Public events @ S³ 2025

In this lecture, you will learn about the importance of interdisciplinary approach in scientific research. Firstly, I will introduce you to the basics of magnetism and the essential role of magnets in key future technologies, such as electric vehicles and the production of green electricity. Then I will explain why conventional research has reached its limit in developing new magnets, and how I used an interdisciplinary approach combining exciting methods like electron microscopy, atom-probe tomography and micromagnetic simulations to investigate and nanoengineer magnetic materials. Finally, I will show you surprising new features I have discovered, such as magnetic vortices in SmCo magnets, and how these can be used to improve current magnetic materials.

Plants produce a wide variety of complex chemicals that appear in small amounts in healthy plants but are produced in response to challenges from the environment, such as infections. These chemicals are called specialised metabolites, and we have found uses for them in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals and food to cosmetics. In the first part of the lecture, we will look at some interesting cases of how plant metabolites are used and how their uses were first discovered. These chemicals are often complex and difficult to synthesise in laboratories, so we currently rely on plants to produce them for us. We will examine the science behind metabolic engineering, which involves discovering genes and enzymes directly involved in the production of metabolites, as well as genes and proteins that regulate when those metabolic pathways are switched on. Once we understand metabolism and its regulation, we can apply this knowledge to engineer plants that produce more of the high-value specialised metabolites. In the second part of the lecture, we will examine the general idea behind plant metabolic engineering and explore different strategies we can use to achieve this goal.

What exactly is creativity – and why is it so important, not only in art, but also in science, technology, and everyday life? How does our brain generate new ideas, connect distant concepts, and arrive at insights that change the world? In this lecture, we will explore creativity as a fundamental human ability, examine the function of the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions involved in the creative process, and consider why dopamine is crucial for those “aha!” moments. Contemporary cognitive neuroscience shows that creative thinking is the result of dynamic collaboration between different neural networks – some linked to introspection and imagination, others to focus and the evaluation of ideas. In an interactive and experiential setting, we’ll also discuss how to boost our own creativity, why scientists are often also artists, and why creative thinking is essential for solving the complex problems of the future.