Institute of High Pressure Physics

With great sorrow, we announce the passing away of Jean-Louis Robert, retired professor of physics at the University of Montpellier and our longtime Friend, on September 7th. Professor Robert's professional career was closely associated with research on semiconductor materials, ranging from fundamental studies to practical applications. The close connection between research and applications was of particular importance to Professor Robert and led to the practical utilization of the results of the basic research in the industry.

In the late 1970s, Professor Robert conducted research on the magnetic freezing of donor states in InSb at the National Center for High Magnetic Fields in Grenoble. At that time, measurements were carried out in a large measurement hall only at night (due to the electricity costs powering the electromagnet!). This naturally allowed the young associate professor Sylwester Porowski, who was on a scientific internship in France, to engage in long, nightly scientific discussions with a group of young, passionate researchers from Montpellier. As it turned out, the research topics related to high-pressure studies were particularly interesting to them, and nothing could prevent Professor Robert from establishing closer cooperation with colleagues from the High Pressure Research Laboratory of the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 1979, the Montpellier team obtained a CNRS scholarship for a year-long stay of a Polish scientist in Montpellier. This allowed for the initiation of joint research on semiconductors under high hydrostatic pressure. In the following years, thanks to Professor Robert's efforts, a lecturer position was created at the University of Montpellier, specifically dedicated to the needs of our collaboration and guaranteed to a candidate proposed by Unipress. Over the years, numerous researchers from Unipress and later the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw took advantage of this position for the long-term stay in the Montpellier laboratory, enabling the intensive development of various joint research projects. Some of them culminated in the defense of doctoral theses. Another facet of our collaboration was, initiated by Professor Robert, the student exchange program with the University Technological Institute of Montpellier University, which lasted many years.

Our extremely fruitfully scientific collaboration was formalized by a partnership agreement between CNRS and the Polish Academy of Sciences. This subsequently allowed for the implementation of numerous Franco-Polish research projects under intergovernmental exchanges. The pinnacle achievement of this activity was the establishment of the European Associated Laboratory "NodLab" dedicated to research on nitride materials. The issue of Unipress recognition on the international stage was an important element of our collaboration for Professor Robert. That is why he was our "guardian spirit" when Unipress applied for the title of European Center of Excellence in the field of high-pressure application in science and technology. Together, we also created the International Conference on High-Pressure Semiconductor Physics (HPSP), held every two years and still in existence today. The extremely fruitful and valuable collaboration with Montpellier was recognized by polish national authorities, and in 1995, Professor Jean-Louis Robert was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. Regardless of the formal bonds necessary for the development of international cooperation, it would not have been possible or as enduring without the exceptional personal and friendly ties with Jean-Louis and his wife, Mrs. Arlette Robert. Therefore, for the many researchers at Unipress who had the privilege of knowing him, his departure is a great loss, that of a beloved person, close to us, and with whom our best memories of scientific work are associated.