SNI PhD School Successfully defended Three doctoral students from the SNI PhD School have successfully defended their theses over the past six months. They conducted their research at the Departments of Physics and Chemistry at the University of Basel and at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Congratulations and best wishes for the future! Measurement of tiny magnetic torques In his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Mathias Claus developed highly sensitive sensors for the measurement of extremely small mag- netic torques — with a view to analyzing ultrathin magnetic materials such as van der Waals heterostructures and two-di- mensional materials whose small volumes meant their mag- netic signals were barely detectable in the past. In his work at the Department of Physics, Mathias designed, produced and characterized various mechanical resonators made of silicon nitride for this purpose. He was able to demon- strate the performance of the measurement technique by quan- tifying the magnetic properties of individual bacteria. SNI post with video Publication Mathias Claus did his thesis at the Department of Physics. (Photo: M. Claus) 26 SNI INSight June 2026