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Professor Erich Peter Wohlfarth and the Wohlfarth Lecture Series

The Wohlfarth annual lecture at the Magnetism Conference recognises the outstanding contribution made by Professor Peter Wohlfarth to the field of magnetism.

The Wohlfarth annual lecture at the Magnetism Conference recognises the outstanding contribution made by Professor Peter Wohlfarth to the field of magnetism. It is jointly sponsored by our group and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Magnetics Society UK and Ireland Magnetics Chapter.

It also promotes Professor Wohlfarth’s areas of technical interest and his commitment to international collaboration in scientific research.

It is chosen in alternate years by the IOP Magnetism Group and the UK and Ireland Magnetics Chapter.

The organisation of the lecture reflects the interests of Professor Wohlfarth in theoretical and experimental research, and his personal commitment to:

  • other learned bodies
  • the Institute of Physics
  • IEEE Magnetics Society

Lecture

The lecture takes place annually at a national meeting organised by the IOP or at an international conference on magnetism in the UK. It is a plenary lecture.

It is co-organised and co-sponsored by the IOP Magnetism Group and the UK and Ireland Magnetics Chapter of IEEE Magnetics Society.

The lecturer is acknowledged by the award of a certificate.

The lecturer is introduced by the chair of the nominating society or their representative and a vote of thanks is made at the end of the lecture by the chair or their nominee of the non-nominating society.

Selection

The lecture is on one of Professor Wohlfarth’s broad areas of interest. These are:

  • ferromagnetism
  • fine-particle magnetism
  • magnetic recording technology
  • magnetism of itinerant electrons
  • magnetism of thin films, surfaces and interfaces
  • permanent magnets and soft magnetic materials
  • the magnetic properties of correlated electron systems
  • structure and properties of magnetic materials including transport properties

The lecture can be on theory and experiment associated with these topics.

Nominations now closed

Lecture nomination is decided by discussion between or ballot of committee members and committee chairs.

A nomination in one year can be carried over for consideration in following years, but is not automatic.

Over a four-year period the nominating bodies will try to ensure a balance between theory and experiment.

Over a four-year period nominations will comprise approximately:

  • two UK lecturers
  • two overseas lecturers

The nominated Wohlfarth Lecturer will have made significant contributions to the understanding of magnetism, and widely considered to be approaching a peak in their well-established scientific career.

The Wohlfarth Lecture will be on a topic within the broad areas of interest of Professor Wohlfarth, which include fine particle magnetism, magnetism of thin films, surfaces and interfaces, permanent magnets and soft magnetic materials, structure and properties of magnetic materials including transport properties, ferromagnetism, magnetism of itinerant electrons, the magnetic properties of correlated electron systems, magnetic recording technology and theory and experiment associated with the above topics.

Nominations should include:

  • A paragraph outlining the contributions of the nominee and their significance
  • An explanation as to why the candidate would make an excellent Wohlfarth Memorial Lecturer. 

The recipient of this prize will be invited talk at the Magnetism 2025 conference 7-8 April 2025 at The Cutler’s Hall, Sheffield, UK.

Wohlfarth Lecturers

All Wohlfarth lecturers

2024

Professor Karin Everschor-Sitte, University of Duisbuwrg-Essen, Germany, “Let’s TWIST again. Topological Whirls In SpinTronics”, presented at Magnetism 2024 in Loughborough.

2023

Chiara Ciccarelli, University of Cambridge, UK, “Extracting spin from an antiferromagnet at picosecond timescales”, presented at Magnetism 2023 in Manchester.

2022

Peter Wadley, University of Nottingham, UK, “Controlling and utilising antiferromagnetic order”, presented at Magnetism 2022 in York.

2021

Volodymyr Kruglyak, University of Exeter, UK, “Magnonics: Of Spins and Waves”, presented at Magnetism 2021 virtual conference.

2020

Aurelien Manchon, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CINaM, France, “Spin-orbit physics at magnetic interfaces”, presented at Magnetism 2020 virtual conference.

2019

Julie Grollier, CNRS/Thales, France, “Neuromorphic computing with spintronic nano-oscillators”, presented at Magnetism 2019 in Leeds.

2018

Gino Hrkac, University of Exeter, “ATOMs - Atomistic to Micromagnetic modelling: from permanent magnets to magnetic hybrid materials”, presented at Magnetism 2018 in Manchester.

2017

Andre Thiaville, University of Paris-Sud, France, “New Magnetic Materials Exploiting Chiral Interactions.”, presented at Magnetism 2017 in York.

2016

Jöerg Wunderlich, Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, “Antiferromagnetic spintronics: Large magnitude magneto-resistance effects and current controlled switching”, presented at Magnetism 2016 in Sheffield.

2015

Laura Heyderman, ETH Zurich/PSI, Switzerland, “Shedding light on artificial ferroic systems”, presented at Magnetism 2015 in Leeds.

2014

Atsufumi Hirohata, York, “Nano-Spintronic Devices” presented at Magnetism 2014 conference in Manchester.

2013

None (CMMP finished and Magnetism 2014 not started)

2012

Steven Bramwell, UCL

2011

Christopher Marrows, Leeds

2010

Guido Meier, Hamburg

2009

Stephen Blundell, Oxford

2008

Matthias Bode, Hamburg/Argonne

2007

Caroline Ross, MIT

2006

Stuart Parkin, IBM

2005

Thomas Schrefl, Sheffield

2004

Bob Stamps, Univ. Western Australia

2003

Amanda Petford-Long, Oxford

2002

Wolfgang Wernsdorfer, Lab Louis Neel, Grenoble

2001

None

2000

Russell Cowburn, Durham

1999

Tony Bland, Cambridge

1998

Stephen Hayden, Bristol

1997

Mary Doerner, IBM Almaden

1996

David Awschalom, UCSB

1995

Dominique Givord, Lab Louis Neel, Grenoble

1994

Roy Chantrell, Bangor

1993

Peter Grünberg, Julich

1992

Rolf Allenspach, IBM Research – Zurich

1991

None

1990

R. Coehoorn, Philips Research Labs, Eindhoven

1989

Piers Coleman, Rutgers University

About Professor Erich Peter Wohlfarth

Professor Wohlfarth was a rare theoretical physicist with a real interest in materials science and an experimental pragmatism. His work remains important today because of its outstanding quality over a wide spectrum of activities, from the most intricate theoretical physics of ferromagnetism via magnetic hysteresis and anhysteresis, to the materials and engineering problems of magnetic recording, which remains the key technology in data storage.

He was born in Germany in 1924 and emigrated to England with his family in 1933 where he attended Bingley Grammar School in Yorkshire. He gained his BSc in physics from the University of Leeds in 1946 and his PhD in 1948 under EC Stoner. After his studies, he became a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College where he remained until his death in 1988.

Particle magnetism

He is best known for his theory of fine-particle magnetism. This model has formed the basis of many contributions to the understanding of magnetisation reversal processes and their application in magnetic recording and permanent magnets.

Professor Wohlfarth made an important contribution to understanding the origin of ferromagnetism in metals such as iron, and the variation of magnetic properties with temperature. This work, based on the band model of ferromagnetism, is often called the Stoner-Wohlfarth itinerant electron model. It remains the simplest model which explains ferromagnetism in metals.

He was a great researcher and teacher with a brilliant intellect, intuition, and refreshing common sense. His ingenious way of thinking, and untiring devotion to work, left an indelible mark on a generation of scientists and engineers.