SPINOS, the International Meeting on Spins in Organic Semiconductors is the name of a series of conferences that started in 2007 in Bologna and continued successfully in Salt Lake City (2009), Amsterdam (2010), London (2012), Himeji (2014), and Chicago (2016). The goal of SPINOS is to bring together scientists investigating spins in organic semiconductors and carbon based systems and to discuss recent advances in organic spintronics, magnetic field effects in organic systems, organic magnets, and spin chemistry. Material systems of interest include p-conjugated polymers and small molecules, but also carbon based systems like Graphene. Besides the possibility to monitor the progress of established areas of organic spintronics the conference also tries to show up new directions and opportunities for spins in organic materials.

SPINOS VII will be held in Halle (Saale) in Germany from August 13 to August 16, 2018. The program will include invited talks,contributed talks and poster contributions. For students extra low registration fees will be available.

A special session with several invited speakers will be devoted to magnetic molecules and molecular magnetism.

• Press release of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (German only)
• Conference website

The Institute of Physics in Halle is currently hosting a particularly sought-after scientist: Dr. Manuel Bibes. The French physicist is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of oxide interfaces. Together with his colleagues at Martin Luther University, he develops new ideas for joint research projects and combines local expertise with his own work.

Manuel Bibes' schedule is well filled: In the last days he had many meetings with different working groups of the Halle Institute of Physics. "I recently visited Wolf Widdra's laboratory and we talked about new experiments that we want to carry out together," said the researcher.

Manuel Bibes is Research Director at the renowned Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) - Thales. There he heads the "Oxitronics" department. Prior to this, the physicist worked in the research group of the French physics Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr. Albert Fert. His work has already received numerous awards, and the European Research Council is supporting him with an ERC Consolidator Grant. The fact that Bibes is currently on a research trip in Germany is due to an initiative of the physicist Prof. Dr. Ingrid Mertig from Halle. She had successfully nominated him for the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The prize money, 45,000 euros, is intended for several research stays in Germany.

Ingrid Mertig and Manuel Bibes both work in a special field of solid-state physics, the oxide interfaces. They've known each other for many years: When the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 762 "Functionality of Oxide Interfaces" was established in Halle in 2007, Bibes also began his work on this topic. The first meetings at workshops and conferences finally became joint scientific publications. "Halle's SFB on oxides is great. There is no comparable research funding in France," says Bibes. Ingrid Mertig is also enthusiastic about her guest: "Manuel Bibes is an expert on oxide interfaces in great demand worldwide. He is the ideal complement to our SFB."

• Report in the online magazine of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (German only)    

The Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) presents itself with an innovative project at the world's largest digital trade fair Cebit, which takes place from 11 to 15 June 2018 in Hanover.

The team around physicist Prof. Dr. Jamal Berakdar presents new possibilities for magnetic-based storage media. Many technical devices are getting smaller and smaller - this also presents challenges for magnetic-based storage media. Existing technologies are limited due physical effects. The physicists from Halle are therefore working on a concept for magnetic storage media in nanoformat. The scientists use arrangements for nanostructured systems that contain magnetic quasi-particles, so-called skyrmions. These are characterized by a specific stability against thermal fluctuations or external magnetic fields and are therefore a potential candidate for modern storage media.

• Press release of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (German only)

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has awarded the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award to the French physicist Dr. Manuel Bibes. He will use the award money, 45,000 euros, for long-term research stays in Germany. At MLU, Manuel Bibes will support the scientists of the research area "Materials Science - Nanostructured Materials". He was nominated by the Institute of Physics at MLU.

"Manuel Bibes' topics are an excellent contribution to the scientific profile of our Collaborative Research Centre on Oxide Interfaces. We will benefit greatly from his expertise and look forward to working with this outstanding scientist," says physicist Prof. Dr. Ingrid Mertig. She is head of the Collaborative Research Centre 762 "Functionality of Oxide Interfaces". Together, the Halle researchers want to combine their theoretical and experimental findings with the results of Manuel Bibes. The aim is to advance the development of novel materials that could be used in information and storage technology in the future.

• Press release of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (German only)