Nicola Spaldin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nicola Spaldin
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Nicola Spaldin at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2017
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| Born | 1969 (age 55–56) Sunderland, UK
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| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA) University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
| Awards | James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials (2010) Rössler Prize (2012) Körber European Science Prize (2015) L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award (2017) Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist (2019) IUPAP Magnetism Prize and Néel Medal (2021) Europhysics Prize (2022) Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics (2022) Gothenburg Physics Centre Lise Meitner Award (2023) CNRS Fellow-Ambassadeur (2024) Doctor of Science (honoris causa), Queens University, Belfast (2024) |
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| Institutions | ETH Zurich University of California, Santa Barbara Yale University |
| Thesis | Calculating the electronic properties of semiconductor nanostructures (1996) |
Nicola Ann Spaldin (born 1969) is a top scientist who studies materials. She is a professor of materials science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. She is famous for her groundbreaking work on special materials called multiferroics.
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Early Life and Education
Nicola Spaldin was born in Sunderland, England, in 1969. She loved learning about science from a young age.
She went to the University of Cambridge and earned her first degree in natural sciences in 1991. Later, she moved to the United States. She completed her PhD in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1996.
Discovering Multiferroics
After her PhD, Nicola Spaldin worked at Yale University. There, she started thinking about a new type of material. These materials are called multiferroics. They are special because they are both magnetic and ferroelectric. This means they can be controlled by both magnetic fields and electric fields.
In 2000, she published an important paper. It explained why these amazing materials were so rare. This helped other scientists understand them better.
Making Multiferroics Real
In 2003, Nicola Spaldin was part of a team. They showed that a material called bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) was indeed multiferroic. This was a big step forward!
Over the next few years, she made many more discoveries. Her team showed how to control magnetism in BiFeO3 using an electric field. Imagine being able to switch a magnet on or off with electricity! She also found new ways to create multiferroic properties in different materials.
New Research Directions
In 2010, Professor Spaldin moved to ETH Zurich. Her research continued to explore new ideas.
She started looking at "magnetic multipoles." This is a deeper way to understand how magnets work. It helps explain magnetism in complex materials.
She also explored "Dynamical Multiferroicity." This looks at how tiny vibrations in a material can affect its magnetic properties.
Unexpected Uses of Multiferroics
Nicola Spaldin's work has even helped in other areas of physics.
She designed a new multiferroic material. This material could help scientists search for a tiny property of electrons. This search helps us understand the basic rules of the universe.
Her research also connects to the search for dark matter. Dark matter is a mysterious substance that scientists believe makes up a big part of the universe. Her work could help build new tools to find it.
Awards and Honours
Nicola Spaldin has received many important awards for her work.
In 2010, she won the James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials. In 2015, she received the Körber European Science Prize. This award recognized her for creating the ideas behind multiferroic materials.
She also won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science in 2017. This award celebrates women who have made amazing contributions to science. In 2019, she won the Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist. More recently, she received the IUPAP Magnetism Prize and Néel Medal in 2021 and the Europhysics Prize in 2022.
Professor Spaldin is also a "Fellow" of many important scientific groups. Being a Fellow means she is recognized as a leading expert in her field. These groups include the Royal Society and the American Physical Society.
Teaching and Service
Nicola Spaldin is also a dedicated teacher. She has won awards for her excellent teaching at ETH Zurich. She has even shared some of her lectures online.
She also helps guide the direction of science. She is a member of the ERC Scientific Council. This group helps decide which research projects get funding in Europe. She also helped start a science journal called Physical Review Research.
