2026 Solvay Chair in Chemistry

Roberta Sessoli

Florence University, Italy

Biography

Roberta Sessoli developed her career at the University of Florence, where she has been a full professor since 2012. Working at the interface between chemistry and physics, she played a key role in the discovery of single-molecule magnets (SMMs), i.e., magnetic bistability and memory effects at the single-molecule scale, thereby opening an entirely new field in magnetism and nanotechnology. She extended the investigation of the phenomenon to molecules on metallic and superconducting substrates to explore novel hybrid interfaces. Her current interests include molecules with highly coherent spin dynamics for quantum information and the interplay between magnetism and chirality as a new tool in spin chemistry and physics.

She is a member of the Academia Europaea, the European Academy of Sciences, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She is Associate Editor of the Inorganic Chemistry journal of the American Chemical Society. In 2010, she was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant. Since 2023, she has been the corresponding principal investigator of an ERC Synergy Project exploring the potential of spin-based quantum technologies enabled by chirality.

Inaugural Lecture

Magnetic molecules in the second quantum revolution: potential and challenges

10 February at 4:00 p.m. | Solvay Room

Over the past three decades, advances in synthetic chemistry, experimental and theoretical research—spurred by the discovery of Single-Molecule Magnets—have brought unprecedented control over the magnetic properties of molecules. In some cases, these findings have challenged and reshaped foundational concepts in magnetism. These achievements have also left a significant mark on quantum nanoscience, laying the groundwork for single-spin control at the atomic and molecular scale.
Spins, fundamental quantum systems, are the prototype of the building blocks of quantum computation—the qubits. The possibility to fine-tune their properties through chemical design makes molecular spins particularly fascinating. As a quantum platform, spins offer both advantages and challenges. Their weak coupling with the environment enhances coherence times but complicates single-spin control and readout. Traditional magnetic fields, essential for spin manipulation, cannot be confined to the single-molecule level, and the Zeeman interaction is much weaker than thermal energy at room temperature, hindering high-temperature operation.
Solving these issues requires a broader and more integrated perspective. Our approach includes harnessing photoactivated mechanisms, spin-electric effects, and structural chirality.