No less than four research projects at Chalmers are awarded SEK 109 million in project grants by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW). They are evaluated to be of such high quality that they can lead to future scientific breakthroughs.
Out of a total of 23 research projects Associate Professor Elin Esbjörner, Professor Tünde Fülöp, Professor Christian Müller and Associate Professor Witlef Wieczorek from Chalmers are awarded grants.
These projects are, following an international evaluation process, considered to have such high scientific potential that they could lead to future scientific breakthroughs.
"The evaluations are based entirely on international competitiveness and are carried out by a handful of prominent researchers in each project's research area. We are delighted to see that there are so many projects in Sweden that maintain this quality and that more and more women are able to step forward as research leaders," says Siv Andersson, responsible for basic research issues at the Foundation.
Project: Nanochannel Microscopy for Single Exosome Analysis
Exosomes are ultrasmall biological packages that cells use to communicate. Exosomes are important for our bodies' normal functions, but can also confer disease. This project aims to further our fundamental understanding of how exosomes mediate cell-cell communication. To accomplish this goal, new methodology is needed.
In this project, we will therefore develop new microscopy methods and chip-based technologies, using tiny channels and traps to capture and analyse individual exosomes from biological specimen or cell models. This will provide new possibilities to obtain detailed information about the composition and content of different exosome types, which, if tied to their discrete function may open entirely new possibilities for how to use exosomes as diagnostic tools and future therapeutics, especially in the area of targeted delivery of protein- and RNA-based drugs.
Grant: SEK 29,100,000 over five years
Principal investigator: Associate Professor Elin Esbjörner, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering
Co-applicants in the project: Fredrik Westerlund and Christoph Langhammer (Chalmers), Samir EL Anadloussi (Karolinska Institutet) and Giovanni Volpe (Göteborgs universitet)
Project: Extreme Plasma Flares
Plasma flares give rise to some of the most beautiful phenomena in the universe, such as the aurora borealis, but they can also cause damage to important technological infrastructure on ground or in space. However, it is still unknown what conditions are required to create eruptions with extremely strong energy flows. The project combines theoretical and experimental competences from both space and laboratory plasma physics to understand which combination of effects creates extreme flares.
A better understanding will lead to tools that can warn of such flares, so that sensitive equipment can be protected. But above all, the project will contribute to a basic understanding of some of the most fascinating phenomena in physics.
Grant: SEK 26,200,000 over five years
Principal investigator: Professor Tünde Fülöp, Department of Physics
Co-applicants in the project: István Pusztai from the same department, Andris Vaivads from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Yuri Khotyaintsev from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.
Project: Developing stable and sustainable organic semiconductors
Organic semiconductors can make the electronics we use more sustainable and provide us with new alternatives to silicon-based technology. This technology could be used in a lot of different areas and greatly improve our lives. For example, organic semiconductors can be used in bioelectronic sensors that can help us monitor our health and wellbeing. Other examples of urgent applications are technologies to capture energy such as organic solar cells. Both research and industry see great needs and opportunities in this area, provided that organic electronics can become more stable.
Within this project, the researchers will study doping of organic semiconductors. In particular, new insights related to glass-forming materials will be used to develop more stable organic electronics.
Grant: SEK 27,000,000 over five years
Principal investigator: Professor Christian Müller, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers
Co-applicants in the project: Anna Martinelli and Eva Olsson from Chalmers, Simone Fabiano and Mats Fahlman from Linköping University
Project: Light strongly interacting with mechanical motion
Scientists use light as a tool to acquire information about objects. This is also the case when laser light is shined onto a mirror. The reflected light field contains information about the mirror's position. This measurement scheme is for example used in gravitational wave detectors. The information about the mirror's position can be vastly increased by capturing the light between two mirrors, in so-called cavity optomechanical systems. These systems not only enable measuring the position of the mirror very precisely, but also controlling its motion, even to its quantum mechanical ground state. This has fascinated scientists as it allows exploring the validity of quantum physical laws for larger objects. The next major challenge in this research field is to increase the interaction between light and the motion of the mirror until it is possible to create quantum mechanical states of the mirror directly.
The aim of this project is to reach the so-called nonlinear regime of quantum optomechanics in chip-based devices. Then, single light particles (photons) and the quantized motion of the mirror (phonons) are linked to each other in a controlled way. If one succeeds with this ambitious goal, one can, for instance, detect individual photons without destroying them and the quantum information that they carry. An important area of application of this ability lies in the field of quantum technology. For example, having access to the nonlinear regime could lead to the development of novel chip-based devices that can detect significantly smaller forces and displacements than what the most advanced technologies allow us to do today.
Grant: SEK 27,000,000 over five years
Principal investigator: Associate Professor Witlef Wieczorek, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2)
Co-applicants in the project: Andreas Isacsson and Philippe Tassin (Physics) and Janine Splettstoesser (MC2), and encompasses Chalmers' expertise in experiment, theory, and artificial intelligence.
