Research projects 2012

Research projects with high scientific potential

The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation wants to support and encourage some of the most successful researchers in Sweden and give them the best conceivable conditions for research as possible. In 2012, SEK 700 million in funds were granted for 25 projects with the potential of leading to scientific breakthroughs.

Technology/physics/mathematics

Project: Stochastics for big data and big systems

Principal Investigator: Professor Holger Rootzén, Chalmers University of Technology
Grant: SEK 50 324 000 for a five-year project

Mathematics – where parts become a whole

Project: Plasmonic antennas shine light on the nanoworld

Principal Investigator: Professor Mikael Käll, Chalmers University of Technology
Grant: SEK 37 131 000 for a five-year project

Optical antennas that make the nanoworld visible

Project: Dynamics of the solar chromosphere

Principal Investigator: Professor Göran Scharmer, Stockholm University
Grant: SEK 26 361 000 for a five-year project

Searching for the solution to one of the sun's mysteries

Project: Coherent cytoskeleton dynamics captured with cutting Edge X-ray methods

Principal Investigator: Professor Richard Neutze, University of Gothenburg
Grant: SEK 17 647 000 for a two-year project subject to a possibility to apply for an extension of three years

Dynamics within the cell's skeleton - an unexplored area

Project: Spin dynamics and magnonics

Principal Investigator: Professor Olle Eriksson, Uppsala University
Grant: SEK 37 427 000 
 for a five-year project

Magnetic spin can yield computers a thousand times faster

Project: Characterization of the earth-sized exoplanets

Principal Investigator: Professor Nikolai Piskunov, Uppsala University
Grant: SEK 23 052 000 for a five-year project

The researchers who look for life on other planets

Project: Ionic liquids, lubricants Enabling Advanced Performance

Principal Investigator: Professor Sergei Glavatskih, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Grant: SEK 32 059 000 for a five-year project

Ionic liquids – creating high-performance and environmentally friendly lubricants

Project: Designed Nanoparticles by Pulsed Plasma

Principal Investigator: Professor Ulf Helmersson, Linköping University
Grant: SEK 15 336 000 for a two-year project subject to a possibility to apply for an extension of three years

They want to design nanoparticles for various applications

Project: Studies on transient sprays

Principal Investigator: Professor Mark Linne, Chalmers University of Technology
Grant: SEK 27 034 000 for a five-year project

 

Natural science

Project: Early Planetary Evolution

Principal Investigator: Dr. Martin Whitehouse, Swedish Museum of Natural History
Grant: SEK 13 032 000 for a five-year project

Geological time capsule from a dramatic period on Earth

Project: Animal Functional Genomics

Principal Investigator: Professor Leif Andersson, Uppsala University
Grant: SEK 30 997 000 for a five-year project

Ambling horses have a unique coordination ability

Project: ShapeSystems - Systems Biology of Plant Cell Shape

Principal Investigator: Professor Markus Grebe, Umeå University
Grant: SEK 31 277 000 for a five-year project

Down to the roots of plant cell shape

Project: 3D Electron Microscopy for Nanostructure Research

Principal Investigator: Professor Xiaodong Zou, Stockholm University
Grant: SEK 33 364 000 for a five-year project

World of the atom will be depicted in 3D

Project: Epigenetic regulation of cell fate in plant

Principal Investigator: Dr. Lars Hennig, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Grant: SEK 28 814 000 for a five-year project

Epigenetics teach us more about life's fantastic complexity

Project: Insect life cycle genomics and adaptation in the wild

Principal Investigator: Professor Sören Nylin, Stockholm University
Grant: SEK 30 207 000 for a five-year project

Winter-hibernating insects - an interaction between genes and environment

Medicine

Project: Spatial transcriptomics of the brain

Principal Investigator: Professor Joakim Lundeberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Grant: SEK 16 682 000 for a two-year project subject to a possibility to apply for an extension of three years

A one-of-a-kind atlas of the brain

Project: Novel molecular cancer drug targets and biomarkers

Principal Investigator: Professor Marene Landström, Umeå University
Grant: SEK 36 594 000 for a five-year project

In the hope of new cancer drugs

Project: Temporal Competence Changes in Neural Progenitor Cells

Grant: SEK 46 961 000 for a five-year project
Principal Investigator: Professor Stefan Thor, Linköping University

Solving the mystery of neural development

Project: Novel cancer targets within nucleotide metabolism

Principal Investigator: Professor Thomas Helleday, Karolinska Institutet
Grant: SEK 14 220 000 for a two-year project subject to a possibility to apply for an extension of three years

A common Achilles heel for cancer?

Project: ALS as a Model System for Studying Degenerative Brain Diseases

Grant: SEK 35 821 000 
 for a five-year project
Principal Investigator: Professor Peter Andersen, Umeå University

Finding out what causes ALS

Project: The gut metagenome as a novel target to treat childhood obesity

Principal Investigator: Professor Fredrik Bäckhed, University of Gothenburg
Grant: SEK 30 806 000 for a five-year project

The intestinal bacterial ecosystem - the key to understanding and treating childhood obesity?

Project: Prevention of beta-cell failure in Type 2 diabetes

Grant: SEK 11 792 000 for a two-year project subject to a possibility to apply for an extension of three years
Principal Investigator: Professor Helena Edlund, Umeå University

Project: The next generation cell handling in medical diagnostics

Principal Investigator: Professor Thomas Laurell, Lund University
Grant: SEK 33 538 000 for a five-year project

They are developing a new method to find tumor cells in the blood

Project: The Human Microbiome Atlas in Health and Disease

Principal Investigator: Professor Björn Andersson, Karolinska Institutet
Grant: SEK 22 340 000 for a five-year project

The body conceals an unknown jungle of microbes

Project: Comprehensive analysis of the kidney glomerulus and its diseases

Principal Investigator: Professor Karl Tryggvason, Karolinska Institutet
Grant: SEK 16 715 000 for a three-year project

Diabetes - a genetic mystery behind damaged kidneys