On April 1, 2025, Dr. Sophie Roud took over as head of the GFZ's Laboratory for Earth Magnetism in Space and Time. She succeeds Dr. Norbert Nowakcyk, who established the laboratory in 1994 and led it until his retirement in 2024, focusing on paleomagnetism and magnetostratigraphy in sediments.

In addition to continuing this work, Sophie Roud plans to expand the areas of mineral magnetism and biomagnetism in the future and to develop new synergies with geochemistry and microbiology through collaborations. The methods developed offer potential applications in paleoenvironmental research, climate reconstruction, and the understanding of biogeochemical processes in marine and terrestrial sediments. Sophie Roud studied at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the University of Bremen and has extensive experience in paleomagnetic laboratory work at international research institutions. During her master's thesis in Bremen, she investigated the formation and alteration of magnetic minerals in marine sediments—a topic of central importance for climate and geomagnetic field reconstructions. During her PhD at LMU Munich, she developed an experimental method for the targeted analysis of the chemical formation of magnetic iron sulfides under natural-like conditions in the laboratory. At Uppsala University, she deepened her research into microbial aspects of magnetism, such as iron-metabolizing microorganisms and magnetotactic bacteria, and most recently worked as an assistant professor at Utrecht University before joining GFZ Potsdam.

We are delighted that our paleomagnetic laboratory, which is well equipped for a wide range of applications, is now well positioned for the future.