What connects a Japanese basket to a crystal? - SuperC showcases superconductivity research in exhibition

“AI accelerates the search for a room-temperature superconductor”

This is the headline under which researchers from the SuperC put together an exhibit in this year’s edition of Designs for a Cooler Planet organized and hosted by Aalto University, Finland. SuperC is one of 15 projects on display- all were selected to showcase Aalto’s most promising solution-oriented projects, prototypes and ideas towards a more sustainable future. The motivation for SuperC to participate was to tell the public about our recent machine-learning assisted superconductor discovery (see Mustaf et al., Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023308, 2026).

In the exhibition we have 4 objects on display: Japanese bamboo baskets woven in kagome pattern (purchased from Japan), a 3-dimensional ball-and stick model made of wood representing our recently discovered superconducting kagome compounds YRu3B2 and LuRu3B2- the model was built by SuperC researchers Stanislav Khaldeev and Svitlana Menshykova (Pertti Hakonen group). A microscope magnifying actual superconducting materials in bulk form- those samples were provided by Sajilesh Kunhiparambath and Rose Albu Mustaf from Emilia Morosan’s group at Rice University. And a wooden twistable model of twisted bilayer graphene also made by Stanislav and Svitlana. Finally, we have a 2 minute exhibition video on display showcasing our fantastic researchers and the contributions of the entire SuperC team behind the machine-learning assisted superconductor discovery (feat. the groups of Andrei Bernevig, Claudia Felser, Emilia Morosan, Miguel Marques, Pertti Hakonen and Päivi Törmä).

The exhibition can be visited free of charge and is open to the public from 1.9.- 30.10.2026 in the Marsio building on Aalto’s campus.

The photos below were taken during the opening ceremony of Designs for a Cooler Planet on 3.9.2026 by Päivi Törmä and Bernadette Gehl-Väisänen.