Nanoscience students at the University of Basel support one another. (Image: F. Moritz) Excellent master’s theses Awards for two young students In 2022, Vera Weibel and Mathias Claus were awarded a prize for the best mas- ter’s thesis in nanosciences from the Uni- versity of Basel. Vera Weibel Mathias Claus In her prizewinning thesis, which she wrote at EPFL, Vera Weibel studied a su- perconducting material that does not oc- cur in nature and that features highly “Mathias initially began work- unusual properties. ing on an idea for the ideal For his master’s thesis at the Depart- “What particularly impressed magnetic torque sensor at the ment of Physics of the University of Basel, me about Vera Weibel’s work nanoscale. Over the course of Mathias Claus developed a torsion rocker was the amazing agreement his project, he developed a that can be used to study the magnetiza- between the theoretical predic- state-of-the-art fabrication pro- tion of tiny magnets in precise detail. tions and the experiment.” cess and, after testing the sen- Report about Vera Weibel: Professor Christian sor, showed that it actually out- http://bit.ly/3RRsL1r Schönenberger, performs some of the previ- Report about Mathias Claus: http://bit.ly/3S1mlwU Department of Physics, ously used sensors.” Video: https://youtu.be/DyoPupfgaMs University of Basel Professor Martino Poggio Department of Physics, University of Basel SNI Annual Report 2022 13