For the discovery of a third form of magnetism, Tomáš Jungwirth has won the prestigious Europhysics Prize 2026
Only a few years ago physicists believed that there were only two basic types of magnetism. The discovery of altermagnetism showed that nature is far richer. For this breakthrough, Professor Tomáš Jungwirth and his colleagues have won the prestigious Europhysics Prize 2026, one of the most significant European distinctions in physics.
The research work of Professor Tomáš Jungwirth, chair of the Scientific Board of the Neuron Foundation, has received another significant distinction. For an exceptional contribution to condensed matter physics he and his colleagues Libor Šmejkal and Jairo Sinova have won the prestigious Europhysics Prize 2026, awarded by the European Physical Society (EPS). Together they took part in the discovery of altermagnetism, a third form of magnetic ordering. These altermagnets have unique properties that offer applications in computer memory, IT and, in prospect, AI.
Altermagnetism really is one of the fastest developing areas of solid state physics; the subject holds enormous potential. "The original papers from 2019 to 2024 have thousands of citations, which is a take-off ten times faster than is usual for breakthrough things in physics. It also says something about the fact that a great many teams all over the world and across a broad spectrum of fields have taken up research into altermagnetism," explains Tomáš Jungwirth of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, where he worked on the discoveries with his two colleagues. It is remarkable that Jungwirth — twice the holder of an elite Advanced ERC Grant — and Šmejkal and Sinova have all already won some form of ERC grant, which demonstrates the exceptional nature of their research as well as the attractiveness and innovativeness of the projects they work on.
The suggested successes of fourteen Nobel laureates
"Altermagnets are a hot topic of contemporary physics and I warmly congratulate all three colleagues on this exceptional recognition of their outstanding work. It is remarkable that in the mere fifty years of the Europhysics Prize's existence, fourteen of its laureates later also received the Nobel Prize in physics. So perhaps this prize is also a promise of something even greater," Michael Prouza, director of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, commented on the success in a communiqué.
The EPS Europhysics Prize, which honours "a significant and clearly identifiable discovery, breakthrough or contribution", has been awarded since 1975 — this year's prize will be received "physically", so to speak, by the physicists on 22 September in Graz in Austria at the ceremonial announcement of its 42nd edition. They are the first Czech scientists ever to be honoured in this way, or physicists working at a research institution in the Czech Republic.
Altermagnets combine the advantages of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets and at the same time show unique properties that are found in neither of these classes. For more than a hundred years scientists believed that all magnetic materials belong to one of two basic classes: either ferromagnets — that is, ordinary magnets of the kind we know from everyday life and which are used in hard disks or electric motors — or antiferromagnets, in which the magnetic moments of neighbouring atoms cancel each other out.
The discovery of altermagnetism showed, however, that a third basic class of magnetic ordering exists in nature. And it has some properties typical of ferromagnets, others characteristic of antiferromagnets, and at the same time it shows entirely new quantum phenomena.
Made in Europe
"The discovery and the theoretical elaboration of altermagnetism were above all the work of European scientists, thanks to which Europe is considered the cradle of this new research direction. Their work is now being taken up by rapidly growing research programmes all over the world, including significant initiatives in the USA, Japan and other Asian countries," the EPS said in a press release.
For Tomáš Jungwirth, who has been the Neuron Foundation's guarantor for the field of physics since 2021 and who also sat on the administrative board, this is another significant success and distinction. He received the Neuron Award back in 2018; last year, on 28 October 2025, he received the Medal of Merit from the President of the Czech Republic. His brother was the eminent physical chemist Professor Pavel Jungwirth, who recently died tragically.
