Project grants from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
Project grants from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation are powerful funding for excellent basic research in the fields of medicine, natural sciences and technology. Since 2016, KTH has been awarded grants for eight research projects that are considered to offer potential for future scientific breakthroughs.
New method of modulating ion channels may provide cure for epilepsy
Photo: Jann Lipka
When the electrical activity in neurons (nerve cells) does not work, disorders such as epilepsy, sleep disorders or autism can occur. This research project will develop a new method, based on machine learning, to design modulators of neuronal voltage-gated ion channels, with the aim of treating such diseases.
Project title: From atom to organism: Bridging the scales in the design of ion channel drugs
New knowledge on laser pulses can open up for more energy-efficient computers
Photo: Jann Lipka
With a sufficiently strong laser or light pulse, it is possible to temporarily completely change the properties of a material. If we can understand this transformation on a microscopic, quantum mechanical level, it opens up new types of information technology that will also be very energy efficient.
Project title: Light-matter interaction in the ultrafast regime
In recent years cancer care has added a new weapon to its arsenal: immunotherapy. Research is now making major strides with the help of microchip-based methods developed in Sweden. The aim is to treat more forms of cancer, and cure more patients.
Project title: Translating mechanisms of cytotoxicity in natural killer cells and gamma-delta T cells into next generation cell-based cancer immunotherapy
Oscar Tjernberg has taken on one of the major unresolved questions in the field of condensed matter physics: how do high temperature superconductors work? The researchers are using high-energy light pulses to push different materials beyond the limit so they become superconducting or topological. The process is also recorded using a technique in which Tjernberg’s research team are world leaders.
Project title: Novel Transient States in Quantum Matter
Technology and methods to measure individual photons – light particles – are being developed in Val Zwiller’s laboratory. The researchers have devised a quantum sensor capable of securing the internet of the future against eavesdropping, as well as measuring interactions between molecules.
Project title: Quantum sensors
Grant amount: SEK 34.8 million over five years (2018–2022)
Tenfold increase in resolution with new X-ray technology
Photo: Magnus Bergström / Wallenberg Foundations
For all of its benefit to society, the technology we use for medical imaging is nevertheless flawed. Relevant little details go undetected due to limitations in resolution. But a recent investment in research at KTH aims to improve the picture – by at least 10 times. One hope is that the new method will make it easier to locate and diagnose tumors at an early stage.
Grant amount: SEK 33 million over five years (2017–2021)
Research showing what is difficult
Photo: Magnus Bergström / Wallenberg Foundations
Can a problem be solved well enough within a reasonable time – or is it impossible because it demands excessive computational resources? These are questions being examined in a research project at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where basic mathematical research may yield results with major implications.
Project title: Approximability and proof complexity
Tiny optical fibers may help to make future cancer diagnosis and treatment more effective. This is the hope of researchers in a project on multifunctional fibers. Among other things, the team is examining how fiber optics can be used for medical purposes inside the body.
