A total of 59 women registered for this year's L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Talent Programme, including Evgenia Chitrova from the FZU. Together with two other scientists, Eva Krupičková Pluhařová and Zuzana Střížová, she has won an award for her work.
Laureátky talentového programu L’Oréal-UNESCO Pro ženy ve vědě 2022 (zleva): Mgr. Evgenia Chitrova, Ph.D., MUDr. Zuzana Střížová, Ph.D. a Mgr. Ing. Eva Krupičková Pluhařová Ph.D.
Mgr. Evgenia Chitrova, Ph.D. investigates the physical properties of an unconventional superconductor in the form of thin films. The outcomes of the research can be a decisive factor in creating quantum computers of the future.
The main topic of her project is superconductivity, i.e. the possibility of electric current transmission without any losses in the thin films of the unconventional superconductor UTe2. UTe2 is a triplet superconductor, which makes it extremely resistant to magnetic fields. While literally the whole world is competing in the preparation of the best possible single crystals which it further investigates in various extreme conditions, the project focuses on the preparation of UTe2 thin films by sputtering. Thin films are an important tool for tuning physical properties of materials. The aim is to control the condition of UTe2 (magnetic, superconducting) by a suitable choice of substrate and synthesis parameters. These are phenomena that take place at very low temperatures, but for quantum computers, for example, this means normal conditions.
The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Talent Programme seeks to reduce gender inequality in Czech science, where we are falling to the bottom of the list compared to other European countries. Since the start of the project in the Czech Republic, 44 talented scientists have received this award, sharing an amount of almost 10 million CZK.