Spin Up! 2025 - Exploring Magnetism and Spins: Joint Summer School for Emerging Scholars
From May 5th to 8th, 2025, the summer school Spin Up! – Exploring Magnetism and Spin took place at the CJD Conference and Guest House in Bonn, Germany. Organized by international PhD students from the German Collaborative Research Centres TRR 173 Spin+X and TRR 270 HoMMage, the event brought together 45 early-career researchers for an intensive exchange on cutting-edge developments in magnetism and spin science.
The program opened with introductory lectures by the two spokespersons of the Collaborative Research Centres: Prof. Oliver Gutfleisch (CRC 270 HoMMage) and Prof. Martin Aeschlimann (CRC 173 Spin+X).
Over four days, the event featured 14 invited talks delivered by leading scientists covering topics such as ultrafast spintronics, permanent magnets, magnetocaloric materials, and hybrid spin interfaces. Notable speakers and their lecture brief topics included:
- Dr. Alex Aubert – Permanent Magnets
- Dr. Heike Herper – Computational Design of Rare-Earth-Reduced Magnets
- Prof. Thomas Schrefl – Machine Learning and Micromagnetics
- Prof. Ulrich Nowak – Angular Momentum in Ultrafast Spintronics
- Prof. Hans Christian Schneider – Spin-Dependent Electron Dynamics in altermagnets
- Dr. Tino Gottschall – Magnetocaloric Materials
- Prof. Eduard Hryha – Powder metallurgy for Electromagnetic Materials
- Prof. Benjamin Stadtmüller – Spin Functionalities at Hybrid Interfaces
- Dr. Andreas Windischbacher – Spin Phenomena via DFT+U Simulations
- Prof. Akashdeep Kamra – Magnonic and Electronic Spin Transport
- Prof. Ulrich Höfer – Time-Resolved Photoemission at Organic Interfaces
- Prof. Rudolf Schäfer – Magnetic Microstructures
- Prof. Mathias Weiler – Magnons and Spins in Complex Environments
- Dr. Thomas Feggeler – The NSLS-II Synchrotron Facility
A highlight of the program was the 1-minute student pitch talks held before the poster sessions. These concise presentations offered a great way to introduce individual research topics and spark focused discussions. The two rounds — hosted by HoMMage and Spin+X on subsequent days — fostered lively exchange and cross-CRC collaboration.
Informal evening events and small-group discussions further promoted networking in a relaxed, collegial atmosphere.
Spin Up! 2025 successfully provided an inspiring and collaborative environment for early-stage researchers in magnetism and spin science. By combining high-level academic content with a supportive social framework, the event set a strong benchmark for future training initiatives within the international spintronics community.