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WISE research scope broadens with potentially additional funding
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.
The funding will enable the future integration of forest-based materials research into WISE as well as support a strategic recruitment at Uppsala University.
The indication that the Foundation will consider a budget increase in the future paves the way for a further expansion of WISE to include research focused on new materials from the forest. This research is currently conducted via Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC). From 2029 onwards, this forest-materials focused research will be incorporated into WISE, broadening the programme’s scientific scope and reinforcing its focus on sustainability.
– This development represents an important step for WISE, further strengthening its position as a leading national research programme. By incorporating cutting-edge research on bio-based materials, WISE will be uniquely positioned to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable materials and technologies, says Sven Stafström, Chair of the WISE board.
An additional component of the increased budget frame is the recruitment of Professor Sangeeta Sharma to Uppsala University. Professor Sharma is internationally recognized as a world-leading expert in theory of quantum and spin-based materials science, with research spanning magnetism, superconductivity, spin transport, light-matter interaction, and advanced first principles methodologies, including AI-supported modelling. Her work delivers predictive insight into electronic structure and ultrafast dynamics, enabling fundamental understanding of how quantum level processes govern material functionality in many aspects, especially related to sustainable energy and computing technologies.
– The recruitment of Professor Sharma strengthens WISE’s ability to understand and design materials from the bottom up. By studying how materials behave at the atomic scale, her work addresses many of our current challenges with rare-earth materials scarcity and computing-related energy issues, say Magnus Berggren and Olle Eriksson, director and co-director of WISE.
