The Journey of QuSpin

Dialogue between the three Principal Investigators Arne Brataas, Asle Sudbø and Jacob Linder, facilitated by Karen-Elisabeth Sødahl. The fourth original Principal Investigator, Justin Wells, had already started in his new position at the University of Oslo.

Carrying out research at the department before the foundation of the Center for Quantum Spintronics

It is common practice for researchers to work by themselves within well-defined research areas at universities. The research culture allows for a high degree of freedom and independence. Researchers are focused specialists who operate in separate or parallel “silos.” The university and public funding system reward individual researchers for articles published and cited and for project funding they attract.

The motivation for applying for a Center of Excellence (SFF)

“We wanted to make a more extensive scientific impact, securing long-term funding and resources by joining forces and developing new ways of working together. Therefore, we developed a set of coherent research fieldstoward a shared vision to trigger a revolution in low-power information and communication technologies in anenergy-efficient society,” says Arne Brataas.

The four professors, Arne Brataas, Asle Sudbø, Jacob Linder, and Justin Wells, cover the theoretical and the experimental fields within physics. They sat down to explore if they could form a strong enough team with a chance to succeed with their ambitions. Their track records, coherent research themes, and complementary competencies were crucial. After challenging discussions at many meetings and compromises on which research to prioritize, writing and re-writing the application tenfold times, they handed in a solid application to the Research Council of Norway (RCN), which succeeded.

In September 2017, the Research Council of Norway awarded the Center of Quantum Spintronics (QuSpin) the Center of Excellence (SFF) status. A ten-year journey started. Besides the PIs, the Center includes a center coordinator, associated members, Postdocs, Ph.D. and master’s students. At the end of 2021, the Center counted sixty members from thirteen different nations. Twenty-five researchers from 2017-2021 have moved on from QuSpin to careers within academia or the industry.

The importance of a joint location in developing the research culture

“We believed in the importance of being close together to create an environment for formal and informal collaboration and meetings. So, the priority was to gather everyone in the same corridor,” says Arne Brataas. “We designed a common room, the heart of the Center, where the researchers canmeet for lunch, seminars, journal clubs, idea forums, workshops, meetings, cultural feasts, and birthday celebrations.”

“Gathering many researchers on one physical location has been a success,” says Asle Sudbø “As aresult, everybody easily finds colleagues who work in closely related scientific fields to talk to anddiscuss with. This environment is enriching both scientifically and socially.”

Quspin has people with various backgrounds, competencies, and personalities. An important aim is that everyone should be seen and heard.

Covid-19 and research at QuSpin

During the past two years, the covid-19 pandemic has affected people both at work and in their private lives. The home office has been the main rule for a long time. Therefore, covid-19 has put a new kind of stress on the organization. The physical meeting places and activities were canceled or moved to digital platforms such as Teams and Zoom.

“Looking at the number of publications and distribution between the researchers,” Jacob Linder says,“it shows that we have been able to keep the research going. What we see is a small dip in collaborations in 2021, but this is an effect of not being together, and the labs have had a delay inongoing activity.”

“The corona pandemic has put people’s mental and physical conditions to the test,” Asle Sudbø comments.  “At the same time, we were optimistic that as soon as society would open up again andpeople would be back to work, we would be able to regain the motivation and interaction we had before the lockdown.

We see a gradual increase in collaboration between theorists and experimentalists and between the various experimental labs. – Arne Brataas

The effect the center has had on collaborations between the researchers and across theoretical and experimental fields

One of the Center’s goals was to increase the collaborations. Therefore, the Center invested 16 MNOK in a new ARPES lab, developed and set up by Justin Wells and his team. The associate professor Christoph Brüne did the same with the MBE lab, while Professor Dennis Meier headed the Scanning Probe Microscopy lab. The developments of the experimental capacity have been vital to increased interaction and collaboration between both fields at QuSpin. In addition, the Center collaborates with the international partners Professor Mathias Kläui (Mainz) and Rembert Duine (Delft) and their lab teams.

“We see a gradual increase in collaboration between theoreticians and experimentalists and between the various experimental labs,” says Arne Brataas. “There is a 30% increase in collaboration on articles over the years 2017- 2021. Furthermore, according to the latest ranking in the Nature Index measures, QuSpin’s publications represent25% of the total rating points for NTNU in this ranking.”

The benefit of co-location and joint activities where the researchers learn more about each other’s activities has been instrumental in making this happen. Learning from others is not something the Principal Investigators force but primarily facilitate. “The PrincipaI Investigators must lead the way and be examples to the other researchers,”says Jacob Linder.

Training of young researchers is one of the major tasks at the Center

The center is publicly funded and is responsible for training younger researchers. They receive training in research and methods. Increased competence and skills are valuable for their nextposition and contributions to society, whether in Norway or abroad.

“The environment seems to be positive for their learning and experiences, and we are happy to seehow well they are all doing. The degree of completion of their studies at QuSpin is high,” says JacobLinder. “And our master students seem to thrive from being part of the Center. Many are inspired to do an outstanding master thesis as well as apply for Ph.D. studies at QuSpin.”

 “Role models are also important and to build a network of people for their future career inside oroutside Academia,” says Asle Sudbø.

The researchers were also recognized outside of QuSpin in 2021. They have received grants fromRCN/FRINATEK, Yara’s Birkeland Prize, The Netherlands Science Foundation, and the RCN Balance Program.

Basic research and discovering new grounds at QuSpin 

The typical research collaboration is between a principal researcher and Ph.D. students. Researchersand postdocs collaborate in the same way, and sometimes the projects involve researchers from all levels.

The more senior the researchers, the more self-driven they tend to be. Groundbreaking results may come about from a specific idea that is being explored or by unexpected discoveries via a side-track.

“As mentioned earlier, we see that the research and production of results and publications have improved significantly by working together in a Center like ours,” says Jacob Linder. “Everyone at the Center plays a role and is crucial to what we are trying to achieve.”

Developing new curriculums at the department

The development of new knowledge is part of the Center’s strategy to make this available as enhanced content and training in physics courses at the department and faculty.

“We have an old course called quantum materials. The whole section at QuSpin works with modern quantum materials in different ways. We have modified the content to focus on forefront research. This motivates and attracts many more students these days,” says Asle Sudbø.

Increased international recognition amongst other researchers

The annual international workshop and conference “Quantum Spintronics” has many international speakers. Thisevent allows the researchers to meet, interact, share, and find common ground for future collaborations.

“We managed to arrange the workshop in 2021 as well, even though we had to redesign it at the last minute due to the new omicron virus,” says Arne Brataas. “We ended up with a hybrid workshop, but we were delighted that wewere able to kick this off. Next year we will expand the conference from two to three days.”

An SFF Center also gives access to increased human and financial resources. The diversity within the group of researchers and the group’s size also enhances international collaboration. «The presence of 30-40 researchers, as opposed to five or six, more easily attracts international researchers to visit and give seminars»,says Asle Sudbø. «We mostly get immediate, positive responses to speaker invitations.”

How QuSpin actively participates in a diverse society

Researchers impact the focus and funding of research in society. As a result, there is a growing trend on the importance of having a group of researchers who represent all of society, not just one major group.

Historically, male researchers dominate the field of theoretical physics. Therefore, the Center has a goal that females hold a minimum of one-third of all new positions at QuSpin. We have met this goalon the Ph.D. level.

“But we experience a clear challenge here,” says Jacob Linder. “What to do when the recruitmentprocess shows mostly male applications?”

“We have started addressing this more actively,” says Arne Brataas. “The Center received theBalance Program Grant 2021-2022, a gender balance project headed by coordinator Karen-Elisabeth Sødahl. The Research Council of Norway’s Balance program aims to increase thenumber of female researchers in top positions in Academia.

An internal survey in QuSpin in late 2021 showed the potential for increased awareness of status, challenges, and possibilities in the way we recruit, work, communicate, collaborate, support, and and train our researchers in their career development.

There are different measures to be taken. The Center has taken its first steps on a much longer journey to increased gender balance at our Center and in permanent positions in Academia. QuSpin must do what they can, while the responsibility on a systemic and structural challenge lies at the university level.

The journey towards the mid-term evaluation in 2022-2023 and beyond

All principal investigators share the wish to develop collaboration in all areas and on all levels. They look forward to more discussions on in-depth research to open up to even more groundbreaking ideas and continuously keep the Center’s vision alive.

They wish to continue the development of an open, creative, social, and collective robust researchculture that will motivate and engage our researchers and attract the most engaging and motivatednew colleagues, collaborators, and guests.

The environment seems to be positive for their learning and experiences, and we are happy to see how well theyare all doing. – Jacob Linder