Dr. Olena Sevastyanova, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, has been awarded the 2025 Competence Development Award from the Gunnar Sundblad Research Foundation. She receives a grant of SEK 700,000 for her work on using lignin as a natural UV-protection ingredient in skincare products.
WWSC researchers at Linköping University have developed a fluid battery that can take on any shape! Using lignin and conjugated polymers, the researchers created a soft, stretchable battery that can be recharged and discharged more than 500 times — while maintaining performance.
Göran Sandberg has received an honorary doctorate from Kungliga Tekniska högskolan. During his time as executive board member of the Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Göran Sandberg played a key role in both the initiation of WWSC and contributed significantly to the centre’s development through his long-standing service on the WWSC Board.
June 15–18, WWSC will host the center’s first international conference, exploring the research front of new sustainable materials from wood. Over four days, leading researchers from around the world will gather in Stockholm, Sweden, to discuss the latest advancements in using wood as a sustainable resource for innovative materials.
Congratulations to the WWSC members Merima Hasani, Chalmers, Lauren McKee, KTH, and Mika Sipponen, Stockholm University, who recently got promoted!
Gabriella Mastantuoni has been awarded the 2024 prize from the International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) for her doctoral thesis ‘Engineering of lignin in wood
Professor Minna Hakkarainen, KTH, and co-applicants receive 24 MSEK for the project ”From atomistic to macroscopic understanding: unravelling lignin’s untapped potential as earth’s most abundant natural phenolic compound” from Knut and Alice Wallenberg’s foundation.
Tobias Bensefelt, KTH, has been awarded ERC Starting Grants 2024 for a project on developing adaptive separation techniques to improve the production of bio-based pharmaceuticals.
WWSC project leader Johan Larsbrink has been awarded 5-year funding for the investigation of microbial and enzymatic valorization of tree bark. While bark is a well-known material, the knowledge of how it is broken down in nature is poorly understood today.
Professor Eleni Stavrinidou at LiU received the Science, She Says! Award, an international prize established to recognize an outstanding junior female scientist who has remarkably contributed to the advancement of science and technology.
Materials from Wallenberg Wood Science Center are part of the Tekniska museet’s new exhibition the Forest, which opened May 18. “We have invited WWSC to showcase cutting-edge research to spark interest and elevate the discussion about the materials of the future”, says Jenny Attemark, curator and project manager at the museum.
Feng Gao, Professor at Linköping University and WWSC member, is appointed as a new Wallenberg Scholar. The Wallenberg Scholar program focuses on Sweden’s leading senior researchers and gives the researchers long term funding to carry out world-class research.
WWSC is a joint research center between KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and Linköping University. The base is a donation from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The Swedish industry is supporting WWSC via the platform Treesearch.
