Diana Benea obtained a PhD in 2004 from the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich with the thesis “Theoretical description of magnetic Compton scattering and magnetic properties of Cr-chalcogenide compounds”. During the PhD stage, Dr. Benea was involved in the development of the SPRKKR calculation code of Prof. Dr. Hubert Ebert on the Compton scattering and positron annihilation routines. The competence domains of Dr. Benea include ab initio methods for describing the electronic structure of solids, with an emphasis on the ab initio methods for the description of the magnetic/spectroscopic properties of solids (magnetic Compton scattering, positron annihilation, X-ray magnetic dichroism, XPS spectroscopy). Currently, Dr. Benea’s research activity is focused on theoretical investigations of new permanent magnets with lower cost and high performance of R-M-A/R-M type (R, rare-earth element; M, transition metal; A, metalloid) and half-metal ferrimagnets with high spin polarization.
Viorel Pop obtained a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Condensed Matter Physics, and a PhD in Physics from Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 1981, 1982, and 1993, respectively. He worked at the Institute for Nuclear Power Reactors in Pitesti, Romania (1982-1983) and the Institute for Atomic Physics, IFTM, Bucharest (1983-1990) and now is a Professor at the University Babes-Bolyai. He has invited professors or invited researchers at Joseph-Fourier University Grenoble, University of Augsburg, Nantes University, Chemnitz University of Technology, ENEA, Frascati, and CNRS Grenoble. His research field is in magnetism and magnetic materials: synthesis, structural and magnetic properties of crystalline and nanocrystalline materials. He received a prize from the Romanian Academy in 1990, and he was awarded the Babes-Bolyai University prize for Excellence in Didactic Activity in 2016.
