Our paper about photochromism in natural minerals was just published in the prestigeous PNAS journal! Big credit is due to the computational wizards from Lyon as well as our collaborators in Antwerp and UTU Physics.
Read online:
Happy International Workers’ Day 2022! Hauskaa vappua!
We have now been in the big news headlines about our hackmanite research. First, there was a big deal in Turku Sanomat’s print paper and website (https://www.ts.fi/tiede/5625235), and yesterday we got nationwide coverage when we were on Finnish Broadcasting Company’s (Yle) main news broadcast at 8:30 pm! Yle’s story can be found at https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12365153
We were at the end of the main national TV news at 20.30:
https://areena.yle.fi/1-50931640 (from 18:35 onwards)
Yle also published the same in their radio:
https://areena.yle.fi/audio/1-1440981 (from 7:50 onwards):
Turun Sanomat’s extensive story about IMC’s hackmanite research was published last week. The paper magazine (13 April) had a full page, but a longer story and more media can be found in TS’s paid online article: https://www.ts.fi/tiede/5625235
IMC wishes you a happy Easter!
Turun Sanomat (Turku area’s biggest newspaper) came to visit to make an article about us. The main topic was hackmanite, its properties and synthesis. In the picture, Hannah is showing and telling journalist Ritva Setälä (left) how hackmanite is synthesized.
Today was an interesting day when Finland’s national public broadcasting company Yle visited our lab for a couple of hours. Journalist Markku Sandell interviewed us asking good questions about hackmanite research and patterns of cooperation with the European Space Agency. There is no exact information yet on when the thing will air, but we’ll notify when we know.
As Mika Lastusaari has just ascended among the full professors of the University of Turku, we as a research group awarded him today with a congratulation card and a 5x5x5 Rubik’s cube, named aptly Rubik’s Professor!
The University of Turku in Finland is now looking for young and talented researchers to apply for MSCA PF with the University as host institution. We are interested in hosting postdoctoral researchers from across the globe, across SSH and STEM disciplines. We will provide access to state-of-the-art research facilities and a comprehensive career development opportunity to successful candidates. Researchers who commit to applying to Turku will be assisted and guided on every step of the application process until deadline on 14 September 2022 by the Research Funding Unit and the Supervisor. Only those who are funded through European Commission’s MSCA PF program will be admitted to Univ. of Turku.
There are two ways of applying:
1) Find a project by one of the Supervisors @ Univ. of Turku and send us an application if you have previous experience in the field of the project
2) Find a Supervisor yourself and contact him/her to propose a project of your own
1) Existing projects looking for MSCA PF applicants
Go to https://www.utu.fi/en/research/MSCA-PF-applicants to see several projects that are looking for MSCA applicants. There you will also find all necessary info for applying.
To apply, applicants must choose one of the projects (our project is named Photochromic sensors, which can be found under Chemistry (CHE)) and send the following filled forms as PDF files to researchfunding@utu.fi at the latest on 23 March 2022.
• CV and list of publications
• Letter of motivation
• Eligibility Self-Declaration
All forms are compulsory.
Candidates will be pre-selected based on their expression of interest, CV and motivation.
There are 3 main requirements of eligibility:
• Applicants must have a PhD and no more than 8 years of full-time research experience
• Applicants can be of any nationality but must not have lived or worked in Finland for more than 12 months during the 3 years up to the closing date of the call 14 September 2022 (mobility rule)
• Applicants must choose University of Turku as their Host Institution
The Research Funding unit will verify candidates’ eligibility and send the applications to the Supervisors taking into consideration the choice expressed by candidates in their application forms.
Supervisors will select only one candidate per project.
The selected candidates will be contacted by the Research Funding unit to inform of the following steps and the process of preparing an actual MSCA PF application jointly with the Supervisor.
Please contact researchfunding@utu.fi for any questions on the funding scheme and the MSCA program.
2) Finding a Supervisor by yourself
If you didn’t find a suitable project but would still like to apply to University of Turku, go to https://www.utu.fi/en/research-search to search for a Supervisor with experience that matches your project idea. Then contact that Supervisor as soon as possible to see whether collaboration could be possible.
PoDoCo is a matchmaking program supporting long term competitiveness and strategic renewal of companies and employment of young doctors in the private sector. IMC’s PhD Pasi Salonen was interviewed for the news about the program:
“In his own PoDoCo project, the recent PhD Pasi Salonen from the University of Turku is developing a method for the treatment and recovery of rare-earth elements (REEs), especially from electronic scrap and industrial by-products. Demand for REEs have increased because they are being used in many new solutions to combat climate change, such as wind farms and electric cars.
In his project promoting the circular economy, Salonen is developing 4D-printed filters for metal capture together with Weeefiner Oy in Jyväskylä. They are 3D-printed filters that are chemically functionalized.
In addition to the academic research world, I have always been interested in the industry, and PoDoCo combines both. The PoDoCo project with 4D REE catchers in cooperation with Weeefiner Oy is interesting and important to me, it enables the utilization of the knowledge and skills obtained in my dissertation in the face of a practical challenge. Through the PoDoCo program, the door is open to both the academy and industry, Pasi Salonen says.”
The news (in Finnish):