Kumpula Physics Colloquium

Our next Physics Colloquium will take place on Friday, March 4th. We will have a presentation on the European Innovation Council to be given by Marja Makarow, President of Academia Europaea and current board member of the EIC.

Marja Makarow’s research domain is molecular cell biology, and until 2021 she was the Director of Biocenter Finland. She is the former Vice President of the Academy of Finland (2012-2016), Chief Executive of the European Science Foundation ESF in Strasbourg France (2008-2011), and Vice-Rector (2003-2007) and Professor of Applied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Helsinki. She is Board member of the European Innovation Council EIC. She chaired till recently Technology Academy Finland that awards the Millennium Technology Prize for ground-breaking innovations. She has been decorated in Finland (Commander of the Order of the White Lion) and France (Chevalier de l’Ordre de Legion d’Honneur) for her achievements in science, science policy and international research collaboration.

In her colloquium, titled European Innovation Council: Concept and funding instruments, Marja will give us an overview of this council and the funding opportunities it provides.

The event will be held on Friday 04.03.22 at 14:15 in Physicum E204. It will also be streamed on Zoom (Meeting ID: 692 0310 6459 – Passcode: 905176).

Here is her abstract:

The European Innovation Council programme of Horizon Europe offers funding opportunities for academic research groups developing emerging technologies, as well as for research-based innovative start-ups to scale-up. The credo of the EIC is that while Europe’s research performance is at top level, translation of findings of fundamental research to benefits for society is lagging. The EIC programme with its 10 billion euro budget calls deep tech researchers and research-based start-ups to apply for funding and contribute to intellectual and financial growth of Europe.

Our first Physics Colloquium for the year 2022 will take place on Friday, January 28th. We will have a presentation to be given by Kimmo Tuominen, who recently became a Full Professor in our department.

Kimmo Tuominen obtained his PhD in the University of Jyväskylä in 2001. As a university lecturer he moved from Jyväskylä to Helsinki in 2013. He leads the research group focusing on dark matter theories, particle cosmology and, in collaboration with Kari Rummukainen, on fundamental properties of gauge theories. Since his early career, Kimmo has participated in teaching and development of higher education. He was nominated to the teacher’s academy in the University of Helsinki in 2017. He is currently the director of the Master’s programme in Theoretical and Computational methods and the vice-director of the Bachelor’s programme in physical sciences.

In his colloquium, titled Phases of gauge theories, Kimmo will present recent results in lattice field theory and its contribution to understanding gauge theory dynamics.

The event will be held on Friday 28.01.22 at 14:15, on Zoom (Meeting ID: 669 7589 3454  – Passcode: 543849).

Here is his abstract:

Our current understanding of elementary particles and their interactions rests on the paradigm of gauge theories. One of the most fundamental questions about a given gauge theory is its phase diagram. In particle phenomenology, this knowledge is needed, for example, to understand the Higgs sector or to build models of particle dark matter. Determining the vacuum phase of a nonabelian gauge theory requires understanding gauge theory dynamics beyond perturbation theory and is a computational grand challenge. Over the past decade significant results have been obtained by the international lattice field theory community in general and by the Helsinki lattice group in particular. I will review the motivations of these computations, summarize the present state-of-the-art results and discuss their scientific and societal impact.

Our last online Physics Colloquium for this autumn will take place on Friday, December 10th. We will have an inaugural lecture to be given by Hannu Kurki-Suonio, who recently got promoted to Full Professor in our department.

Hannu obtained his PhD from the University of Texas in 1986 and worked in the USA for several years before returning to Helsinki. He has been a University Lecturer at the University of Helsinki since 2001, and in 2021, he became Professor of Cosmology at the University of Helsinki. He was strongly involved in the former Planck mission from the European Space Agency, for which he was one of the four Finnish Co-Investigators. Hannu now leads the Finnish participation in the upcoming Euclid mission and represents Finland in the Euclid Consortium Board.

In this colloquium, titled Euclid space mission: Is the acceleration of the expansion of the universe caused by dark energy?, Hannu will tell us about this upcoming cosmology mission and the scientific objectives it aims to address.

The event will be held on Friday 10.12.21 at 14:15, on Zoom (Meeting ID: 660 6869 4076 – Passcode: 587666).

Here is his abstract:

The next cosmology mission of the European Space Agency is Euclid.  It is a wide-field space telescope, to be launched in 2023 to orbit the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system.  In six years it will observe 36% of the sky, measuring the distribution of galaxies and dark matter in the universe.  The mission is optimized for helping to solve the “dark energy problem”: What causes the observed acceleration of the expansion of the universe?  Is it a new energy component, “dark energy”, filling the universe, or should the law of gravity be modified at cosmological distances? What is the more detailed nature of this dark energy or modification of gravity?  To help theorists towards the correct solution, Euclid measures the expansion history and growth of large-scale structure to much higher accuracy than is currently known.  The tools for this measurement are the statistical properties of the galaxy distribution and the gravitational lensing of galaxy images by dark matter.

Since looking over longer distances means looking further back in time, Euclid will trace the last 3/4 of the 14-billion-year history of the universe.

Euclid complements the previous ESA space mission, Planck (2009-2013), which focused on the early universe, in improving the understanding of the structure and history of the universe.  Finland contributes to the Euclid mission by providing one of the nine Euclid science data centers to analyze Euclid data.

Our next online Physics Colloquium for this autumn season will take place on Friday, November 19th. Our speaker will be Hanna Kokko from the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, who will talk about her current research in evolutionary biology.

Hanna Kokko obtained her PhD from the University of Helsinki in 1997 on the topic of sexual selection. She currently is a full professor in evolutionary ecology in the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies of the University of Zurich, where she leads a team working at the crossroads between evolutionary biology and ecology. Drawing from her initial background in applied mathematics and engineering, she is particularly interested in the mathematical logic that underpins biology. Her research interests include the evolution of reproductive and social strategies, as well as sustainability science.

In this colloquium, titled If evolution is all about the survival of the fittest, how come it produces so much diversity?,  Hanna will talk about the role of natural selection in the diversity of species.

The event will be held on Friday 19.11.21 at 14:15, on Zoom (Meeting ID: 655 7001 8701 – Passcode: 534720).

Here is her abstract:

If one thinks of evolution by natural selection as a process that weeds out poorly performing genotypes and filters out the good ones, one can rightfully express wonder at the fact that there is not one best solution that has taken over everywhere. I will discuss three case studies (Daphnia waterfleas, Gouldian finches, and a marine midge) that highlight how and why diversity in behaviours and/or strains of organisms can be maintained by natural selection.

Our next online Physics Colloquium for this autumn season will take place on Friday, October 22nd. Our speaker will be Andrzej Kotarba from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, who will present his research on nanomaterials and biotechnology.

Andrzej Kotarba is full professor at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University. He set up the Materials and Surface Chemistry Group at the Jagiellonian University in 2005. The research carried out in the group is focused on the processes taking place at the solid/gas and solid/liquid interfaces, with the aim to apply the acquired knowledge in designing surfaces with desired properties and functionalities. It includes the preparation and characterization of model carbon-based surfaces, catalysts and biomaterials and involves interdisciplinary studies at the border of chemistry, nanobiotechnology and materials science. Andrzej is also an editor of Applied Surface Science.

In this colloquium, titled A new paradigm in the fabrication of functional nanomaterials: let bacteria do the job, Andrzej will describe how microorganisms could be utilised in materials science.

The event will be held on Friday 22.10.21 at 14:15, on Zoom (Meeting ID: 621 4476 0356 – Passcode: 781892).

Here is his abstract:

Despite dynamic progress, the art and science of functional material preparation still remain centre stage. The innovatively prepared materials using nonpathogenic bacteria to capture nanoparticles and deposit them on various supports by leveraging the microbial “race for the surface” is proposed. It is demonstrated that bacteria are effective biocarriers for the capture, transport, and controlled dispersion of nanoparticles on support surfaces. Next, the bacteria are effectively removed with oxygen plasma or transformed into a carbon film of various compositions and morphologies. The conceptual proposal is substantiated by a feasibility study showing successful preparations of various functional materials via the use of microorganisms.