V001 / JSI

Researchers Fabio Staniscia and Matej Kanduč from the Department of Theoretical Physics used computer simulations to reveal that surface-active molecules (surfactants) bind differntly to highly curved water interfaces—such as those found on nanometer-sized droplets and bubbles—compared to flat surfaces. This discovery challenges the long-standing assumption that interfacial behavior is independent of system size and offers important new insights into the behavior of colloidal systems at the nanoscale. Surfactants are among the most widely used chemical substances globally, present in cleaning products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food formulations, and many industrial applications. A better understanding of surfactant behavior at curved interfaces allows for more precise formulation of emulsions, foams, and other colloidal systems, and contributes to improved modeling of environmental phenomena like aerosol behavior and cloud formation. The study was published in the renowned Journal of Colloid and Interface Science and highlights how fundamental physical discoveries can shape our understanding and have far-reaching implications for science and technology.

Members of the High Energy Group Physics group of Theoretical Physics Department (F-1) have successfully organized international workshop Portorož 2025: Particle Physics from the Early Universe to Future Colliders, 21. - 25. April, bringing together leading physicists working on open problems of theory and phenomenology of particle physics, such as flavour puzzle, hierarchy problem, strong CP problem and axion-like particles, CP violation in the universe, role of effective theories. The goal was to explore key topics in elementary particle phenomenology and theory. We've had 50 invited talks which sparked lively discussions on the modern directions in theory and phenomenology of the Standard Model and beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios in different physical settings: hadron colliders including LHC and future High-luminosity LHC, future high-energy colliders, high-intensity experiments probing flavour dynamics and CP violation, early universe and astroparticle phenomena. The workshop achieved its main goal of connecting experts from different particle physics subfields to discuss about the near and long-term future of the field.

On April 10th, 2025, we hosted the MAGNELIQ Symposium as part of the MAGNELIQ project, "A MAGNETO-ELECTRIC LIQUID – TO SENSE BETTER". The project is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Darja Lisjak and carried out by the Department of Materials Synthesis and Complex Matter in collaboration with partners from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic), CNR-IOM (Italy), the University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics (Slovenia), and the high-tech SME Prensilia SRL (Italy). The first part of the symposium, dedicated to the scientific community, featured presentations of key project results—most notably the development of novel soft magneto-electric materials, supported by theoretical modeling. In the second, application-oriented session, we demonstrated how these materials have been translated into advanced contactless sensor technologies, including a miniature magneto-optic angular position sensor and a force sensor designed for use in supportive medical robotics. These innovations represent a significant step toward the integration of smart materials into next-generation sensing systems, with promising potential for both scientific and industrial impact.

In cooperation between SRIP ToP, coordinated by the Center RIP at JSI and SBRA, an event entitled Smart Factories of Tomorrow: Transitioning to Industry 4.0/5.0 was organised in the former premises of the University of Brussels, where Albert Einstein and Marie Skłodowska Curie were also present in the past. The SRIP ToP was first presented to the large audience from various European institutions, companies and associations, followed by presentations on robotics (Assoc. Prof. Dr Igor Kovač - IJS), control technologies (Dr. Miha Glavan - IJS), modern production methods for materials and nano- and quantum technologies (Prof. Dr Matjaž Spreitzer - IJS), photonics (Prof. Dr Rok Petkovšek - ULFS), plasma technologies (Prof. Dr Ita Junkar - IJS), smart factories (Prof. Dr Niko Herakovič - ULFS) and smart mechatronic tools (Dr Aleš Hančič - Tecos). The entire programme was enriched by presentations from leading representatives of the following organisations: EIT Manufacturing; European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, Industry 5.0 and AI in Science Unit; European Factories of the Future Research Association EFFRA; Flanders Make - Smart Factory Benelux.