For the ninth time, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) has appointed the Research Leaders of the Future. A total of 213 applications were received, of which 16 were selected and two of these were from Lund University. The researchers will receive a grant of SEK 15 million each over a five-year period and will participate in a comprehensive leadership training programme during that time.
The Future Research Leaders 9 programme is aimed at young Swedish or foreign researchers with the highest scientific and teaching expertise who also demonstrate leadership potential. The researchers should have the ambition to implement research results in society, i.e. outside academia, and should later in their careers be able to assume responsibility for a constellation that is significantly larger than their own research team.
Anne-Lise Viotti conducts research in atomic physics and has been awarded funds for the project Novel nonlinear optical platforms for advanced materials.
Congratulations! What does it mean to you to be a Future Research Leader?
I am very grateful to have been appointed as one of the SSF Future Research Leaders. Beyond the extraordinary opportunity to pursue my own research project for the next five years, I will also be participating in a leadership programme, which represents an invaluable chance to build the skills, network and strategic vision necessary to take on that broader role. I am particularly looking forward to connecting with the other members of the group, supporting one another’s growth as leaders, and collectively preparing to drive collaborative, cross-disciplinary research that tackles today’s most urgent societal challenges.
You have received funding for the project Novel nonlinear optical platforms for advanced materials. Can you tell us more about this project?
Scientists have for years successfully manipulated materials to produce structures with extremely small sizes, at the nanometre scale (10-9metres). Naturally, they are faced with a number of challenges when studying nanostructures. For instance, many of the processes they want to investigate happen on very fast time scales, within a few femtoseconds, i.e. 10-15 seconds! Some of these ultrafast processes can only be triggered with light that carries a sufficiently high energy, or in other words very short wavelengths down to the extreme ultraviolet. My project will realise a compact and efficient light source to study those materials at the nanometre and femtosecond scales.
What is the goal of the project?
The main goal is to combine the research fields of ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optics, atomic physics and materials science. High-power industrial laser systems will be employed and the laser light will be manipulated temporally and spectrally to operate on the fastest time scales and allow chemical sensitivity in the materials investigated.
Is there a practical application for the results?
Miniaturisation of transistors, the fundamental building blocks of our computers and smartphones, allows the making of very powerful computing chips that fit on one fingernail. Some nanostructures also interact with light in surprising ways. For instance, thin semiconductor needles, also called nanowires, efficiently absorb sunlight and convert it into electrical power. Future solar cells utilising these advanced devices are expected to surpass the efficiency of currently commercialised solar panels. Other types of structures are designed to concentrate the light into the tiniest spots. Such devices can find applications in healthcare by acting as non-invasive sensors and could be able to detect single molecules.
Characterisation of these newly developed nanostructures is essential to advance research and to come closer to real-life applications. The only way to take snapshots of some of the fastest events occurring in such devices is to use laser pulses with ultrashort duration, which act like the flash of a camera.
Armin Tavakoli conducts research in quantum information science and has received the funding for the project Beyond binary quantum communication.
Congratulations! What does it mean to you to be a Future Research Leader?
It’s a great honour to receive such prestigious recognition. To be appointed as one of SSF’s Future Research Leaders means that I can focus on my research for several years and I can also participate in SSF’s leadership programme, which I have high hopes for.
You have received funding for the project Beyond binary quantum communication. Can you tell us more about this project?
Quantum mechanics describe the smallest things in nature, e.g. elementary particles. A major insight in physics has been that the very different physics of these small systems can be used for groundbreaking information technology such as computers, communication systems and sensors. These quantum technologies are usually based on qubits.
These are the simplest quantum systems because they only have two degrees of freedom – similar to bits in ordinary computers that are either 0 or 1. My project aims to examine quantum technologies based on more complex quantum systems that have many more degrees of freedom.
What is the goal of the project?
The main thesis is that by going beyond qubits (i.e. binary systems) we can get access to more dramatic quantum phenomena that contravene the limits of traditional physics. The goal has three parts. Firstly, we want to conduct extensive basic research on how these quantum systems give rise to extreme phenomena. Then we want to develop methods for observing these phenomena in lab environments. And finally, we want to convert this into quantum technology applications.
Is there a practical application for the results?
The main focus is on applications in communication systems. It’s well-known that quantum phenomena can be used to enable considerably more secure cryptosystems, but these are difficult to develop given that it concerns the control of individual elementary particles. By using the more complex quantum systems, we hope to be able to make these ideas more practically feasible.
