The ICMM-CSIC hosts the I Mad4SPM, the Madrid International School of SPM

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The Madrid Institute of Material Sciences hosted this week the I edition of the Mad4SPM the Madrid International School of SPM. Organized alongside the Condensed Matter Physics Center from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and IMDEA Nanociencia and founded by their three Excellence Programs (Severo Ochoa and Maria de Maetzu, and Max CSIC), the Mad4SPM School has brought Madrid to the forefront of international training in Scanning Probe Microscopy, a family of techniques that allows scientists to "see" and manipulate matter at the atomic and molecular scale. With more than 100 attendees and 20 speakers from different countries, the school has created a unique meeting point for young researchers and leading experts, with participants travelling from as far as Argentina to Japan.

The event also highlights Madrid's historical role in the development of SPM: shortly after the invention of the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope at IBM in 1982, Madrid became the site where one of the first STMs outside the IBM laboratories was installed. "Since then, Madrid has built a long and internationally recognised tradition in the field, with world-leading groups contributing to advances in surface science, nanotechnology, molecular imaging and biological applications," says Pablo Merino, a researcher at the ICMM and one of the organizers of the school.

Mad4SPM is the result of a joint effort by three centres of excellence — ICMM-CSIC, IFIMAC and IMDEA Nanociencia — which have joined forces to strengthen the local and international SPM community. "The topics discussed during the school illustrate the exceptional breadth of SPM techniques, spanning from fundamental physics, including spins, photons and quantum phenomena, to chemistry, with applications in catalysis, electrochemistry and surface reactions, and further into the life sciences, where SPM provides powerful tools to investigate viruses, proteins, membranes and cells," continues the researcher.

By connecting these diverse areas through a common experimental language, the Mad4SPM School demonstrates the strength of Madrid's research in nanoscale science and advanced microscopy, and the training of the next generation of researchers.