In the beginning of the year, right after the holiday, I joined the seminar on magnetism in Physikzentrum. The building is very elegant with high ceiling and big almost like a castle. It also has a cozy celler, where everyone can relax and discuss while having a few drinks in the evening.
The seminar was organized by Alexander Mook and Helena Reichlova, with the central theme of van der Waals magnets. The whole program was very well structured and planned. What I particularly liked was that each invited speaker presented for 45 mins, so one could develop their ideas and claims progressively so that the audience could follow. I also liked long breaks between sessions, and I got enganged in discussions on various topics with many people including those I met for the first time.
I think my talk also went quite well, and there were several critical questions. Well, I was a bit short on time, unfortunately, so I wasn’t able to deliver the decliate message of my recent work — It is theoretically quite profound and not easy to appreciate from the first sight.
Personally, it was a bit “sudden” start of the work in the new year (it was quite difficult to “switch on” my brain on the first day ^^), it was overall a very inspiring event with lots of new ideas. I wish I have more time and brains to work on all those ideas, but I suppose I will eventually have time to think more…
Spintronics, Orbitronics, and Physics Beyond 