New Ångström inspires

The new Ångström, with its various meeting areas, art made of concrete and pendulum experiment, is intended to inspire students and researchers to meet and come up with new ideas.

The new Ångström Laboratory was offi cially opened on 13 May 2022 by Crown Princess Victoria.

ÅNGSTROM NEW INSPIRES

text ANDERS BERNDT photo MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT, ANDERS BERNDT

Alarge two-building extension to the Ångström Laboratory has just been completed, and Building 10 now serves as an entrance building to the entire new Ångström Laboratory.

The ornamentation of the new Building 10 in the Ångström Laboratory, entered through the modern concrete portals that surround the entrance doors, is dominated by two objects in the atrium in the middle of the building.

A PENDULUM IS SUSPENDED alongside the wide staircase rising from the atrium, and in another part of the atrium a block of concrete sticks up at an angle.

Johan Tysk, Vice-Rector of the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, has emphasised in various contexts during the project period and the construction period that the new Ångström is intended to strengthen the intellectual environment and encourage social encounters between students, teachers and researchers in diverse subject areas.

“I believe that these random encounters, the unplanned meetings between researchers and students, will make this a superb place for research, education and innovation. This is a building made for creativity and interdisciplinary encounters,” Tysk has said in interviews.

THE PENDULUM that oscillates back and forth alongside the staircase is a Foucault pendulum. As well as the slow pendulum motion, the pendulum rotates clockwise at floor level. The pendulum and the experiment are named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, who conducted this experiment in 1851 to prove that the Earth rotates about its own axis.

The pendulum in the Ångström Laboratory weighs 20 kilograms and hangs from a 28 metre-long piano wire suspended in the beams above the atrium. The pendulum completes one revolution at floor level in 27.7 hours. But it is not actually the pendulum that rotates, it merely swings back and forth in a constant pendulum motion. It is the Earth that rotates about the pendulum's attachment up in the beams.

THE PENDULUM was installed on the initiative of Mattias Klintenberg, Professor of Physics at Uppsala University, and was made possible by a donation from Johan Tysk.

“I have always been fascinated by Foucault's pendulum. It raises questions about how the heck everything is connected, and is an illustration of how science and technology interact. It's a magical gadget that gives us a sense of being part of something big,” says Tysk.

THE CONCRETE BLOCK rising at a slightly oblique angle from the floor in the atrium is one part of the art work IO by the artist Karl Larsson. The other part consists of a book of poetry but, at the time of writing, this has not been presented. It is the Public Art Agency that is responsible for the work of art, in cooperation with Uppsala University.

The name IO alludes to various cultural and scientific concepts, such as Jupiter's moon, Input/Output and one/zero in the binary number system. For the artist, the concept of glitch is central to the art work IO. Glitch is a computer gaming term for when the graphics do not work and the player glimpses something else. By trying to create a glitch in the architecture and through poetry, this work of art can inspire fresh analysis and descriptions of reality. ●

The pendulum A slight impetus from an electric coil mounted beneath the floor, which creates a magnetic field, prevents the pendulum from stopping. The roof suspension is designed to minimise any other motions beyond the pure pendulum motion, with the aid of friction.

The block of concrete The sculpture IO weighs 20 tonnes and was lifted into place early in the construction process by two cranes. The Ångström Laboratory

• The first part of the Ångström Laboratory was officially opened in 1997 as an extension to the old regimental premises on Polacksbacken which Uppsala University moved into in 1987.

• The Ångström Laboratory has since been extended in several stages. Construction of two new buildings began in autumn 2018 and was completed in spring 2022, with the move into Building 10.

• Building 10 contains around 23,000 square metres of teaching and research facilities, offices, reception, student services, places to meet, a restaurant, a library, a hall and a visualisation theatre.

• The whole Ångström Laboratory has around 100,000 square metres of floor space after the extension. Now that the new buildings have started to be used, the University has vacated the old regimental buildings.

• The University's buildings are usually named after a prominent scientist, but the Ångström Laboratory interestingly is named after both Anders Jonas Ångström and his son Knut Ångström. They were both professors of physics at Uppsala University in the 19th century.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES How do you get children to eat healthily? There is no one-size-fi ts-all answer.

Avoid prohibitions around food and weight

HEALTH Childhood obesity is becoming increasingly common and many parents are wrestling with the problem of how best to help their child. Paulina Nowicka, Professor of Food Studies at Uppsala University, has written a book full of useful tips.

Following 20 years of re search into childhood and adoles cent obesity, Paulina Nowicka has now published Hälsovikt för ditt barn (A Healthy Weight for your Child).

“Many parents contact me with questions about weight and they are worried. The fact is, we do have evidence-based sources, so I was keen to write a book based on current research and proven experience.”

There is no method that suits all parents, she emphasises.

“The book is not a manual; rather, it is a collection of tips that may work for your particular family. In my opinion, the best piece of advice is to begin with small steps and not to turn life upside down. Another tip is to avoid prohibitions; for example, do not ban sweets entirely, because if you do, sweets can become an obsession.”

In Sweden, between 10 and 20 per cent of children are overweight. Research shows that it is best to start early if you wish to make changes to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

PHOTO: MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT

Paulina Nowicka, Professor of Food Studies at Uppsala University.

SEK 100 million for ecology and genetics

ECOLOGY, GENETICS Entrepreneur Sverker Lerheden has decided to donate SEK 100 million to promote basic research and support young researchers in ecology and genetics. It is the largest donation that Uppsala University has received in modern times. Through the newly-formed Birgitta Sindring Scholarship Fund, scholarships will be awarded annually to “specially selected, top-performing researchers” associated with the Department of Ecology and Genetics at Uppsala University.

Sweden's fi rst Master’s in biopharmaceuticals

PHARMACY Protein-based drugs is a rapidly advancing fi eld of research. With a long half-life and targeted action in the body, they make effective treatments possible. However, creating formulations that are able to deliver the protein all the way to the target is still a scientifi c challenge. Both academia and industry face a signifi cant need for expertise and, in autumn 2022, Uppsala University is launching a two-year Master’s programme specialising in biopharmaceuticals. It will be the fi rst of its kind in Sweden and one of only a handful in Europe.

Preparing for international business

ECONOMY In autumn 2022, a completely new Master's programme will be launched in which international and European commercial law will be integrated with business economics and administration. Through studies of realistic and instructive cases, students will learn to observe the legal and business aspects of running a company as a whole.

“We believe this interdisciplinary, holistic view is necessary in an increasingly complex world, and that the programme will prepare students well for working in European and international business,” says Hajo Michael Holtz, programme coordinator for the new programme.