Nicola Spaldin received her BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and her PhD in Chemistry from University of California at Berkeley. After postdoctoral work in Applied Physics at Yale University, she joined the Materials Department at UC Santa Barbara before returning to Europe in her current position as Professor of Materials Theory at ETH Zurich.

Spaldin develops and applies theoretical methods to understand how strong interactions between electrons determine the behavior of materials, then to design new materials with improved functional properties for potential applications. She is known particularly for her development of the class of materials known as multiferroics, which combine ferromagnetism with ferroelectricity so that their magnetic properties can be controlled with electric fields.

Spaldin is a passionate science educator and holder of the ETH Zurich Golden Owl Award for teaching excellence. She is Fellow of the Royal Society, Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering and has received the Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist, the Koerber European Science Prize, the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Prize, and the American Physical Society McGroddy Prize.

Mandate ERC Scientific Council: 01 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2024 (1st term)