The researchers of the Institute of Physics Belgrade have won one of the largest individual scientific projects which have reached the Republic of Serbia. The project titled Hidden Phases in 2D Quantum Materials has won the funds from the European ERA Chairs Programme.
It is on this occasion that the Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Dr Jelena Begović hosted a reception for the researchers on Wednesday, 17 July. The reception, held at the Government of the Republic of Serbia, was attended by Dr Aleksandar Bogojević, Director of the Institute of Physics Belgrade, and members of the research team.
The project will be realized by the group of researchers from the Centre for Solid State and New Materials of the Institute of Physics Belgrade, and the central part of the project team includes Dr Bojana Višić, Dr Jelena Pešić and Dr Zorica Konstantinović lead by Dr Nenad Lazarević, the Centre’s head. (in the photos)
The project includes the return of one of the world’s leading experts in solid state physics, Dr Emil Božin, from America to Serbia. A multiple award-winner and cited researher, Dr Božin obtained his doctorate from the University of Michigan, and after that, he conducted research at Columbia University, and since 2010 has been working at the prestigious Brookhaven National Laboratory. Now, thanks to this project, Dr Božin and his family will be returning to Belgrade and joining the Institute of Physics.
As a national institute of the Republic of Serbia, the Institute of Physics Belgrade has been actively working on the return of our researchers from abroad and until now, through infrastructure investments and recognized scientific results, it has managed to ensure the return of more than 30 phyisicists who have established careers overseas. The Institute boasts four centres of excellence, one of them being the Centre for the Solid State Physics and New Materials which was established and successfully managed by Academician Zoran Popović 30 years ago. This Centre is currently overseen by Dr Nenad Lazarević who will be at the helm of the participating team.
’On the eve of the thirtieth anniversary of the Center for Solid State Physics and New Materials, founded by Academician Zoran V. Popović, the absence of advanced structural analysis techniques was recognized as the main challenge in the strategy for further development,’ says Dr Nenad Lazarevic, explicating that ’Hidden Phases in 2D Quantum Materials project will address this gap with the return of Dr Emil Božin, an eminent expert in this field, and will establish a premier regional center for experimental solid state physics’.
The approved funds within the project amount to €2.5 million, and they will allow the establishment of a new unit which will be integrated in the Centre for Solid State Physics and New Materials and connected with the exhisting laboratories there – Laboratory for Solid State Physics, Laboratory for Nanostructures, Laboratory for 2D Materials and Laboratory for Electronic Materials. In addition to the existing materials research methods – Raman, infrared and Brillouin spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, AFM/STM and magnetotransport – used at this Center, the project will introduce a new Fourier method based on total scattering.
The project was inspired by the challenge of characterizing hidden phases in kagome crystals, which are currently a focal point in global research. Throuch the ERA Chairs Programme, the present research group at the Institute, already globally distinguished, will try to tackle the challenges which are at present at the forefront of global research.
’For over a decade, we have been aware of the fact that our future as a quality-based scientific institution depends on our commitment to attracting our diaspora-based researchers’, says Dr Aleksandar Bogojević, the Director of the Institute of Physics Belgrade, noting that following two won ERC grants and a Twinning project, the ERA Chairs project becomes one in a series of international project which are to strengthen the Institute, both scientifically and in terms of infrostructure and human resources. ’If science remains robust at the Institute, it will draw new names’, believes Bogojević, supplicating that it is the path to motivating young students to pursue a career in science.
The ERA Chairs programme is an instrument within the Horizon Europe framework dedicated to bolstering research capacities of universities and institutes, which researchers from Serbia have seldom pursued. In September 2023, a call for projects was initiated with an overall budget of €97 million, to which the Institute submitted its project proposal titled Hidden Phases in 2D Quantum Materials and won the funds.
As part of the project, it is envisaged that the Institute will utilize measurements from major facilities to study condensed matter and new materials, and will establish a training center for new methodologies witin the Institute, which would be open to researchers from Serbia, the Western Balkans region and Southeast Europe. The project will enhance the Institute’s position as a center of excellence in the European Research Area and foster cooperation with industry partners. At the same time, the project will facilitate the transfer of knowledge, mobility and networking among researchers and young talents, which in itself will significantly strengthen the science and innovation sector in Serbia.
Photo by: IPB – Bojan Džodan