On April 1, 2025, Dr. Emil Božin from the Institute of Physics Belgrade delivered a lecture titled "Detection of Nanoscale Hidden Phases in Quantum Materials at Large Research Facilities" at the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment. This event was part of the "New Materials" public lecture series, organized in collaboration with the Institute of Physics in Belgrade.

Dr. Božin discussed the use of advanced experimental setups at large-scale research facilities—such as synchrotrons, neutron sources, and free-electron lasers—to investigate the relationships between structure and properties in solid-state physics and chemistry. The lecture focused on hidden, emerging, and precursor states of electronic phase transitions and their role in enabling and controlling technologically relevant properties of quantum materials, from charge density waves to high-efficiency thermoelectricity. A key method highlighted was total scattering based on the atomic pair distribution function, crucial for studying such elusive states of matter.