Rate My Professor Jacob Linder

Jacob Wüsthoff Linder is Professor of Physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He earned a sivilingeniør degree in physics and mathematics from NTNU in 2005, with a master’s thesis on astrophysics, followed by a Ph.D. in physics from the same institution in 2009. His doctoral thesis was titled “Quantum transport and proximity effects in unconventional superconducting hybrid systems.” Linder was appointed Associate Professor at NTNU’s Department of Physics in 2010 and promoted to Professor in 2013. He is one of four primary investigators at QuSpin, a Centre of Excellence designated by the Research Council of Norway for the period 2017–2027. In 2024, he was elected Divisional Associate Editor for condensed matter physics at Physical Review Letters.

Linder’s research focuses on theoretical condensed matter physics, particularly quantum phenomena arising from the interplay between materials with differing properties, such as magnetic and superconducting systems. He has contributed to the development of superconducting spintronics. He leads the Linder Research Group and was selected for NTNU’s Stjerneprogrammet for internationally distinguished researchers from 2014 to 2018. Among his awards are the 2009 Faculty Prize for best doctoral thesis at NTNU, the 2010 Yaras Birkeland Prize in physics, the 2010 Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab prize for young researchers, the 2010 ExxonMobil Prize for best Ph.D. in basic research, the 2012 Outstanding Referee award from the American Physical Society, and a 2014 Research Council grant for young research talents. Linder has authored or co-authored hundreds of scientific works with thousands of citations. A notable publication is the 2015 review article “Superconducting spintronics” in Nature Physics. He also contributes extensively to public dissemination as a subject editor for Store norske leksikon, having written more than 350 articles on atomic and nuclear physics, quantum physics, materials physics, and nanotechnology.