They won millions for bold research initiatives

For the third consecutive year, the Jubilee Fund has distributed a total of 8 million SEK to four innovative research ideas aimed at addressing current societal challenges. The researchers at Luleå University of Technology who received the funds at the final at Vetenskapens hus in Luleå are: Lina Hällström, Linn Berglund, Roberts Joffe, and Ivan Carabante.

“The win makes it possible to take the step from lab experiments to testing the technology in real lakes, and to show how green technology can restore eutrophic waters and strengthen both nature and society”, says Lina Hällström, Associate Senior Lecturer in Applied Geochemistry, and one of the winners.

Her project aims to investigate whether excess oxygen from hydrogen production can be used to improve water quality in eutrophic lakes.

Pitches during grand final

During the Jubilee Fund's grand final evening, all eight finalists pitched their ideas for a sustainable future and thus competed for millions of SEK under the leadership of the moderator, actress and lecturer Charlotte Lindmark. This year's focus was on research on "Sustainable materials and innovations for a circular bioeconomy" and involved Engineering Materials, Architecture, Environment, Chemistry, Design, Urban Development, Energy Efficiency, and Circularity.

Sustainable treatment methods for PFAS

“This funding provides crucial support to advance a new research direction within the ongoing PFAS studies at the Division of Waste Science and Technology at our University and enables collaboration with other research fields. The work supported by this funding will help us move toward more sustainable treatment methods for PFAS”, says Ivan Carabante, Associate Professor in Waste Science and Technology.

His project focuses on PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, where he aims to recycle valuable residual material from 3D printing of titanium and use it to purify water from PFAS.

Sawdust to become batteries

Linn Berglund will investigate whether sawdust can become the material of the future for medical technology and energy storage. This could be possible by converting the forest industry's residual products into nanocellulose, which could be used in everything from wound dressings to batteries.

“This project will allow for interdisciplinary research that will provide important insights into process-structure-property relationship of biomaterials. Long-term it will promote development of bio-based, functional and resource-efficient materials tailor-made for their intended application”, says Linn Berglund, Senior Lecturer in Wood and Bionanocomposites.

From basic research to innovation

Roberts Joffe's project develops bio-based and recyclable polymer composites, i.e., plastics made without fossil fuels, which can be used for vehicles, buildings and wind turbines.

“Funding for this project is crucial as it bridges the gap between basic research and industrial innovation, enabling the development and scaling up of new, sustainable composite materials with significant societal and industrial impact”, says Roberts Joffe, Professor in Polymeric Composite Materials.

Innovations for a sustainable future

The Jubilee Fund was established by Vice-Chancellor Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn when Luleå University of Technology turned fifty in 2021. She saw a need for more sophisticated solutions and innovations to enable a sustainable future.

The Jubilee Fund is funded by foundations, private individuals, companies and organisations – parties who want to open doors to ideas that can sometimes struggle to find a platform in mainstream structures and funding schemes.

The fund's current donors are: Kempestiftelserna, Gunnar and Barbro Liljedahl, Margareta Jonsson, Baltiska fonden, and Mats Wäppling.