Vita (Prof. Dr. Samir Lounis)
Education
2003 – 2007: PhD thesis: Theory of magnetic transition metal nanoclusters deposited on surfaces. With Distinction-Summa Cum Laude, supervised by Prof. S. Blügel and Prof. P. H. Dederichs at Forschungszentrum Jülich & defended at RWTH-Aachen University
2000 – 2002: Magister thesis: Study of the magnetic configurations of surfaces of FeRh binary ordered Alloy and Ni/Pt multilayers by the TB-LMTO method. Very good with Jury Congratulations, supervised by Prof. M. Benakki and Dr. C. Demangeat at Mouloud Mammeri University, Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria) and IPCMS (CNRS), Strasbourg (France)
1995 – 1999: “Diplôme d’Études Supérieures” in Physics, Mouloud Mammeri University, Tizi-Ouzou
Current Position
Since 2025: University Professor in theoretical physics, University of Halle-Wittenberg
Previous Positions
Since 2020: University Professor in theoretical physics, University of Duisburg-Essen
Since 2011: Head of Funsilab (Functional nanoscale structure probe and simulation laboratory) at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
2021 – 2022: Guest Professor at Sorbonne Paris Nord University
2015 – 2020: Junior Professor, chair of Theory of Nanospintronics at the RWTH – Aachen University
July 2013: Guest scientist at CIN2 (CSIC) in Bellatera, Spain, visiting Prof. Nicolas Lorente
2010 – 2011: Research scholar at the physics department of the University of California at Irvine in the group of late Prof. Douglas L. Mills. Funded by the A. von Humboldt foundation
2007 – 2009: Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Solid State Physics (IFF) in Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
2003 – 2007: Research assistant at the IFF in Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
2000 – 2003 Research assistant at University Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria
Summer 2001: Guest Scientist at the Institute for Material Physics and Chemistry of Strasbourg (IPCMS-CNRS), France
Scientific contributions
More than 110 publications in peer reviewed journals (2 in Science, 2 in Science Advances, 2 in Nature Physics, 17 in Nature Communications, 2 Communication physics, 2 in Nature Scientific Reports, 8 in Physical Review Letters, 1 in Nanoletters, 3 in PRB Letter/RC), 5 reviews, 2 book contributions, one popular scientific article; 92 invited talks/colloquia; several organized workshops, focus sessions, schools & hands-on
Awards and honors (collected by years)
2022 – Guest Professorship at Sorbonne Paris Nord University
2021 – Guest Professorship at Sorbonne Paris Nord University
2016 – Consolidator grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to fund DYNASORE (Dynamical magnetic excitations with spin-orbit interaction in realistic nanostructures)
2015 – Elected member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW)
2014 – (i) Offer for a Junior Professor position at the RWTH-Aachen University, Germany; (ii) Qualification as Physics Professor, Section 28, Conseil National des Universités, France
2010 – (i) Young Investigator group from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers; (ii) Finalist of the Psi-k Heine Young Investigator Award from the Psi-k Network for outstanding research in computer simulation of electronic structures
2009 – (i) Feodor-Lynen fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; (ii) DFG fellowship for post-doctoral research; declined
2008 – (i) Friedrich Wilhelm Prize awarded biannually to two outstanding PhD dissertations by the faculty for Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences from RWTH-Aachen; (ii) 2nd Winner of the Günter-Leibfried Prize from the Forschungszentrum Jülich for the best popular scientific written and oral communications for a general public; (iii) Cover page of Physical Review Letters Vol. 101, Issue 10; (iv) ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel Dissertation Prize from the AG Magnetismus of the German Physical Society for the best German PhD thesis in Magnetism
2007 – Borchers-Plakette from the RWTH-Aachen for excellent PhD thesis
2002 – Scholarship for a PhD thesis from the overseas research student (ORS) awards committee in London
2000 – Valedictorian of the physics post-graduate program at Mouloud Mammeri University
1999 – (i) Successful national exams for post-grad. positions at the ENS Algiers and University of Bejaia; (ii) Valedictorian of the Physics graduate program at Mouloud Mammeri University
Supervision
Master: (1) D. S. G. Bauer (Atomic spin-dynamics in confined magnetic nanostructures‘08); (2) J. Bouaziz (Chiral magnetism of adatoms induced by the Rashba electron gas’13); (3) S. Brinker (Static and dynamical currents in deposited nanostructures’16), prized as the 2017 best Master thesis from the AG Magnetismus of the German Physical Society & 1 Uni. Award; (4) J. Sukert (TITAN: A code and its applications for time-dependent transport and angular momentum in nanostructures’18);(5) I. Gede Arjana (Interaction of magnetic skyrmions with transition metal clusters’18); (6) U. Aceves (Theoretical investigation of in-gap states emerging from magnetic nanostructures deposited on superconductors’20, DAAD); (7) A. Montero (Investigation of spin-excitations of nanostructures on surfaces‘21)
PhD: (1) S. Heers (Effect of spin-orbit scattering on transport properties of low-dimensional dilute Alloys’11, 1 Award); (2) B. J. Schweflinghaus (First-principles investigation of inelastic magnetic excitations in nanostructures deposited on surfaces’15, 1 Award); (3) S. Brahimi (Ab-inito study of magnetic properties of surfaces and nanostructures of metallic binary alloys‘17); (4) D. M. Crum (partly–Advanced modeling for end-of-the-roadmap CMOS and potential beyond-CMO applications’16); (5) J. Bouaziz (Spin-orbitronics at the nanoscale: From analytical models to real materials‘19); (6) O. Messaoudi (Physical properties of Fe, Co and Ni monolayers deposited on TMDs’19, 1 fellowship); (7) F. dos Santos (First-principles study of collective spin excitations in noncollinear magnets’19, 1 fellowship); (8) H. Kouarta (Study of structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Fe-intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides’20, 1 fellowship); (9) S. Brinker (Complex magnetism of nanostructures on surfaces: from orbital magnetism to spin excitations’20), prized as the 2021 best PhD thesis from AG Magnetismus of the German Physical Society & 1 Uni. Award; (10) H. Hamamera (expected in 2022, 1 fellowship ); (11) S. Shehada (expected in 2022, 1 fellowship ); (12) U. Aceves (expected in 2023); (13) A. Alia (expected in 2023, 1 fellowship); (14) N. Abuawwad (expected in 2024, 1 fellowship)
Postdocs: 10 – M. dos Santos Dias (Excellent referee – IOP journals), M. Bouhassoune, J. Ibanez-Azpiroz (Helmholtz fellow, ERC-Starting grant), F. Guimaraes (AvHumboldt fellow), I. Lima Fernandes (Skyrmion pic in 2022 DFG calendar, 1 fellowship), J. Chico; J. Bouaziz, F. dos Santos, E. Mendive Tapia (DAAD), S. Brinker
Commission/Committee participation
— Member of Selection-Committee of applicants for Helmholtz Young Investigator groups from FZ-Jülich
— Member of Selection-Committee of new members of Young Academy of Scientists AGYA
— Member of the Science and Engineering Expert Committee for large-scale OTKA (Hungarian Scientific Research Fund) proposals (June 2014)
— Faculty opponent and member of exam commissions of several PhD, Master and Bachelor defenses (Germany, Sweden, Algeria, Morocco)
Editor
Since June 2020. Associate Editor for Nature Physics Journal: Computational Materials
Referee
— for Nature journals, APS journals, IOP journals, Surface Science, Physica B, ….
— Research foundations: German DFG, Chilean CONYCIT, Hungarian OTKA, Swiss SNSF & Promotions at different universities
Teaching activities
Since 2021: Regular lectures at University Duisburg-Essen: “Physics of Imperfections: impurities on/in surfaces”, “Physics of magnetic nano-objects: from spintronics to quantum computing”
2015-2019: Several regular (compulsory and optional) lectures at RWTH Aachen University: “Solid State Physics”, “Advanced theoretical solid-state physics”, “Physics of Imperfections: impurities on/in surfaces”, “Density functional theory”
Nov. 2016: Intensive Master Course at the University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco
April 2015: School at Congress of quantum physics and chemistry in Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria
Mar. 2014: 45th IFF Spring School: Computing Solids – Models, ab initio methods and supercomputing
July 2013: CECAM-supported Hands-on KKR-Computational Tutorial at the University of Warwick, UK
Sep. 2008: Lecturer for the general public at Forschungszentrum Jülich
2000 –2003: Tutorial teacher for Atomic Physics, Condensed Matter and Computational Sciences at the Faculty of Sciences of the Mouloud Mammeri University, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria
Languages
Berber (Native), French, Arabic, English; German (C1 level @ Goethe-Institut, B2-certificate)