveries to the general public by comparing a new form of magnetism to the dance of swans. His scientific career illustrates the importance of the role of teachers and mentors and symbolises a commitment to discovery and contribution to scientific knowledge.
In an article published in Nature an international team of scientists breaks down the traditional idea of dividing magnetism into two branches – the ferromagnetic one, known for several millennia, and the antiferromagnetic, discovered about a century ago. Researchers have now succeeded in directly experimentally demonstrating a third altermagnetic branch theoretically predicted by researchers in Prague and Mainz several years ago.
Solid state physicist Helena Reichlová will establish the Dioscuri Centre for Spin Caloritronics and Magnonics at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 1 October 2023. She will look for ways to reduce the exponentially increasing energy consumption in the information technology sector of the future.
The atomically sharp domain walls that were discovered by an international team led by researchers from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, might considerably improve the research of ulta-fast memory devices made from antiferromagnetic materials.
Libor Šmejkal from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences has won the second place in the “Best Dissertation Thesis” category in this year’s Werner von Siemens Award. Libor won the award for the thesis entitled “Topology band theory of relativistic spintronics in antiferromagnets” supervised by professor Tomáš Jungwirth.
