Fabian von Rohr
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vonrohr.bsky.social
Fabian von Rohr
@vonrohr.bsky.social
Scientist. Discovering quantum matter. Professor at the University of Geneva. Father of 2.
Homepage: https://vonrohr.unige.ch/
Pinned
We discovered an incommensurately modulated phase K₁₋ₓCrSe₂ — one of the rare cases where structural modulation enhances magnetic interactions. This has intriguing implications for low-dimensional magnets! Check out our paper in #JACS: doi.org/10.1021/jacs...
#MaterialsChemistry #Magnetism #ChemSky
Structural Modulation and Enhanced Magnetic Ordering in Incommensurate K1–xCrSe2 Crystals
Layered delafossite-type compounds and related transition metal dichalcogenides, characterized by their triangular net structures, serve as prototypical systems for exploring the intricate interplay between crystal structure and magnetic behavior. Herein, we report on the discovery of the compound K1–xCrSe2 (x ≈ 0.13), an incommensurately modulated phase. Single crystals of this compound were grown for the first time using a K/Se self-flux. We find a monoclinic crystal structure with incommensurate modulation that can be rationalized by a 3 + 1-dimensional model. This modulation compensates for the under-stoichiometry of K cations, creating pronounced undulations in the CrSe2 layers. Our anisotropic magnetization measurements reveal that K1–xCrSe2 undergoes a transition to a long-range magnetically ordered state below TN = 133 K, a temperature 1.6 to 3.3 times higher than in earlier reported KCrSe2 compounds. Our findings open new avenues for tuning the magnetic properties of these layered materials through structural modulation.
doi.org
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Featured in our Mixed-Anion Compounds collection: 🔓 #OpenAccess work by @oxchemmike.bsky.social and colleagues reporting the synthesis of iridium-containing oxyhydride phases via a reductive topochemical anion exchange. Read more here👇

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

📍 @ox.ac.uk 🧪
Structure and magnetism of LaxSr2−xCo0.5Ir0.5O4−yHy (0 < x < 1) iridium-containing oxyhydride phases
Ruddlesden-Popper oxide phases in the LaxSr2−xCo0.5Ir0.5O4 (0 < x < 1) solid solution can be converted to the corresponding LaxSr2−xCo0.5Ir0.5O4−yHy oxyhydride phases, by topochemical reaction with…
pubs.rsc.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Andddd it's now out in Advanced Materials!
doi.org/10.1002/adma...

Here, we show a new method of transforming hydrogels into ceramics and metals with low conversion shrinkages and high material densities. (1/7)

#chemsky #matsky
September 24, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
It gets earlier every year... Next Wednesday, join me and an expert panel to discuss who might win the 2025 #ChemNobel. Free to attend.

Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Time: 2–3 PM ET

Register here: lnkd.in/eD8cdWRS
September 24, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
It's 2025, almost 2026. If you're gonna use chatgpt to write your entire research statement, at least make sure the references are not 100% fake.
September 23, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
This is really scary - I always thought physics was safe. It would be huge loss to see physics departments close across the country.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Quarter of UK university physics departments at risk of closing, survey finds
Four out of five making staff cuts as physicists say findings are ‘great concern’ for UK’s leadership in important areas
www.theguardian.com
September 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
The Federal Council wants to cut costs in the ERI sector despite widespread objections. Cuts of over 10 percent per year are planned for the SNSF over the next few years. Above all, this plan jeopardises the innovation potential and competitiveness of the Swiss economy. ⤵️ www.snf.ch/en/9a7Fhnojt...
The SNSF urges against cuts
In its statement on "Relief Package 27", the SNSF speaks out against the proposed annual cuts of 10 percent.
www.snf.ch
September 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
The SCS Fall Meeting 2025 has just been kicked off. Ready for a full day of interesting exchanges on chemistry in 🇨🇭 and beyond.
#fm25
@swisschemistry.bsky.social
September 4, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
PLEASE REPOST: We have a 4-year, fully funded PhD studentship focussed on using computational chemistry to find new and improved oxides for X-ray detection, to start in October 2025. findaphd.com/phds/project.... This is open only to UK nationals.
Computational discovery of novel oxide-based X-ray detectors at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Computational discovery of novel oxide-based X-ray detectors at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
August 4, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Two physicists from different disciplines met at a climate protest (as you do). They got to talking about their research (as you do). Within a year or so, they'd designed a new type of dark matter detector experiment (as you...wait, what?). First results here: 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/new-experi...
New experiment uses levitated magnets to search for dark matter – Physics World
Although it hasn’t detected dark matter yet, its developers say it offers an alternative path that is worth exploring
physicsworld.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
A number of authors have been caught including hidden prompts directed at any AI tools used to review their papers. 🧪☄️
'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers
Instructions in preprints from 14 universities highlight controversy on AI in peer review
asia.nikkei.com
July 28, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
My lab’s next paper is out in JACS!

Our electrode-orthogonal self-assembled layers can "self-heal" after degradation -- the key is a dynamic linkage we can molecularly tune! Hats off to Nico!

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
July 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
We show how photoredox catalysis can bypass Kasha’s rule, enabling reactions from higher excited states.

This work, led by the exceptional @bjoernpfund.bsky.social, offers new insights into photochemical reactivity.

Published in JACS @jacs.acspublications.org

bit.ly/3IysmjX
Breaking Kasha’s Rule to Enable Higher Reactivity in Photoredox Catalysis
Nearly all photochemical transformations known to date follow Kasha’s rule, implying that reactions occur only from the lowest electronically excited state of a given spin multiplicity due to the fast...
bit.ly
July 18, 2025 at 7:00 AM
At the University of Geneva, we have an opening for an associate or full professor in theoretical and/or computational chemistry! Please spread the word.

jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
Professeur-e ordinaire, professeur-e associé-e au Département de chimie physique (6453)
Full or associate professor at the Department of Physical Chemistry
jobs.unige.ch
July 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
CP violation, baryons, mesons, neutrinos, oh my!
New Clue to How Matter Outlasted Antimatter at the Big Bang Is Found
www.nytimes.com
July 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
I saw it firsthand at the Lindau Nobel Laureates meeting--international young scientists welcomed and recruited in Germany and elsewhere.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
America’s Brain Drain Could Become the World’s Brain Gain
Research-funding cuts and immigration changes threaten some of America’s economic advantages.
www.wsj.com
July 12, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Lmao, this graph shows the time of day physicists etc submit most to arXiv. Because it puts you first in the daily listings 😂 Interesting thread!
This is 15+ years old now, but anecdotally it’s even worse now. Many (most?) people time their submissions to appear nearer the top of the daily listings.

[The old submission deadline was 4pm Eastern time; it changed to 2pm a few years ago.]

arxiv.org/abs/0907.4740
June 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
A study confirms what we have long argued: the spectacular Atlantic 'cold blob' is the result of a slowing of the Atlantic overturning circulation #AMOC, which transports warm waters into that region. That's the only part of Earth that resisted #globalwarming. 🌊
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
The Atlantic's chilling secret: A century of data reveals ocean current collapse
A century-old mystery of a stubborn cold patch in the North Atlantic is finally being unraveled. A new study links this anomaly to a long-term weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulat...
www.sciencedaily.com
June 23, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Keep this in mind when everything we do has to be PURPOSE driven. This is not how innovation works. It is often about curiosity. It can be silly.
June 19, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Das hier ist die vielleicht wichtigste und doch wohl wenigst beachtete Nachricht des Tages. Eine weitere planetare Grenze ist überschritten. Wie üblich ist das Paper eher vorsichtig formuliert. Deshalb hier deutlicher: man muss über komplexe Systeme nur eines wissen: Ohne sie ist alles aus. Für uns.
Ocean Acidification: Another Planetary Boundary Crossed
In this study, employing a detailed analysis of ocean carbonate system observations, models and biological assessments, we demonstrate that by year 2020, the average global ocean conditions had alrea....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 10, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
🧪⚛️ There is a serious disagreement btw experiment and theory in understanding the ionization energy of a particularly excited state of helium. This is one to watch, though caution is always advised, as anomalies like this historically tend to go away. nanoscale.blogspot.com/2025/06/a-pr...
A precision measurement science mystery - new physics or incomplete calculations?
Again, as a distraction from persistently concerning news, here is a science mystery of which I was previously unaware. The role of approxim...
nanoscale.blogspot.com
June 7, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
Wherever you live in the world, your climate is getting warmer.

21st June is #ShowYourStripes day when we encourage everyone to use the warming stripes graphics to talk about climate change and how we are all already experiencing the consequences.

Download your stripes: www.ShowYourStripes.info
June 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
NYT, Page One:

“Within hours, he had an email from China, offering to move his lab to ‘any city, any university I want,’ he said, with a guarantee of funding for the next 20 years.”

@nytimes.com
June 4, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
🧢 Aujourd'hui, les scientifiques peuvent jongler entre différentes casquettes dans la #société. La @scnat.ch a mis en place un site internet pour inviter à la réflexion sur les différents #rôles qu'ils et elles devraient jouer ➡️ sciencesnaturelles.ch/roles_of_sci... #Science
June 3, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Fabian von Rohr
"Google Scholar is manipulatable... we analyze over 1.6 million Google Scholar profiles and identify instances of citation manipulation to boost an author’s citation metrics. In many cases, this was done through a previously undocumented practice of 'citation purchasing' "
June 3, 2025 at 6:29 AM