Dr.-Ing. Matic Jovičević-Klug

I have been always interested in how things are made, what makes matter behave as it does, why we have certain properties in some materials. This I realized since primary school where I came to love physics and natural sciences and during this time also my interest expanded also towards electronics, devices and computer sciences. Even so, my inherent curiosity towards materials and their intricate design and functionality has been my main driving force for my career and research endeavors. For this reason, I decided to study materials science and engineering at the University of Ljubljana, where I worked with ferrous alloys and their processing. I continued my studies abroad in University of Kiel, in the far north of Germany, during which I gained great insight into the physics of materials science and a deep appreciation of the functional properties related to electromagnetism. For this reason, I decided to also do my master thesis in conjunction with piezoelectric polymers. However, I felt a distinct attraction towards magnetism. I was mesmerized by the complexity and yet profound beauty of how magnetism is created and tailored from forces that are formed under the atomic scale. Even more, I was simply fascinated by how magnetism makes specific magnetic domains that you cannot directly see or physically feel without specific equipment and effects, but create beautiful patterns that have an elegant correlation to a large ensemble of properties and state of the magnetic material. Out of this, for my PhD I decided to continue my pathway in magnetic materials, their development and characterization. With my exploration of materials, I also became very much familiar with the research community and system and I saw a lot of potential to make changes not just related to the research, but also to the work life and working conditions in the research society. I particularly saw a strong contrast associated to minorities, women and people with disabilities that were (and their work) less appreciated compared to others. In specific case the behavior towards them was beyond just disrespectful, quite frankly distasteful. For this reason, I decided to partake in activities related to improving equality and equity within STEM and to advocate for progressive changes in the research community. Thus, I am proud as a fellow STEMinist to organize Women in Science Week, which will be the first and only event of its kind at the current institute.