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Strategic collaboration with the Olle Engkvist Foundation: 100 MSEK for Nanolab Science Village

Night vision of a city.
The new collaboration with the Olle Engkvist Foundation is of strategic importance to Lund University’s expansion in Science Village, says Vice-Chancellor Erik Renström.

NanoLund at Lund University has established a long-term strategic collaboration with the Olle Engkvist Foundation, which intends to support the purchase of equipment for Nanolab Science Village to the tune of SEK 100 million over five years.

Through this collaboration, the foundation wishes to support the very strong, leading interdisciplinary research environment that is to be found at NanoLund. Nanotechnology holds the key to revolutionary solutions for the planet and humanity’s best. As such, the foundation views the strategic collaboration around the establishment of a new laboratory in Lund’s new neighborhood, Science Village, as very satisfying.

Building a new modern laboratory

New environmentally and climate-friendly technologies for solar panels, semiconductors, electricity distribution, water purification, modes of transport and communication, combined with a reduced need for natural resources, as well as with quicker diagnoses and individually-tailored treatment of illness – these are some of the areas where nanoscience could be applied. At NanoLund, more than 400 researchers within technology, science, social science, and medicine are collaborating on studies on the very smallest components. NanoLund is now building a new, modern laboratory right next to the new, exclusive research facilities ESS and MAX IV, in Lund’s Science Village. Nanolab Science Village will offer researchers unique opportunities to provide humanity with new knowledge for a sustainable civilization.

It has been possible to create more energy-efficient, smarter, stronger, and more environmentally friendly materials using nature’s own methods.

“My researcher colleagues and I are very grateful for the support from the Olle Engkvist Foundation. When we are ‘crafting’ at an atomic level, in order to create better conditions for both humanity and the planet, an optimally-equipped laboratory and the proximity to the two major research facilities – MAX IV and ESS – provide unique possibilities,” says Associate Professor Maria Messing, deputy director of NanoLund.

“Nanolab Science Village literally strengthens our opportunities for making our world better, using nature’s own resources to produce many new and desirable qualities. It has been possible to create more energy-efficient, smarter, stronger, and more environmentally friendly materials using nature’s own methods. It is not all about ‘classical engineering’. This affects everything and everyone!”

Materials science and nanotechnology open the door to new applications

Erik Renström, Vice-Chancellor at Lund University, agrees:
“Great revolutionary technological leaps forward only occur a couple of times each century. We are now faced with the next one. Research in materials science and nanotechnology has opened the door to new, crucial applications. The Olle Engkvist Foundation is a significant and well-regarded funder of research at Lund University, and this new collaboration with the foundation is of strategic importance to Lund University’s expansion in Science Village. Nanolab Science Village is the first step towards establishing the University’s presence in the burgeoning Science Village. A warm ‘Thank you!’”