Karen Hallberg

Karen Astrid Hallberg (born May 10, 1964) is a professor of physics at the Balseiro Institute. She is Research Director at the Bariloche Atomic Centre and a 2019 L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science Laureate.

Hallberg was born in Rosario, Argentina. Her father, Ronaldo Hallberg, worked in a mining company. She moved to San Salvador de Jujuy, where she attended the Colegio Nacional de Jujuy. She was known as “señorita por qué” ('Miss why'), and started an all-girls science club. As a teenager Hallberg was a tennis player and a prize-winning student. She began her studies in electronic engineering at the National University of Rosario. Hallberg earned a scholarship of the National Atomic Energy Commission to study at the Instituto Balseiro, National University of Cuyo, where she earned a degree in physics. She worked alongside Francisco de la Cruz on the emerging field of superconductivity. After completing her graduate degree, she started a doctorate in physics at the Balseiro Institute under the supervision of Dr. Carlos Balseiro. For her doctoral studies Hallberg worked on computational models of quantum materials that demonstrate low dimensional magnetism and superconductivity. When Hallberg arrived at the Bariloche Atomic Centre only 8% of the students were women.

After her PhD, Hallberg moved to Germany to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF) and at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS). Hallberg returned to the Bariloche Atomic Centre in 1997. She has extensively developed computer simulations to understand quantum matter. She is interested in emergent properties such as conductivity, superconductivity and magnetism. Hallberg is a researcher at National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and leads the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) condensed matter theory group. She is a Senior Associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and of the International Center for Theoretical Physics-South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR). Hallberg worked on several numerical tools, including the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG), a numerical method that can be used for low-dimensional strongly correlated bosonic and fermionic systems. She has studied superconductivity, magnetic order and spin-orbit coupling in complex materials and electronic transport in nanoscopic systems. She has visited and collaborated with centers such as the Indian Institute of Sciences (Bangalore), Oxford University (UK), the London Center for Nanotechnology (UK), University of Augsburg (Germany), University of Fribourg (Switzerland), University of Boston and Argonne National Lab (US) and the University of Tokyo.

Advocacy and academic service

Hallberg has spoken for the need eliminate institutional barriers for women scientists, and for more support to be given to women. She was awarded the 2019 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. She has also discussed the need for improved access to science for people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as more recognition for teachers. Hallberg is committed to nuclear disarmament, and is a council member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. She is also committed to ethics in science and is a member of the Argentine Committee on Ethics in Science and Technology (CECTE). She was an editor of the journal Europhysics Letters, member of the Board of Directors of the Aspen Science Center, Argentine representative and Board Chair of the Latin American Center of Physics (CLAF), Vice Chair of the Low Temperature Commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), member of the Argentine Physical Association (AFA) Steering Committee and coordinator of the Women in Physics and Ethics subcommittees and the representative of the Argentine Branch to the International Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter (ICAM).

Awards and honors

Her awards and honors include:

• 2019 L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science Laureate
• Corresponding Member of the National Academy for Exact and Natural Sciences, Argentina
• Honorable Mention by the Argentine Senate "Senator Domingo Faustino Sarmiento"
• Honorable Mention by the Argentine Senate ”Juana Azurduy de Padilla”
• Recognition by the Honorable Argentine Chamber of Deputies
• Recognition by the Legislature of the provinces of Río Negro and Chaco, Argentina
• Illustrious Citizen of the province of Jujuy, Argentina
• Distinguished Citizen of the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina
• ”Bachiller de Honor”, Colegio Nacional High School, S. S de Jujuy
• 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2008 L'Oréal - National Scientific and Technical Research Council Special Mention for her work on quantum properties in nanoscopic systems
• 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar

Hallberg is married to physicist Ingo Allekotte, with whom she has two children. She plays the cello.