Four young DTU researchers receive grants from the VILLUM FOUNDATION's Young Investigator Programme. Twenty-one young researchers from five Danish universities will receive a combined total of DKK 100 million. The funding will boost their research and create more jobs.
Two associate professors and two postdocs from DTU will receive a total of DKK 21.8 million from the VILLUM FOUNDATION's Young Investigator Programme. This formal recognition will be made at the VILLUM FOUNDATION's annual award of the Villum Kann Rasmussen’s Annual Award for Technical and Scientific research on Friday, 23 January 2015.
This is the fourth time that the VILLUM FOUNDATION presents large grants to young associate professors and postdocs at universities across the country to boost their research career. Twenty-one selected researchers under the age of 40 will each receive up to DKK 7 million in recognition of their contributions to the field of scientific and technical research.
The projects range from mathematics and biology to geoscience, physics and astronomy and horticultural sciences, and will be carried out at the University of Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Institute, DTU, Aarhus University, the University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University and GEUS.
Grants create jobs
Virtually all projects entail the appointment of additional researchers (postdocs and PhD graduates) to carry out the given project which typically runs over a period of 3-5 years.
The grants awarded in recent years have enabled many of the young researchers to secure permanent positions within their fields of research, to establish research groups, and to attract additional research funding from, for example, the EU.
Read more about the four young DTU researchers
Juan Maria García Lastra
Department of Energy Conversion and Storage
DTU—Technical University of Denmark
Associate Professor pool
Grant of DKK 7 million
Computer-based design of efficient materials for next-generation batteries
Electric cars become a more and more common sight on our roads and represent a less polluting alternative to petrol-powered cars. However, electric cars cannot be used efficiently over long distances or for heavy transport. This will require lighter and more powerful batteries that can be recharged quickly. In this project, we will contribute to the development of new materials for these batteries through computer simulations. The grant ensures employment of two PhD students and two postdocs.
Juan José Vegas Olmos
Department of Photonics Engineering
DTU—Technical University of Denmark
Associate Professor pool
Grant of DKK 6.8 million
Spectrum and energy-efficient signalling technologies for optical data communication (SEES)
Optical fibres carry data in the form of ultra-fast light pulses. But their capacity is limited, as pulses have a tendency to overlap during transmission. We will encode the signals based on the overlap pattern. The result is a dramatic capacity boost because the overlap no longer constitutes a limitation. This grant allows for the appointment and training of three PhD researchers and a postdoc.
Alireza Dolatshahi-Pirouz
Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
DTU—Technical University of Denmark
Postdoc pool
Grant of DKK 4.0 million
Cost-effective development of extremely flexible glass surfaces
To be competitive in future markets for mobile and portable units, it is important for electronics manufacturers to integrate slim and flexible glass surfaces in their products. The purpose of the project is to develop extremely flexible glass surfaces for use in mobile phones, tablets and portable screens by means of a new cost-efficient technology. The grant allows for the appointment of a project manager and a postdoc. New equipment for efficient material characterization and development will also be acquired.
Jonas Neergaard-Nielsen
Department of Physics
DTU—Technical University of Denmark
Postdoc pool
Grant of DKK 4 million
Segmented quantum teleportation of multi-photon states
Quantum teleportation is a process for the transfer of information which will be the backbone of future communication networks based on quantum mechanical phenomena. So far, most teleportation experiments have been carried out with individual photons (light particles). This project concerns the development of a new type of teleporter which—employing high accuracy—can transmit information contained in light packages with higher photon numbers. The grant will finance the applicant, a postdoc as well as the purchasing of equipment for the establishment of the experiment.