NanoLund’s distinct role as a Strategic Research Area Webbversion

NEWSLETTER FROM NANOSCIENCE AT LUND UNIVERSITY  |  DECEMBER 2019

NanoLund’s distinct role as a Strategic Research Area NanoLund is one of twelve Strategic Research Areas (SRAs) at Lund University. Together, we engage 20% of the university’s scientists, we contribute to 30% of its citations, and we receive as much as 200 MSEK annually in direct support from the government. SRAs are expected to be highly visible profile areas that have critical mass, span basic and applied research, support high-quality education, run infrastructure that is accessible for the whole university, and provide interaction points with business, clinics, government agencies and society. This distinct role was re-affirmed in Lund University’s official input to the governments research budget process, where the importance of continued funding and the university’s long-term commitment to its SRAs took a central place. In return for this very important commitment, the university rightfully has high expectations: as an SRA, NanoLund is committed to continuous renewal of our research at the international forefront, to contributing solutions for societal challenges, to engagement in high-quality, research-near education, and to running and continuously developing research infrastructure such as Lund Nano Lab. Indeed, we do fulfill these high and diverse expectations. This is possible only through the University’s longterm commitment combined with exceptional engagement by of all our technical and administrative staff, students, scientists, our partners in academia, business and society, and our funders. Thank you to all of you! I wish all our staff, alumni, friends, collaboration partners and supporters a well-deserved break with your families and friends, and a Happy New Year. God Jul! Heiner Linke, for the NanoLund leadership

NanoLund Annual Meeting 2019 The Annual Meeting on October 10 had a great turn-out. Approximately 180 people attendeded and it was great to see not only so many of our own staff, but also from our partner organizations, and from local and regional government. The meeting featured more than 70 posters, invited talks from external speakers as well as from our own young scientists, and exceptionally well-delivered poster pitches. The meeting’s topic, "Where will NanoLunds research be in 10 Years" was underlined by forward-looking presentations from area coordinators. Also our Scientific Advisory Board visited us for the meeting and discussions about directions for our future. The meeting was concluded with a dinner and prize awards where NanoLundians were acknowledged for their efforts in teaching, junior scientist ideas, excellent administrative and technical support, and poster presentation skills. Read about the recipients below. NanoLund Awards At the Annual Meeting dinner on October 10th the NanoLund Awards were announced. This year’s NanoLund Young Teacher Awards for outstanding commitment to teaching by junior scientists went to Calle Preger and Florinda Viñas Boström. The awards for Excellent Technical and Administrative Support were presented to Johanna Mosgeller and George Rydnemalm. The outstanding work done by technical and administrative support staff is of critical importance for NanoLund, and none of our work in teaching and research would be possible without it. The Best Poster Awards went to Lukas Wittenbecher for best poster in Materials and Energy, Björn Annby-Andersson for the best poster in Physics, Electronics and Photonics, and Oskar Ström for the best poster in Life Sciences and Nanosafety. Also presented were the NanoLund Junior Scientist Ideas Awards, consisting of research funds for seedling projects by PhD students or postdocs. The recipients were Namsoon Eom, Lukas Bruder & Lukas Wittenbecher, Mohamed Abdellah and Yang Chen. NanoTechNow NanoLund aims to build long-term collaborations with companies, research institutes and public partners. In September we took the first step to form the network NanoTechNow together with representatives from 28 companies and organizations. Together we identified materials characterization and safe by design as two main areas where NanoTechNow can make a difference by sharing know-how, competences and instruments. Would you like to join the NanoTechNow network or learn more? Please contact Anna-Karin Alm or Heiner Linke. Strategic Research Area Collegiate Last month, NanoLund co-founded the Strategic Research Area (SRA) Collegiate, a collaborative council of the Lund university’s twelve SRAs. Together, we are working closely with the university leadership to identify how SRAs can even better support the university’s strategic aims in areas such as strategic recruiting, research-near education, infrastructure, and providing visibility for the university as a whole. A key point is to identify how the work of the transdisciplinary SRAs can be best coordinated with the line organization of departments and faculties. Spårvagnsstafetten The tramway relay running event Spårvägsstafetten happened in September and followed the new tracks, ”practising” the way from downtown to our future home near MAX IV and ESS. NanoLundians took part in many teams, including three mixed teams, with names such as "the Aerosol Runners", "Team Fysik LU – Max IV’s vänner", and "Nobelkommittén". Philanthropy Day For the first time Lund University celebrated Philantropy Day on November 15th to recognize the great contributions that philanthropy make to individual lives, communities, and the larger world through university research. We at NanoLund are grateful recipients of large and small donations and for that we want to say thanks a million. Partnership with The Bridge NanoLund has entered into a partnership with The Bridge, a local organization aiming to connect academia and business. We have already had one joint event with a talk by UCLA professor Aydogan Ozcan in May, and look forward to many more interactions and joint events. Night of Culture The third Saturday in September each year Lund welcomes more than 50,000 people to Kulturnatten where they can enjoy 400 activities at different venues all around Lund City. With the help of many NanoLundians, NanoLund participated by giving introductory lectures on nanotechnology, lab tours and demonstrations. At least 140 visitors came to take part of the talks, demonstrations and lab tours.  Innovation projects wanted Do you have an innovation idea that deserves testing? Companies and university scientists are invited to submit ideas for a project course as part of the Engineering Nanoscience program. Highly motivated groups of students will spend a total of 4 to 6 person-months during the Spring of 2020 to take the next step for your innovation, be it to test a concept, make a prototype or develop a business plan. If you have such an idea, please contact Heiner Linke or Fredrik Johansson by December 31st. Did you know...? Did you know that October 9th is National Nanotechnology Day in the USA when "ten to the power of minus nine" is celebrated? Someone who knew is NanoLund partner Materials Business Center, with whom we collaborate on applying nanotechnology to meet the Global Goals for sustainable development. News on NanoLund people New Professors: Christelle Prinz and Erik Lind NanoLund researchers Christelle Prinz from Solid State Physics and Erik Lind from Electrical and Information Technology are now Professors as appointed by the Vice-Chancellor. Christelle Prinz is Professor in Experimental Biophysics and Erik Lind is Professor in Nanoelectronics. Luke Hankin new Head of Lund Nano Lab As of August 15th Luke Hankin has started as new Head of laboratory for Lund Nano Lab, succeeding Maria Huffman. Luke comes from a position as Engineering Director at Sol Voltaics where he has lead a team of 20 people and was responsible for lab construction, equipment development, clean room, chemistry labs, IT and safety. Prior to that he has held positions in automotive, semiconductor and solar companies and holds a PhD in Mechanical Metallurgy. He has extended experience of reliability, quality, safety, equipment and process development. This is a very strong background that fits the needs of Lund Nano Lab very well. If you want to know more about Lund Nano Lab or have inquiries about tools and fees, you can find more information and contact details on the LNL home page. KAW project funding for Kenneth Wärnmark The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation announced on October 1st that Kenneth Wärnmark as the main applicant wins one of 20 prestigious grants for ground-breaking research projects. The grant of 35 MSEK over five years is to support the project “Photofunctional iron complexes”, aiming to harvest solar energy with iron-based molecules. Kenneth's research alter the energy of electronic states in iron complexes, making them potential candidates as photosensitizers in solar cells. Iron can then be used instead of complexes based on the scarce elements ruthenium and iridium. Read the KAW press release or about Kenneths research on his home page. Martin Leijnse wins ERC Synergy grant Martin Leijnse and three researchers from University of Copenhagen jointly won in total 10 million Euro for a highly competitive ERC Synergy project called "Foundations of nonlocal and nonabelian condensed-matter systems". Here, nonlocal means that quasiparticles encode a quantum state that is hidden from any local measurement, while nonabelian means that exchange of quasiparticles changes their joint quantum state in a nontrivial manner. Both these properties have been predicted and heavily studied theoretically for more than three decades, but they have not been demonstrated experimentally. Doing so is the aim of this ERC Synergy project, which will be based on creating and controlling so-called Majorana bound states - theoretically predicted to be both nonlocal and nonabelian - in semiconductor materials coupled to superconductors and exposed to a magnetic field. Read the ERC press release here and the press release from the Swedish Research Council here. Smoluchowski Award to Maria Messing Associate Professor Maria Messing received the Smoluchowski Award August 27, 2019, during the Annual European Aerosol Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Smoluchowski Award, named after the physicist Marian Smoluchowski (1872 – 1917) is awarded annually to one or two young researchers (under 40 years of age) who has/have significantly contributed to the field of aerosol science. The award is conferred annually by the Association of Aerosol Research during the European Aerosol Conference. Maria is the first researcher from Lund to receive the award since its inaguration in 1986. Until today it has been awarded to 43 researchers. Read more about the award here. Poster Award to Susanna Hammarberg At the 31st MAX IV User Meeting on September 23-25, 2019 Susanna Hammarberg won the Student Poster Award 2019 for her poster: “Strain mapping of nanowire device using scanning XRD”. Read more about the poster award (in English) or read the news at MAX IV's home page (in English). The picture is from MAX IV and shows Susanna Hammarberg (left) with Lund University Pro Vice-Chancellor Stacey Sörensen at the award ceremony. Natural and Engineering Science grants Eight NanoLund Members and Affiliated Members received new grants in Natural and Engineering sciences from the Swedish Research Council, for a total of just over 31 MSEK for their projects. Awardees are: Stefan Kröll, Ville Maisi, Maria Messing, Alf Månsson, Christelle Prinz, Erik Swietlicki, Jonas Tegenfeldt and Reine Wallenberg. Read more about the grant on the homepage of the Swedish Research Council. NanoLund in Media Theatre on Nanoplastics Tommy Cedervall and fellow researchers are setting up a theatre play and a workshop in collaboration with the theatre Sagohuset in Lund, targeted towards high school students. The play is a one man show by actor Torbjörn Lindberg, and was developed through dialog with the group of researchers. The play ends with a fact-based workshop where the researchers and the audience can discuss how to question the many different and contradictory messages on how to act climate and environmentally friendly seen through the light of every day situations dilemmas and scientific facts. During November the play and workshop will be performed at 15 high schools throughout Skåne and after new year the tour will continue to high schools in Northern Sweden. New spin-outs: AlixLabs... LU Holding is investing in the newly started AlixLabs. The start-up company is based on developments within NanoLund – resulting in a patented method that has potential to reduce production costs in the semiconductor industry. AlixLabs is founded by the inventors Dr. Jonas Sundqvist (former director of Lund Nano Lab), Research Engineer Dmitry Suyatin and former masters student Sabbir Khan in collaboration with CEO Stefan Svedberg. AlixLabs plans to implement an expanded proof of concept in 2020 as the basis for continued customer discussions. October 24th Vinnova announced that AlixLabs is one of the recipients of the Innovative startups-grants. Read more about the grant here (in Swedish). ...and AligND Systems A new start-up company based on NanoLund research was created during the summer: AligND Systems develops low-cost, nanowire-coated surfaces for use in diagnostic and bioanalytical devices with superior limit of detection, for example for use in cancer diagnostics. Led by CEO Erik Smith, AligND combines Lund University IP in enhanced molecular detection using nanowires, with IP and know-how for the low-cost synthesis accurate alignment of nanowires on substrates. November 13th it was announced that Almi Invest, MIST Ventures and LU Holding invested a total of 5 MSEK in the company in order to develop the technology for the market for biosensors. Read more in Veckans Affärer (in Swedish). Cellevate: Nordic Nanotech Company of the Year  Cellevate - a Project Nanoengineer spin-out - won the Nordic Nanotech Company of the Year Award 2019 at NanoForum in Malmö on July 4th. More Spin-out news→ ←More Spin-out news Spermosens awarded Vinnova's Innovative Startups Grant Spermosens - started by NanoLund alumn Kushagr Punyani - has been awarded Innovative Startups Grant by Vinnova to fabricate and clinically validate its first prototype. Research Highlights Cover of Advanced Materials Technologies The cover of the September issue of Advances Materials Technologies has a photomontage by Jason Beech. The photomontage shows a photograph of a chip, overlaid with two streams of different below micrometer-sized populations of particles, which were separated in the device described in the article. Read the paper “Active Posts in Deterministic Lateral Displacement Devices” by Beech et al. DOI: 10.1002/admt.201970048 Iron-based solar cells on track to becoming more efficient An international study led from Lund University in Sweden shows that 30 per cent of the energy in a certain type of light-absorbing iron molecule disappears in a previously unknown manner. By closing this loophole, the researchers hope to contribute to the development of more efficient solar cells using this iron-based solar cell. Read more DOI: 10.1002/anie.201908065 First in-situ Measurement of Catalyst Composition During Nanowire Growth Semiconductor nanowires offer the opportunity to incorporate novel structures and functionality into electronic and optoelectronic devices. A clear understanding of the nanowire growth mechanism is essential for well-controlled growth of structures with desired properties, but the understanding is currently limited by a lack of empirical measurements of important parameters during growth. The new ETEM enables such investigations. Read the article "In situ analysis of catalyst composition during gold catalyzed GaAs nanowire growth" by Maliakkal et al in Nature Communications (DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-12437-6) Combining Nanofocused X-Rays with Electrical Measurements X-rays have always been used for non-destructive imaging of the inside of humans or large samples, due to their ability to penetrate matter. With modern X-ray focusing it is possible to achieve a spatial resolution at the level of a single, complete transistor. In this study, performed at the new MAX IV facility, we show how combining nanofocused X-rays with electrical measurements can yield new information about nanostructured solar cells. Read the article "Combining Nanofocused X-Rays with Electrical Measurements at the NanoMAX Beamline" by Chayanun et al in Crystals (DOI 10.3390/cryst9080432) Coming up Nanosafety Course 2020 – Open for Registration  The course welcomes PhD-students as well as representatives from industry and authorities as commissioned education. It is a 5 ECT course given during two weeks (21st – 24th April, and 8th – 11th June), with the possibility to follow up by doing a project valid for 2.5 additional ECTs. Information and registration: christina.isaxon@design.lth.se The aim of the course is to mediate knowledge of safe manufacturing and handling of engineered nanoparticles and of nanomaterials i.e. materials containing nanoparticles, in the perspective of human health and of environment. INASCON 2020 INASCON, the International Nanoscience Student Conference, is coming to Lund 11-14 August 2020. It will be organized by Lund University undergraduate students and supported by NanoLund. If you are interested in joining the organizing team, or would like to get on the email list, do not hesitate to email inascon2020@gmail.com Introduction Event Are you new to NanoLund? Do you wonder what we are all about? What the scientific possibilities are? How is it organised? What are the benefits? How to use equipment in other labs or how to find collaborators? Come to the next Introduction to NanoLund event on Monday February 3rd from 14-16:30 to learn the ins and outs of NanoLund. To participate, contact Line Lundfald Seedling projects Do you have a new idea? Funds of up to 100 000 kronor per seedling project are available for projects proposed by master's students, PhD students or postdocs currently working in NanoLund research groups. In addition to project funding, each junior scientist responsible for a granted proposal will receive the Junior Scientist Ideas Award. Deadline: 21st of January 2020, midnight. Details will be posted here soon. FARAD - Work Fair Are you wondering about career possibilities at NanoLund? Come to FARAD, a work fair aranged by the student association at LTH January 28th. NanoLundians wanting to participate may contact Martin Leijnse Seminars The Nanoscience Colloquia series of research talks for a wider scientific audience continues this spring. Stay tuned for more information as the program for the spring semester 2020 will come out soon here. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Twitter: @NanoLund LinkedIn: We have a company page. Why not update your personal profile by adding your present NanoLund-affiliation under profile section “Work experience”? Articles from NanoLund researchers Click here to see recent scientific articles from NanoLund researchers. The link redirects to Lund University's Research Portal  (most recent articles on top). Collage of microfluidic particle sorting results using DEP and DLD. Image and device Jason P. Beech Did we miss something? Do you have a story, a discovery or an event we should include in our newsletter? Please use the Contact link below. Web | Contact

Unsubscribe