WISE invests in research and technology platforms

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WISE, the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability, is the largest-ever investment in materials science in Sweden and is financed by Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation. WISE is now investing 500 million SEK (45 million Euro) for equipment and infrastructure at seven universities in Sweden to establish a national infrastructure for research into sustainable materials. This is the largest investment in material science in Sweden.

To combat climate change and to transform to a sustainable society, there is an urgent need for new advanced materials. To speed this development, cutting-edge research infrastructures are needed to enable the generation of new knowledge of materials and to develop green technology solutions.

– Finding new materials for a sustainable world can only be achieved by better knowledge. Material scientists make use of research tools, both for growth and characterization, e.g. in the form of spectrometers, microscopes, and additive manufacturing, to discover and understand the fundamental properties of materials. We are very enthusiastic about this investment in research technology platforms, and we are convinced that they will make a tremendous impact on the transformation towards a sustainable future, say Magnus Berggren and Olle Eriksson, director and co-director of WISE, respectively.

“Arwen”, transmission electron microscope at Linköping University. Picture taken by Magnus Johansson, Linköpings University

More about the platforms
Infrastructures for transmission- and scanning electron microscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging, mass spectroscopy, crystallography, additive manufacturing, as well as dedicated fabrication and synthesis laboratories for electronic and circular materials are being financed. Several of the research technology platforms will be organized as distributed infrastructures, with complementing equipment hosted at individual universities. Substantial additional financing and support are also provided by the WISE partner universities.

The equipment is expected to be commissioned in 2024 and run throughout the entire WISE project period. For the more time-consuming build-up of certain WISE research platforms, the equipment is expected to be in operation during 2025.