CFEL group leader Beata Ziaja-Motyka awarded honor by Polish science ministry

Beata Ziaja-Motyka, group leader at CFEL and professor at the Henryk Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ-PAN) in Krakow, received the prestigious Award of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education honored Beata Ziaja-Motyka for her outstanding achievements in the field of femtosecond physics (from left to right: Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, Dariusz Wieczorek, Prof. Dr. Beata Ziaja-Motyka, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Maria Mrówczyńska) Picture: Beniamin Motyka

The award ceremony took place at the annual Polish Science Gala on 18 February 2024, where Ziaja-Motyka was honored for her groundbreaking scientific achievements in recent years. The award recognizes her pioneering work in the field of femtosecond physics and the study of materials under intense irradiation with pulses from X-ray free-electron laser, e.g. the European XFEL.

As a leading researcher in the science of ultrafast processes, Ziaja-Motyka has been decisive in developing and applying new theoretical modelling tools to study transitions in inorganic crystals and magnetic materials that occur within a few femtoseconds. Her work on the demagnetization of materials using intense X-ray pulses, performed in the framework of the Collaboration Agreement between European XFEL and IFJ-PAN, has received international recognition.

In addition, her outstanding organizational achievement in forming an international research team at the European XFEL, consisting of experts from various scientific laboratories in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Japan, has been recognized.