Europhysics Prize 2026

October 23 , 2026 16 hrs 0 min 16 0

Three scientists received the 2026 Europhysics Prize for their work establishing altermagnetism, a new class of magnetic order.
Jairo Sinova, Libor Šmejkal and Tomas Jungwirth received the prize from the European Physical Society (EPS) Condensed Matter Division.
Altermagnetism combines features of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, with compensated magnetic moments and spin-polarised electronic bands.
The term “altermagnetism” was proposed by Libor Šmejkal and colleagues in 2022, while the concept was developed through research at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
Altermagnetism is important for spintronics, which uses electron spin along with electric charge to store and process information.