V001 / JSI

At "Jožef Stefan" Institute, we are actively involved in the European Research Area (ERA), participating in numerous projects across various European programmes. Our strongest involvement is in the Horizon Europe Programme, where we are currently running over 100 projects with a total budget exceeding 37 million euros. To ensure our continued success in the upcoming 10th Framework Programme (FP10), we have developed JSI Position paper on FP10 through extensive discussions, which was officially approved by the Scientific Council at its June meeting. Currently, guidelines for FP10 are being developed, influenced by the positions of member states, associations and stakeholders like the "Jožef Stefan" Institute. To address the needs of research community and promote innovation, we have made the recommendations in the following key areas: budget, openness, structure, open science, research and technology infrastructure, widening, missions, evaluation and administration of projects. More information is available on our International cooperation website.

Remarkable advances in the understanding of topological constraints in biological and soft matter physics in the past few years stimulated the European COST collaboration EUTOPIA to write a comprehensive review paper on topological effects in systems ranging from DNA and genome organization to entangled proteins, polymeric materials, liquid crystals, and theoretical physics. The main intention of the review is to reduce the barriers between different subfields of soft and biological matter that are the consequence of the high specialization of practically all research fields, ranging from physics to chemistry and biology. Simon Čopar, Miha Ravnik, Primož Ziherl, and Slobodan Žumer, researchers from the "Jožef Stefan" Institute and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Ljubljana who participate in the EUTOPIA project, together with other colleagues from the collaboration project, published a review article Topology in soft and biological matter in the journal Physics Reports.

Aljaž Kavčič and doc. dr. Matjaž Humar from the Laboratory for biological and soft photonics, Department of Condensed Matter Physics, along with dr. Nerea Sebastian from the Department of Complex Matter at the “Jožef Stefan” Institute, in collaboration with colleagues from the “Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light”, have published an article in Nature titled Tuneable entangled photon pair generation in a liquid crystal. In their work, they, for the first time, demonstrate the generation of entangled photons in liquid crystals and, with this, in any organic material. In addition to the fact that the efficiency of entangled photon generation in liquid crystals is comparable to the best existing sources, their main advantage lies in the tunability of the state of photon pairs. This tunability can be achieved by applying an electric field or by arranging the liquid crystal molecules into the appropriate configuration. The ability to tune the quantum state indicates significant practical potential for numerous quantum technologies. A summary of the research can also be viewed in a short video.

At the final meeting of the INSPIRES project (EIT RawMaterials), the members of the Nanostructured Materials Department (Dr. Benjamin Podmiljšak, Dr. Tomaž Tomše and Prof. Dr. Spomenka Kobe) in the consortium of 11 partners reported on the goals achieved. In the RIS Slovenia region, we presented a successful example of a circular economy without waste. We focused on motors in household appliances and developed new automated processes for dismantling and recovering magnets. With key industrial partners (Kolektor, Gorenje, Domel, ZEOS, Surovina) we established recycling processes and tested new circular economy pathways. We analysed their sustainable performance in terms of economic and environmental life cycles. In the Slovenian region, knowledge and technologies from non-RIS regions contributed to the refinement (recycling technology was provided by the University of Pforzheim). The Brussels-based partner CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) effectively communicated the project results to decision-makers for further action.