Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability

What if the next generation of medical implants could safely dissolve in the body once they’ve done their job and be produced with minimal environmental impact?

On 24 – 25 August, the WISE Community will welcome its newest members to the WISE Welcome Meeting 2026 at Vildmarkshotellet in Kolmården.

Magnus Berggren, Director of WISE, will assume the role as the Executive Director of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation from 1 January 2027. As a result, he will step down as Program Director of the WISE program and remain at Linköping University on a part-time basis.

“Sustainability is the central theme of my research. Rather than focusing only on performance, we aim to develop technologies that are sustainable from the materials level all the way to manufacturing and end-of-life”, says Magdalena Titirici, Professor at the Imperial College London and WISE Invited Professor.

WISE-affiliated researcher, Professor Ergang Wang at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, is coordinating a new EU-funded project, SPECTRA, to develop groundbreaking technologies that use solar energy to transform plastic waste into valuable resources. The project also involves Professor Moyses Araujo at Karlstad University, another WISE-affiliated researcher, as a partner.

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has increased the searchable framework budget with an additional SEK 265 million to the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), marking a significant expansion of the programme.

Imagine opening a juice box made from materials designed with deeper scientific insight into how they behave at the smallest scales.

“My best advice is simple: think before you buy. Many of the products we purchase today ultimately end up very quickly in our waste streams”, says WISE co-Director for Sustainability, Niclas Svensson.

When Zhejian (Jerry) Cao joined the WISE programme in 2023, he was already exploring a promising research direction. What followed was a journey defined by intellectual freedom, interdisciplinary growth, and a clear path toward academic independence

Don’t miss to register for the upcoming WISE Invited Professor Lecture on 4 June 2026, from 3.00–4.00 pm CET.