I. MagTop constitutes the ON6 Scientific Division of the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IF PAN). It was established in 2017 and has since been operating within the framework of the International Research Agendas Programme of the Foundation for Polish Science.
From 2017 to 2023, MagTop was mainly supported by the European Regional Development Fund under Smart Growth Operational Programme (SG OP), Priority Axis 4: Increasing the research potential, Measure 4.3: International Research Agendas (IRA).
As of June 1st, 2024, MagTop has been operating under the IRA FENG Programme co-financed by the European Union under the European Funds for Smart Economy 2021-2027 (FENG). The current main funding was obtained through the second round of the IRA competition. MagTop ranked first out of 16 applications submitted in this competition with almost the maximum possible score. The grant, awarded to MagTop Leader Professor Tomasz Dietl, an internationally recognized scientist in the field of spintronics and topological matter, provides funding of nearly 30 million PLN (about 7 M€) for the period 2024-2029.
MagTop’s core activity is focused on solving grand challenges in the interdisciplinary field of topological matter interfaced with magnetism and superconductivity. Through this research, it aims to discover experimentally and theoretically new materials and unanticipated topology-related phenomena, thereby enlarging European research horizons and leading on to new applications. MagTop’s motto is: “Experimental and application results inspire theory; theory inspires materials development and applications”.
MagTop, being a part of IF PAN and in accordance with the Statute in force, has no legal personality. However, MagTop has a well-defined autonomy within IF PAN. This autonomy is not only structural but also functional, allowing MagTop to independently shape its scientific agenda, recruit top-level researchers through international competitions and implement strategic decisions guided by the International Scientific Committee (ISC). The governing bodies of MagTop are: the ISC and MagTop’s Head.
Peter Grünberg Institute – Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH – one of the largest interdisciplinary research centres in Europe and a founding member of the Helmholtz Association is, according to a signed agreement, MagTop’s new strategic foreign partner. The second strategic foreign partner is Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, which has held this role since the creation of MagTop. Professor Laurens Molenkamp of this University serves as chairman of ISC, which plays a key role in the activities of MagTop. The Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where a Centre of Excellence on Quantum Spintronics (QuSpin) operates, is another new MagTop’s strategic partner.
MagTop’s R&D results to date have led to 27 significant achievements described on MagTop’s pages as Research Highlights and Applications Highlights.
To date (April 2025), MagTop’s researchers have co-authored 340 articles, delivered 121 invited talks, presented 134 oral contributions, submitted six European patents applications (three patents have already been granted), and organized seven international focus meetings. Three publications and three patents have been jointly submitted with collaborating companies, two other are in a pipeline. MagTop’s community is also active in outreach activities, including teaching in the Doctoral School, and many actions for public at large with a special focus on gifted and curiosity-driven high-school students.
II. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg is MagTop’s strategic partner unit. MagTop’s employment processes and R&D activities are supervised by the International Scientific Committee (ISC) chaired by Laurens Molenkamp. As detailed in the home page www.MagTop.ifpan.edu.pl, MagTop’s fifty employees have originated from nine countries, which constituted a game changer in the IFPAN internationalization. As shown in Graph 1, MagTop’s at present four groups (Materials, , Characterization, Dirac, Majorana, and Weyl) are headed by leaders with extensive international experience and acclaimed accomplishments [T. Dietl (since 2017), T. Wojtowicz (since 2017), M. Trif (since 2019), M. Zgirski (since 2024). The competition for the leader of the fifth group was decided in April 2025 and this group will be formed soon. The hiring procedures of team leaders, young and senior postdocs, PhD and MSc students have obeyed high standards of openness, equal opportunity, and broadly understood diversity and inclusiveness. In addition to PIs’ international experience, good practises in HR, R&D management, commercialization, and outreach have been gathered by study visits of all group leaders in the strategic partner unit University of Würzburg and, in particular, in its Institute for Topological Insulators, and by acquiring good practises from visiting other relevant centres such as Advanced Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University, which was funded within World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), and together with a parallel initiative of the Japanese Government, Top Global University, aims in modernizing and internationalizing Japanese’s academia landscape.
In accord with the implemented agenda, one of MagTop’s strengths is the molecular beam epitaxy of 2D and 1D quantum structures of topological IV-VI and II-VI compounds that can be interfaced with magnetic and superconducting materials. Another is bulk growth of top-quality single crystals of topological crystalline insulators and Weyl semimetals. The developed materials, after extensive structural and chemical characterization, and their hybrid structures with normal, superconducting or magnetic metals as well with amorphous insulators, are processed into experimental devices and studied in-house by a broad range of experimental methods, comprising charge and heat magnetotransport, magnetooptics including Brillouin scattering, magnetization, and magnetic resonances down to millikelvin temperatures and in magnetic fields up to 16 T. Theory research, oriented to propose new R&D directions and to elucidate the in-house and external experimental discoveries, is a prominent part of MagTop activities. In addition to broad national and international research collaborations that involved 43 scientific institutions on three continents, the MagTop researchers are systematic users of European large facilities, including synchrotron radiation sources (Kraków’s SOLARIS, in particular), high magnetic fields’ laboratories, and supercomputer centres, available via competitive calls.
Joint research, workshops, papers, and patent applications have been completed with industrial partners in the frame of agreements that MagTop/IFPAN signed with six companies: VIGO Photonics S.A.; PUREMAT Technologies Sp. z o.o., KrioSystem Sp. z o.o., MeasLine S.A., PREVAC Sp. z o.o., and Robert Bosch GmbH.
