22 Oct 2025
Director of Sustainability
The Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE) seeks a Director of Sustainability to lead and develop the initiative’s strategic sustainability efforts.
4 Dec 2023
-This roadmap article on molecular modelling of energy materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion point to new directions. Machine learning will play an increasingly important role in the modelling community, says WISE researcher Chao Zhang.
Sustainable advancement of our society is closely tied to how we strategically use materials. Whether it is constructing infrastructure, or developing cutting-edge energy technologies, the decision to use readily available off-the-shelf materials versus creating new material systems that provide clear sustainability features and that can make it back to economy is crucial. Companies are now choosing the latter strategy and materials science is thus needed to support and speed up the transformation to sustainability.
Fortunately, computational modelling of materials from the atomic level to macroscopic structures has matured significantly in recent decades, allowing for a substantial reduction in development timelines. This advancement facilitates rapid, large-scale screening of materials, thereby speeding up the discovery and development of new materials for society and industry.
In the recent publication “2023 Roadmap on molecular modelling of electrochemical energy materials”, published in the Journal of Physics: Energy, guest editors Chao Zhang and Jun Cheng have compiled a strategic roadmap. This roadmap, a collaborative effort involving 20 research groups across 11 countries, serves as a gateway providing both experts and beginners with a quick overview of the status and associated challenges in molecular modelling of energy materials. The roadmap focuses on materials specifically designed for applications in batteries, supercapacitors, CO2 reduction reactions, and fuel cells.
-Molecular modelling has already become a crucial part of the toolbox for materials scientists. This roadmap article on molecular modelling of energy materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion point to new directions. Machine learning will play an increasingly important role in the modelling community. However, we shouldn’t forget the job of theoreticians is also to represent the subject in its greatest simplicity. Numbers and insights are both important, explains WISE researcher Chao Zhang.
The roadmap article can be found at
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7655/acfe9b
Bio
Chao Zhang is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry at Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University, and he is also a WISE researcher. His WISE project is about proton reactivity and intercalation in layered metal oxide materials that show pseudocapactive behavior. In this project, he and his colleagues leverage machine learning and molecular modeling techniques recently developed within their group.
To read more about Zhang’s WISE project visit: https://wise-materials.org/project/solvated-metal-oxides-for-energy-storage-proton-dynamics-in-confinement/
22 Oct 2025
The Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE) seeks a Director of Sustainability to lead and develop the initiative’s strategic sustainability efforts.
20 Oct 2025
“I think it is important to observe and learn from nature. Nature does not waste. What one organism discards, another uses as energy. The key question for us is how we can minimize and reuse our own waste, how we can create more with less”, says WISE Guest Professor Alexander Bismarck from University of Vienna.
16 Oct 2025
We’re thrilled to kick off the WACQT-WISE Pilot Call 2025 with an inspiring webinar.
14 Oct 2025
—Quantum phenomena and materials science have once again demonstrated unique phenomena with the potential to benefit society, says Professor Olle Eriksson at Uppsala University, WISE Co-Director and Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
9 Oct 2025
In a world increasingly powered by lithium-ion batteries—from smartphones to electric vehicles—the race is on to find cleaner, smarter ways to recover this critical metal.
Photo taken by Retain.
3 Oct 2025
On 2 October 2025, Chalmers University of Technology officially inaugurated its new additive manufacturing infrastructure: AM@Chalmers and the Chalmers WISE Additive node.
3 Oct 2025
The Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT) and the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE) are launching a new call to spark collaboration at the cutting edge of research.
2 Oct 2025
—Imagine a world where vehicles, buildings, and even everyday devices become self-powering, seamlessly merging structure and storage. This is the vision of structural power composites. Structural power composites open the door to a future where every part of a product contributes not only to its form and strength, but also to its function as an energy source, says WISE Guest Professor Madhavi Srinivasan from Nanyang Technological University.
25 Sep 2025
-Our role is to act as a bridge between PhD students, postdocs, and WISE Research School management. We receive questions and concerns both from students and postdocs as well as from the RS management, which we bring to our meetings for discussion, says Yamini Portes, chairperson of the WISE Student Council and PhD student at Stockholm University.
24 Sep 2025
Join us for the 6th Machine Learning Meets Materials Science Seminar, part of the WISE–WASP initiative! Mark your calendars: October 1 at 10:00!
24 Sep 2025
We’re pleased to announce that registration is now open for the AM4Life/WISE Additive Autumn School on the theme “Post-processing in AM and Surface Engineering.”
24 Sep 2025
We are pleased to welcome Professor Johan Hjelm, WISE Guest Professor at Lund University (LU), and Professor Yury Gogotsi, WISE Guest Professor at Linköping University (LiU), for a joint digital event on October 2, 2025, from 15:00 to 16:00.
17 Sep 2025
At WISE, we love to share the stories of the people driving science forward. Meet Professor Chao Zhang, an Associate Professor at Uppsala University who is passionate about reimagining the future of energy.
10 Sep 2025
–Materials science can never be done in “vacuum.” By this I mean that sustainability and circular economy must be considered from the very beginning, and this requires collaboration. No one can be an expert in everything, says WISE Guest Professor Mari Lundström from Aalto University.
2 Sep 2025
On September 11, 2025, from 15:00 to 16:00, WISE (Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability) will host a special guest professor lecture featuring two leading international researchers in materials science.
1 Sep 2025
The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is delighted to announce the 2025 call for Proof of Concept Grants in Materials Science for Sustainability, is now open for applications until October 15, 2025, at 13:00.
26 Aug 2025
In a recent report published in Scientific Reports, Professor Saeed Chehreh Chelgani from Luleå University of Technology and WISE-affiliated researcher and his colleagues tackled one of the cement industry’s most pressing challenges: energy efficiency.
25 Aug 2025
WIRA-SuPRA invites industry professionals to Husqvarna, Sweden, for a two-day event exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming the plastics industry.
25 Aug 2025
Welcome Meeting 2025 is now wrapped up – and what an event it was!
22 Aug 2025
Can smarter recycling pave the way for a more sustainable industry?
19 Aug 2025
“To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, research and innovations in energy, transport, manufacturing industry, and sustainable practices globally are crucial”, says Professor Ange Nzihou from IMT Mines Albi, France.
16 Aug 2025
On Wednesday, 20 August, Prof. Hjörvarsson will give a talk at the WISE Welcome Meeting at Louis De Geer Konsert & Kongress in Norrköping.
– I’ll give you a teaser: the title of my talk is “Bullerbyn 2.0 / El Dorado,” says Hjörvarsson with a big smile.
12 Aug 2025
The call for KAW Proof of Concept Grants in Materials Science for Sustainability will open soon.
11 Aug 2025
The Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability (WISE) is proud to launch its second major faculty recruitment drive, opening up new opportunities to lead cutting-edge research in sustainable materials science.
Picture by Luleå University of Technology.
7 Aug 2025
An international team of scientists from France, Germany, and Sweden has taken a closer look at how magnetism can change incredibly fast—a phenomenon called ultrafast demagnetization.
For the first time, they were able to observe some of the key steps in this process as it happens in a magnetic material. Their work, published in Nature Communications, could help pave the way for faster and more energy-efficient spintronic devices used for storing and processing information.
7 Aug 2025
Get ready—one of the most anticipated events of the year is just around the corner! The WISE Welcome Meeting 2025 is fast approaching, and you won’t want to miss it!
17 Jun 2025
MAX IV is awarded 200 million SEK from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and WISE to construct and establish a 3D imaging X-ray technology aimed at studying and developing advanced materials for the transition to a sustainable society.
16 Jun 2025
The Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability (WISE) is excited to announce the launch of its second major faculty recruitment call.
Picture by Luleå University of technology.
9 Jun 2025
Do not miss out as the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation soon is set to open applications for its 2025 Proof of Concept Grants in Materials Science for Sustainability. The call opens on September 1 and closes on October 15, 2025, at 13:00.
26 May 2025
The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, in partnership with the WISE research program, has selected nine promising innovation projects to receive Proof-of-Concept (PoC) grants. ,