E-Science
Researchers in e-Science use computers and other digital technologies to study complex problems that were previously impossible to solve. Advances and discoveries in this field benefit both science and society as a whole.
Since the invention of the first electronic computers, computers and digital information have been essential tools in research.
Today, the use of computers, storage, and networks to explore scientific questions has spread to almost all research fields. This approach has become so significant that it has earned its own collective term: e-Science.
Computation and data analysis
Unlike many other research areas, e-Science is not defined by the subject studied, but by the tools used. In e-Science, researchers develop and use methods for a range of purposes, including:
- modelling
- simulation
- databases
- data management
- artificial intelligence.
Computer calculations allow researchers to study details that are difficult, or even impossible, to investigate in conventional experiments. Digital technologies also make it possible to handle large and complex data sets.
Application areas
Extensive research is conducted within e-Science at Lund University and the special research environment eSSENCE. The overall goal of eSSENCE is to develop application areas and tools within e-Science for the benefit of both research and society.
eSSENCE has defined four focus areas for its research:
Researchers in this area study the smallest building blocks to understand how they combine to produce the properties of different types of materials.
On a microscopic scale, researchers study, for example, the properties of magnetic metals, light-harvesting materials for solar panels, and clay.
Within eSSENCE, life sciences signify research that helps us understand the machinery of life, including medical applications and animal behaviour.
For example, researchers are developing methods within organ transplantation and cancer diagnostics, with a particular focus on breast and prostate cancer.
Researchers study animals to learn more about the animals themselves, such as the biological mechanisms in bird migration. But researchers also look at bird feathers as inspiration for better aircraft wings, the processing of visual information by nocturnal bees as a model for navigation in low-light conditions, and dolphins' echolocation as an example for more advanced use of ultrasound.
This focus area is the collection of research dealing with the social and technological aspects of human life, the study of our home planet and its climate, and the exploration of the Universe beyond Earth.
On the human scale, researchers analyse different types of behaviour and the underlying processes, such as, the way we read a text, how we make decisions in the grocery store, or express ourselves when we are suffering from a mental disorder.
e-Science can also be used to map archaeological excavations, to improve city maps to promote walking, and to study and predict climate change and its impact on, for example, agriculture.
Apart from our own planet, researchers are also studying the atmospheres of planets in other solar systems and the history of the Milky Way.
In this area, researchers are focusing on improving and expanding basic e-Science technologies to solve problems faster and more efficiently, regardless of the area of the application.
For example, our researchers are developing methods for distributing calculations and data to computing and storage resources in different parts of the world.
Research environments
The following links are to other websites.
Strategic research area
The e-Science conducted at Lund University is supported in particular by eSSENCE, which is a Strategic Research Area (SRA) appointed by the Swedish government.
eSSENCE brings together e-Science research at the universities in Uppsala, Lund and Umeå.
Coordinator (LU)
Melvyn B. Davies
melvyn_b [dot] davies [at] math [dot] lu [dot] se (melvyn_b[dot]davies[at]math[dot]lu[dot]se)
Associate Coordinator (LU)
Magnus Ullner
magnus [dot] ullner [at] teokem [dot] lu [dot] se (magnus[dot]ullner[at]teokem[dot]lu[dot]se)
Websites
Research database
Related researchers, projects and publications.