Timeline of Important Events

Here we note information on events, happenings and other important moments in the life of the MMML lab.

2021.10.05. Prof. Cēbers receives Ordre des Palmes académiques

On the World Teachers' Day the Ambassador of France in Riga Mrs. Aurélie Royet-Gounin awarded the ordre des Palmes académiques to professor Andrejs Cēbers. It is a national order bestowed by the French Republic on distinguished academics and teachers and for valuable service to universities, education and science, originally established in 1808 by Emperor Napoleon.

The ceremony took place in the French embassy in Riga, Latvia. In her greeting, the Ambassador called professor to be one of the pillars of the French-Latvian scientific collaboration and mentioned his work not only with Latvian, but also French young researchers during joint research projects, visiting professorships and research visits.

In his acceptance speech, prof. Cēbers expressed his wish to share this honor with six of his students, five of whom have worked out dissertations in collaboration with France and obtained French doctor diploma, thanking France for this opportunity for Latvian education sector and awarding of the order.

A more detailed description can be found here (in Latvian).

2021.02.11. Seminar "Magnetic Soft Matter", 79th International Scientific Conference of the University of Latvia

On February 11, 2021 we organized a one day online seminar “Magnetic Soft Matter” with the participation of the leading researchers in the field in the frame of the 79th International Scientific Conference of the University of Latvia. In total we had 18 presentations given by 22 speakers from 13 countries, including France, Germany, Spain, Slovakia, Finland, Russia, US, Belarus, Latvia and other. The event was viewed by at least 60 participants.

The seminar page can be found here. We also prepared an abstract book, which can be found here: https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/handle/7/53957

2020.02.14. 78th Scientific Conference of the University of Latvia. Section: Magnetic Soft Matter

The MMML lab organized the section "Magnetic Soft Matter" as a part of the 78th Scientific Conference of the University of Latvia. It was lead by our PhD student Abdelqader Zaben. The book of abstracts can be found here.

2019.09.27. Prof. Paul A. Janmey receives Doctor honoris causa Universitatis Latviensis

During the ceremonious Senate session that was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Latvia, professor Paul A. Janmey from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) received the Doctor honoris causa (Honorary doctor) title of the University of Latvia for the long term support in development and the fruitful collaboration with the MMML lab and the University of Latvia.

The professor has been cooperating with the researchers of UL for more than 20 years, working on joint publications for such prestigious publications as Physical Review Letters, Journal of the American Chemical Society and others. In addition to scientific cooperation in the fields of bacterial biophysics, amphiphilic compounds, membrane biophysics, rheology of biological materials and other fields, Paul A. Janmey has made a significant contribution to the development of the experimental infrastructure at the MMML lab and to promote the exchange of our researchers' experience. Scientific cooperation with the professor is ongoing.

A description of the ceremony can be found here (in Latvian).

2019.05.15.-17. Workshop - Magnetism and Life

MMML lab organized this workshop as a part of the MAMI innovative training Network (ITN) program.

This event brought together scientists from the MaMi network and experienced researchers from all around the world to share and discuss various perspectives on how magnetism and life are connected. Given talks covered many interesting topics. A story by Dr. Damien Faivre on magnetotactic bacteria illustrated how magnetism exists in life. A talk by Prof. Konstantin Kornev described how one can use magnetism to study biological systems, as amusing as insect blood. Several talks showed how magnetic objects can be applied to create medical applications and improved our health in the future. Other presentations demonstrated how magnetism enables one to create new and exciting phenomena that are inspired from what we see in nature.

The event page can be found here.

2019.01. Moving to the House of Science

MMML lab moves to the newly build House of Science, which is the second building in the new Academic Center of the University of Latvia, located in Torņakalns, Riga. The new address is Jelgavas iela 3, Riga, Latvia.

The facilities have modern physics and chemistry lab rooms, which have specially designed conditions, as well as comfortable offices and collaborative environment.

2018.09.28. Prof. Régine Perzynski receives Doctor honoris causa Universitatis Latviensis

During the celebrations of the 99th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Latvia and the ceremonious Senate session, professor Régine Perzynski from the Sorbonne University (earlier University of Pierre and Marie Curie, France) received the Doctor honoris causa (Honorary doctor) title of the University of Latvia. Prof. Perzynski received it for the long-term promotion of cooperation between Latvian and French researchers in the field of magnetic soft materials and contribution to the training of young researchers at the University of Latvia.

Prof. Régine Perzysnki has been collaborating with the researchers from the University of Latvia for over 25 years. With her help and active participation numerous research topics in magnetic soft matter have been tackled together. This has resulted in numerous joint publications, several French-Latvian bilateral program Osmose projects, as well as welcoming students and researchers at the PHENIX lab facilities and undertaking a joint supervision of PhD students.

2018.06. Passing of Dr. Ērglis

After a sudden and serious illness our dear colleague and friend Kaspars Ērglis passed away in June 2018. To commemorate his legacy, we established a scholarship named after Kaspars. The scholarship is awarded annually to one graduate of the Bachelor of Physics programme at the University of Latvia for the most excellent experimental thesis. You can support this scholarship here: https://ziedot.lu.lv/en/kampana/dr-phys-kaspars-erglis-honorary-scholarship/

Kaspars Ērglis grew up in the Sala village, near Jēkabpils and as a child was interested in electronics, physics, mathematics. Already then in a self-instruction manner he learned to master these things so professionally, that he was able to fix household appliances and electronics for the whole village. Later he studied in “fizmati” (Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Optometry) of the University of Latvia, defending the doctoral thesis on the topic “Experimental study of properties and motion of flexible magnetic microfilaments” in 2010. Kaspars was a scientist and used his unique skills to combine the world of physics with electronics in order to create world-class experiments at the University of Latvia, Laboratory of Magnetic Soft Materials. In 2016, a study he performed together with Professor Andrejs Cēbers received the Latvian Academy of Sciences Award as one of the achievements of the year in Latvian science. He liked challenges, he was interested in clarifying the nature of things, finding his own way, building and programming. With his curiosity and ability to go into the details of complicated things, Kaspars was and will always remain a great example for colleagues and students.

2018.02.02. Colloquium "50 Years in the World of Magnetism"

To celebrate prof. Andrejs Cēbers' 70th birthday, a colloquium was organized as a part of the 76th Annual Conference of the University of Latvia. It had 13 talks by foreign and local colleagues, students and lab members. The video recording of the colloquium, speaker list and abstracts can be found here.

2018.02.02. Prof. Cēbers receiving a University of Latvia prize for creation of a scientific school

During the general meeting of the University of Latvia on the morning of February 2, 2018, Prof. Cēbers received a prize for creation of a scientific school in magnetic soft material physics in Latvia. The prize was presented by Prof. Valdis Segliņš, vice rector for exact, life and medical sciences and awarded by Prof. Indiķis Muižnieks, rector of the University of Latvia. Here is a link to the recording of the ceremony.

Prof. Cēbers, K.Ērglis, Prime Minister of Latvia M.Kučinskis

2017.02.14. Prof. Cēbers and Dr. K.Ērglis receiving an Award "Achievement in Science 2016"

Latvian Academy of Sciences recognized work of prof. Andrejs Cēbers and Kaspars Ērglis on the topic "Modelling and synthesis of flexible magnetic filaments" as one of the top achievements in science in Latvia in year 2016. Award ceremony was held in the Riga Motor museum. The prize was awarded by Māris Kučinskis, the Prime Minister of Latvia. Our researchers received additional special prize from the general sponsor of the ceremony - LNK group.

More information on Achievements in Science 2016 can be read here.