Science Faculty Magazine 2 2014 ENGLISH

THEME: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics

They have been making trips to the Arctic for decades

SCIENCE FACULTY No 2 2014 The Faculty of Science

MAGAZINE

USING THE VESSEL AS A CLASSROOM Join the students who are spending their first term of the Bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Programme in Marine Science on their very first field excursion to Gullmarsfjorden.

EDITORIAL SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE Science Faculty Magazine is for those interested in the University of Gothenburg and in particular the work at the Faculty of Science.

EDITOR Camilla Persson Phone: +46-31-786 9869 E-mail: camilla.persson@science.gu.se

EDITORIAL STAFF Carina Eliasson Robert Karlsson Tanja Thompson

PUBLISHER

Ann-Christin Thor

We hope you will enjoy this glance into the Faculty of Science. The Science Faculty Magazine’s target group ranges from Faculty staff and alumni to business and industry, public actors and politicians with an interest in mathematics and the natural sciences.

n this issue you can read about how an understanding of molecular mechanisms in cells can explain fertility in women. The basic research being carried out shows that the life of the egg is determined by the cells surrounding it, and in the long run the research may result in alternative methods of fertility treatment. Basic research is important for the development of new knowledge, and requires long-term efforts that are not specifically focused on applicability. It is therefore pleasing when a molecular understanding of the processes can result in concrete application.

LAYOUT

Camilla Persson & Erika Hoff

COVER

Photo: Malin Arnesson

ADDRESS

Faculty Office of Science University of Gothenburg Box 460 405 30 Göteborg Sweden E-mail: info@science.gu.se

Litorapid

ONLINE MAGAZINE

The Science Faculty Magazine is also available as an online magazine at www.sciencefacultymagazine.com

THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY means, for instance,

that one can study living matter and “see” processes in cells while they are happening. It enables us to examine and try to understand the molecular processes involved in skin cancer, allergies and pharmaceutical administration, something that the research group in biomedical photonics is doing. THE AREA OF LIFE SCIENCE is in the spotlight thanks

to the transdisciplinary ’cooperation infrastructure’ that exists on Medicinareberget. The physical proximity of the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the accommodation planned for a number of disciplines at the University should give us a unique opportunity to highlight the questions raised from a molecular, human and social perspective. IN THIS edition you can also read about parallel evolu-

tion in molluscs. Research shows how species can adapt to change in their living conditions and which survival strategies exist, and this is of great significance to life on earth. One question to be asked is whether the climate changes we see today are happening far too quickly for life on earth to be able to adapt. CLIMATE CHANGES are visible in the Arctic, where the ice is melting and greenhouse gases such as carbon

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Radio P3’s weekly report from space

One question to be asked is whether the climate changes we see today are happening far too quickly for life on earth to be able to adapt. dioxide and methane are being released. This summer’s expedition can help us understand how this in turn affects the Earth’s climate. We can also read about the geologist’s perspective on ice, and this takes us back to the last ice age. An understanding of the various events in the Earth’s history is needed if we are be able to make any observations about its future.

Polar researchers on an expedition to the Arctic

THE STUDENTS OF TOMORROW will be

inspired by play activity to focus on physical phenomena, and this teaching is being done on the spot in the playground. It is important that science becomes a natural part of the child’s and young person’s everyday lives. Sweden needs more scientists if it is to be competitive in the future as well.

Preschool teachers are learning physics in the playground

Welcome to the world of science.

Elisabet Ahlberg, Dean

Ola Wetterberg, Pro-Dean

Molluscs are helping us understand how species develop

RESEARCH

She has followed the tracks left by the ice in her research The tracks left by the ice sheet led Anne Hormes on a scientific journey that took her from her home in western Germany all the way up to Svalbard. Today she is a researcher, and the ice has been a central part of her research.

he contents of her tea cup spill over when she bangs the cup down on the desk to illustrate the way the ice sheet formed a barrier against rainfall. The cup is the ice sheet. The desk is Svalbard. “The ice sheet on Svalbard and the Barents Sea were 1-3 kilometres thick and formed a barrier preventing rainfall finding its way round it. That’s why there was no snow on the other side of the ice,” she says. We turn the clock back a bit, around 200,000 years. It is the ice age, and in northern Europe the Scandinavian ice sheet extends as far south as present-day Germany. The ice ends where the little town of Grefrath would be built many years later, a few miles outside Düsseldorf. This was where Anne Hormes grew up, and the tracks left by the ice sheet in this area set her on course to study science. “I have always been fascinated by the development of the landscape. Why a mountain lies where it lies, how different factors interact – that sort of thing interests me.” She defended her thesis in Quaternary Geology at the University of Bern on glacial

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variations in the Alps. Her career as a researcher then led her to places that included Italy and Uppsala before she ended up in Svalbard in 2003. What had originally been intended as quite a short stay on this Norwegian island group in the Arctic proved to be nine years. The aim of her research has been to acquire a better understanding of the ice sheet that lay in the region around the Barents Sea during the last ice age and which climate changes have affected it. “The Barents Sea has been covered in ice on several occasions. The sea is not so deep here; it’s normally 200-250 metres deep, and its bed could have been frozen in places. The land-sea distribution in the Barents Sea area can be compared to the land-sea distribution lying under West Antarctica. If we could understand which climate processes have influenced the melting of the Barents Sea, this could help us improve our models for finding out what might happen in West Antarctica in the future.” Anne Hormes carries out her research

using dating methods in paleoclimatology,

ANNE HORMES Occupation: Quaternary geologist, researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences, the scientific leader of the international research group PAGES Arctic 2k. Age: 44 years Hobbies: Many outdoor activities, most especially rock climbing. She has a dog called Buffy (“as in ’The Vampire Slayer’, but I wasn’t the one to give her that name!”)

the study of the the Earth’s climate during earlier periods in its development. One method she highlights in particular is cosmogenic dating. “It’s fantastic! It’s based on particles from outer space entering the atmosphere, hitting rock on the Earth’s surface and turning into isotopes such as beryllium or aluminium. When we take samples from erratic boulders we are, for instance, able with the help of these particles to date how long they have been free of ice and thus determine when the ice began to melt.” In May 2014, Anne Hormes moved to Gothenburg and the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. She is co-leader of the international research group PAGES Arctic 2k, which gathers data on climate variations during the past 2,000 years in the Arctic. The aim is to understand the Earth’s past in order to be able to assess its future. So does she miss everyday life on Svalbard? The island group is very isolated, of course, and also a good summer’s day on Svalbard

“If we could understand which climate processes have influenced the melting of the Barents Sea, this could help us improve our models for finding out what might happen in West Antarctica in the future.”

is no more than an ordinary November day in Gothenburg. However, for an outdoor person such as Anne Hormes, the Arctic landscape offers something with which other places cannot compete. “It’s never a problem getting field assistants to come with me when I go backcountry skiing to collect rocks,” she says with a laugh. And there are few things that beat a dog sled ride under the Northern lights on a winter’s night!” Text Robert Karlsson photo Johan Wingborg

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The work of development from molecule to man and society In August 2013, the City of Gothenburg began putting in place a plan for the further development of Medicinareberget. Parallel to this, the University of Gothenburg launched a project to produce a business idea regarding the University’s future on and around the hill.

he idea is to create a vibrant urban district around Medicinareberget. As far as the University of Gothenburg is concerned, this is intended to facilitate cooperation primarily between the Faculty of Science, the Sahlgrenska Academy, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Gothenburg University Library and the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, although other faculties might also be involved in the longer term. The City of Gothenburg’s aim is to create a mixed city providing accommodation, commerce and services. This is how Elisabet Ahlberg, the Dean of the Faculty of Science, views the development: “Medicinareberget has great potential, and having the opportunity to take part and develop the area around the hill is incredibly exciting. The aim of the development is to pool resources in terms of education, research and cooperation on issues that are related to life science in a broad sense and to

illustrate these from the perspectives of different disciplines. In this way, Medicinareberget can become an important hub for solving the challenges that will face society.” The Faculty of Science is currently situated in four locations in Gothenburg. And that is besides the activities that the Faculty is in charge of in three other places in Region Västra Götaland. What do you think it will look like in the future? “The development project is still in its early stages, but the Faculty has made it clear that it wants a presence on Medicinareberget representing that part of the Faculty that is focused on life science and closely related areas. The project will run until the summer of 2017, and this means that at the present time we are open to ideas for different types of local alternatives that benefit our work in the long term,” Elisabet Ahlberg says. What does the development mean for Gothenburg as a university city? “The development means, for instance, that a university walkway will be created that links the different parts of the the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers.” The gap between Medicinareberget and Chalmers may be filled by the establishment of businesses that are of importance to both the universities, and this would then form an important part of the further development of Gothenburg as a university city. Communications that are good and clearly marked could mean the promoting of the walkway and therefore also the Univeristy’s presence in the city. The City of Gothenburg is expected to reach a decision on the detailed plan for this area during the autumn. Text Carina Elmäng & Tanja Thompson

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Discovery of the biological clock that governs fertility Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have identified the biological clock that governs female fertility. This discovery could be of great significance for future medical treatment of female infertility.

here are women who can give birth to healthy children at 50 years of age, while there are those who are unable to become pregnant when they are 30. The question is, why is this so? Part of the answer is that a woman only has a given number of eggs, and the time when these run out determines the time when the woman enters the menopause. Up to now, we have known very little about the biological clock that governs female fertility, but a new study at the University of Gothenburg is pointing to a solution of the mystery. In just the same way that newborn babies are put into the care of nurses, human eggs need support and nourishment from the somatic cells surrounding them. This latest discovery by Professor Kui Liu’s research group shows that a signalling pathway in these somatic cells plays a Kui Liu

key role in controlling the survival of these immature eggs. The mTOR signalling pathway in the somatic cells, which are also known as primordial follicle granulosa cells (pfGCs), is necessary for activating the expression of the kit ligand growth factor. Kit ligand in turn then binds to the kit receptors of the eggs and thus determines the eggs’ fate. “This regulation and control as exercised by the somatic cells over the eggs determines when the eggs start to grow and when they die, and thus act as a biological clock that determines the start of the menopause,” says Professor Kui Liu, who is affiliated with the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology. The discovery has been published in ’Current Biology’. The hope now is to be able to help infertile women whose eggs are unable to mature. Our increased knowledge about the molecular mechanisms that govern the eggs’ development means there is greater hope that these discoveries can be applied to the clinical treatment of female infertility in the years to come. This is something that Professor Liu’s group will be addressing in the future. “I believe that in only 5-10 years’ time this new knowledge can be applied to clinical treatment for infertile women,” Kui Liu says. Text Carina Eliasson science faculty magazine december 2014

Reporting from SPACE Serial-killer galaxies, space probes hiding from comets, and molecules capable of creating life in space. Each week the astronomist Maria Sundin reports on news from space on the Radio Sweden channel P3. And naturally she talks about the weather.

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ou can’t have a news report from space without the weather! “Well, Rasmus, it seems spring is on its way on Titan; I had already reported on that last spring. But spring is still on its way on Titan since it takes 17 years – all the seasons of the year there are really long! In a studio in the Radio Sweden building on Lindholmen in Gothenburg, the programme presenter Rasmus Persson and the physicist Maria Sundin are adding the last-minute touches to that week’s edition of ’Rapport från rymden’ (Report from Space). This feature will be broadcast as usual on the P3 programme ’Christer och Morgan rapporterar (Christer and Morgan Reporting). “When we started we wanted this to be a current affairs programme about issues that were not being covered in the daily news programmes,” Rasmus Persson says, after the programme has been recorded. “When I was asked if I wanted to take part and talk about space, I set it up as a news report,” Maria Sundin says. “The solar system was domestic news, the galaxy foreign news – and then there was space weather. Since then the space weather report has remained in place. And naturally the subject of weather gets everyone going!

As of March 2014, Maria Sundin, who is a

theoretical physicist, has broadcast her space weather reports on a weekly basis. Broadcasting information on research is nothing new to her – her work has included chairing discussions at the Book Fair and taking part in various school projects. Over the past few years, her expertise has meant that she has been a regular guest on several science programmes on the radio, primarily on the Radio Sweden channels P1 and P4, and she talks about what is happening in space. The choice of subject is made jointly by Maria Sundin and Rasmus Persson. On Monday Maria looks at the news stories on space that have come in, and she emails suggestions to Rasmus. After that they choose

a subject, something that is not always that easy. “Some items are obvious, such as when a story about gravitational waves made the news last spring, but on other occasions it can be harder,” Maria Sundin says. “And then you’ve got to pitch it right, something that Rasmus does really well – he introduces an element of humour.” “Naturally I don’t always know about a subject that Maria suggests, so I then have to check up on it. That means I learn a great deal,” Rasmus Persson says. He adds that the programme has a couple of

hundred thousand listeners. The subjects that prompt most reactions from listeners are the sort that affect us – human beings – on subjects such as colonisation, threats to the human race, and whether there is life out in space. “Saying exactly what kinds of people listen in is of course difficult, but from the reactions we get I have a feeling that many of them live in rural areas. They’re maybe listening at the same time that they’re handling machinery out in the forest,” Rasmus Persson says. “It’s important to get our message out there. I’ve always been fascinated by space, and I really want to pass on knowledge about it and stimulate interest in science. But if we discover that there is life out there in space, we’ll have to broadcast live,” Maria Sundin says with a laugh. Text Robert Karlsson Photo Malin Arnesson

REPORTING FROM SPACE As of the spring of 2014, Maria Sundin’s report, called ’Rapport från rymden’ (Report from Space), has been broadcast on the Radio Sweden channel as a feature of the programme ’Christer and Morgan rapporterar’ (Christer and Morgan Reporting), whose presenter is Rasmus Persson. u Listen to the programmes (in Swedish): science.gu.se/samverkan/popularvetenskap

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NEWS

Ten years of environmental certification This year marks the ten years since the University of Gothenburg became the first university in Sweden to receive environmental certification. This is being celebrated in the form of climate seminars and film performances.

lot has happened in ten years. The biggest change has been the way the University has handled chemicals and carried out laboratory work. In 2004, the University had no system of chemicals management in place, and no laboratory directors had been appointed at any of the laboratories. Ullika Lundgren, environmental coordinator at the Faculty of Science, explains: “There were quite simply no coordinated routines for the management of chemicals and laboratory work. For many years we were expected to carry out our own tests on the wastewater from our laboratories. In step with the University’s introduction of the environmental management system, the Environmental Administration felt that we could concentrate on preventive measures instead of testing. Today there is a regulation stating that public authorities must have an environmental management system.

BEING AN environmentally certified organisa-

tion means carrying out an environmental audit every year. Over a three-year period the Faculty is audited as a whole. The audit report notes deviations that need to be addres-

sed. This can be anything from our failure to observe environmental legislation to students not receiving enough information on environmental consideration. “During these past ten years we have had 184 deviations within the Faculty of Science, and all of these have been addressed, which means that we are improving the whole time.” TRAVEL IS another area being actively addressed by the University. Travel to and from work and business trips have been mapped, travel policies established and travelfree meetings developed. Today there are video conferencing facilities on many of the University’s premises. In 2010, the University also adopted a climate strategy. Just in time for its tenth anniversary, the University of Gothenburg was awarded the Excellence in Campus 2014 prize for its strategy. The prize is awarded by the International Sustainable Campus Network, which is a network of high-ranking universities such as Harvard and MIT. THE ANNIVERSARY is being celebrated throughout the autumn in the form of several climate seminars and film performances. In October, a festive event was held too which was open to all employees and at which the Vice-Chancellor gave a speech. “Tjärnö Field Station outside Strömstad was one of the first university bodies to be given certification. We had a sneak start to the celebrations in the form of presenting the results of ten years’ environmental work while at the same time enjoying some cake,” Ullika Lundgren says. Text Tanja Thompson

Joining students on an excursion The sea is best studied beside the sea â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and at sea. Join thirteen students on a marine programme out in Gullmarsfjorden in BohuslĂ¤n when they go off on their first field excursion.

Johanna Linders Nilsson, a doctoral student, instructs students Eleonora Van Sitteren, Joakim Nilsson and Emil Ren in how to use the CTD.

he thick early morning mist is about to dissolve into a somewhat thinner morning haze, but the top of the church tower in Lysekil is still hidden from view. It is just after nine o’clock on a Wednesday morning in late November. The research vessel Skagerak struggles out of Lysekil’s harbour with its sights set for Alsbäck, whose depth of 118 metres makes it the deepest point in Gullmarsfjorden. Professor Tiselius is a Professor of Marine Ecology and is responsible for the field excursion element in the course on Marine Studies, Tools and Methods. “Students should be able to carry out dif-

The water collected by the CTD is analysed as part of the ’Ch there are in the water – on this occasion a sea gooseberry ha

ferent kinds of measurements on six locations in the Fjord,” he says, and points out where the six locations lie on a map of the Fjord. “We go on this excursion once a year with the students.” Originally the focus was on oceanography, but now elements are included that involve biology and chemistry. The thirteen students that are on board

the Skagerak spend their first term doing the Bachelor programme on Marine Studies. They are divided into three different groups that take turns at carrying out work at the stations known as ’Hydrography’, ’Chemistry’ and ’Plankton’, and during the

hemistry’ element, while the ’Plankton’ element includes seeing which species as been found.

day they carry out different kinds of tests on the water in the Fjord. Malin Olofsson, a doctoral student, is on the excursion and is head of the ’Plankton’ station. With the help of two different nets she and the students catch species at depths of 20-50 metres and also in the 118 metre deep waters of Alsbäck. “The aim is to enable the students to measure and compare the number of species at these different points,” she says. “They will obtain a measurement of the biomass; that is to say, the number of species.” Together with the tests done in other groups, they will then be able to create a complete profile of the Fjord. The other two groups use the CTD tool

for testing the water. Attached to the CTD are eight-metre long bottles that collect the water at different depths and also instruments that collect information on properties such as salinity, acidity and temperature. After that, the students sit down to work in the various lab spaces on board the Skagerak, feverishly checking the measurement results and analysing the samples of water collected. Elenora Van Sitteren, one of the students, rounds off the day at the ’Chemistry’ station. She thinks the day was interesting, albeit really cold, and what interested her most was the CTD element. Teacher Peter Tiselius and students Louisa Borthwick and Tilde Rylander examine which species are contained in the samples from one of the net catches. A single sample may, for instance, contain over 100 comb jellies.

Two nets with different fine-mesh densities are used for catching species that hide at different depths in the waters of Gullmarsfjorden.

“There is a great difference between reading up on subjects and doing the practical elements. You get a totally different feel for the subject,” she says. “Such as when you use chemistry; you can see how oxygen is effected in the water or see how large the quantities of phosphates are.” Shortly after 4 pm, the Skagerak reaches the final measuring points outside the entrance to Gullmarsfjorden – the area known as ’the threshold’. Once the measurements are done, the vessel sets sail for the Lovén Centre in Kristineberg south of Gullmarsfjorden, where the students can spend the night on board the Skagerak. Lysekil can be seen to the north. The fog has not cleared from the church tower. Text Robert Karlsson photo Malin Arnesson

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SOCIETY

Cultivation for research and the public Education, research, play and recreation are all on offer here. There’s a place for everyone in the park that the University of Gothenburg has created together with Mariestad Municipality. “Welcome to the University Park,” says Evalena Öman, and she opens the gate to the garden centre.

e walk slowly along the gravel path that meanders between cultivation beds brilliant with colour and large flowerpots. Students from the Department of Conservation have nurtured and planted the seedlings themselves. “We now have the opportunity to work on the basis of an associated management plan and test our craft skills in a natural way. This is where we can test everything we’ve

Evalena Öman in the new University Park in Mariestad.

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learnt during the year in the form of practical work,” says Evalena Öman, a teacher at the Department of Conservation. The flowerpots are one metre high. One of them is filled with busy lizzies, begonias and dahlias. Another has hops winding round creeping jenny and purple sage. The students have worked in groups of three on the basis of different colour themes. “It is first-year students who have worked on combining shape and colour in a harmonious way,” says Evalena Öman. The University Park in Mariestad has something to offer for everyone. With its newly built garden centre, walled greenhouse, picnic park and eight garden rooms, it appeals to a broad public. Everywhere is a riot of colour. In one flower bed yellow Rudbeckia and sunflowers jostle for position with dahlias in hues of red. Nearby are utility plants bursting with health. There is a faint smell of spices in the air, a butterfly flits by, and in the distance is the sound of babbling from the Tidan River. “It’s wonderful to have this as one’s work,” Linda Hallström says. She pushes

aside a few leaves and shows how the brussels sprouts are growing in tight bunches in one of the cultivation beds. Linda is studying a course on crafts that

specialises in gardening. During the summer she, together with several other students, has been looking after the park’s plants. It was hot in June and July, and much of the time was spent on watering. Later on it was time for weeding and harvesting. “The brassicas are often affected by pests, so they have needed extra attention. I love utility plants of course, and they’re beautiful too. Look at the kale here, it’s fantastic! The sweetcorn is looking grand and I love purple cabbage. It’s fantastic to work here, and we get such positive feedback from the visitors. It’s almost as though we’ve given birth to the plants ourselves,” Linda says with a laugh. The University Park is intended to serve

as a meeting place for students, teachers, researchers, Mariestad residents and tourists. Teachers and researchers at the Department of Conservation in Mariestad see the Park

as a major asset in their work. The Park is intended for people of all ages, including the very young. The preschool lying next to the Park has therefore got its own cultivation plots. “Everyone should be made to feel welcome here. For instance, the apple trees in the planned apple grove will be pruned so that children can climb on them,” says Evalena Öman. One of the eight different rooms in the Park is the Marieholm Residence on the shores of Lake Vänern. The design of the garden is the result of a collaboration between the conservationists and the National Property Board of Sweden. “We have redesigned the beds so that the layout is reminiscent of garden design at the end of the 19th century. The students sowed the flowers and utility plants directly in the beds at the beginning of the summer, and the result is this vivid sea of flowers,” says Evalena Öman. Text Carina Eliasson PHoto johan wingborg

science faculty magazine december 2014

They have the Arctic The height of the Swedish summer saw the start of the Arctic polar expedition SWERUS-C3. On board the icebreaker Oden were two seasoned Arctic researchers from the University of Gothenburg. In some ways this was a voyage they had made many times before, but in other ways it was extremely different. “Well, now I’m on my thirteenth and last research expedition to this fantastic environment. However, the environment is different to what it was on my first expedition. I have seen clearly how the conditions of the ice have changed.” Leif Anderson, 6 July 2014, Travelogue 1 In 1980, Leif Anderson, a Professor in Marine Chemistry, made his first polar expedition to the Arctic Ocean. At that time there was plenty of ice that was many metres thick which had been built up over the course of several winters. It looks different today. The areas that had previously been covered in ice are now open sea. “These days you’ll find the ice that is several years old mainly to the north of Greenland. This is a sign that climate change is happening,” Leif Anderson says. “We’ve passed the point of thinking that this would be something to worry about in the future – the reality has caught up with us now.” The aim of the SWERUS-C3 expedition was to study the way the changes in ice conditions have affected the conversion of organic material into carbon dioxide and the transport of methane and carbon dioxide from the sediment to seawater and then the atmosphere. IT IS NOT ONLY the ice conditions that

have changed during the years that have passed since Leif Anderson’s first expedition. Today there are labora16

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been tracking ice for decades

tories, measuring equipment permanently in place and winches of different sizes for sample taking that did not exist 34 years ago. This means significantly improved working conditions on board and the right conditions for modern research. Communication with the outside world is also different. “In the past, the only possible way to make contact with the outside world was to communicate via long wave radio.” Now we can call home via satellite telephone and send and receive emails. “A large part of SWERUS’ objective is to map the methane gas deposits and flow from the bottom sediment. The area we’re starting at is familiar to us from past visits, and we know that large amounts of methane bubble up here from the seabed.” Göran Björk, 10 July 2014, Travelogue 2

GÖRAN BJÖRK IS a Professor of Oceano-

graphy and has eight polar expeditions behind him. On the SWERUS-C3 expedition, he headed a group of four researchers who studied the way ocean circulation is governed by the bottom topography and the confluence between shelf sea and deep ocean. The changes in the Arctic landscape opened up completely new opportunities for them. “The ice cap is giving way to sea over the Lomonosov Ridge and is forming a large open bay,” he says. “We were able to map the underwater ridge for the very first time, because that area had previously been covered in ice. Before that we hardly knew what the seabed looked like there.” Göran Björk’s research is concerned with measuring salinity, temperature and chemical data to map the large-scale ocean circulation in the Arctic. He is especially interested in the >>

SWERUS-C3 Expedition on the icebreaker Oden, from Tromsö via the Arctic Ocean to Alaska and back during July-October 2014. 74 researchers took part. The objectives were to study the links between climate, cryosphere (frozen areas such as ice, snow and permafrost), the conversion of

carbon and the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. u You will find further information on SWERUS-C3 and all the Travelogues on: science.gu.se/expedition/arktis (in Swedish)

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confluence at the point where shelf meets deep ocean and in the way deep-sea ridges affect the circulation. “There are interesting things now happening in chemistry. Oxygen concentration levels begin to fall near the seabed, a clear signal that organic material is being broken down. This also means that carbon dioxide concentration levels are rising.” Leif Anderson, 28 July 2014 DURING THE SUMMER when phytoplankton flourish, the sea usually undersaturated in carbon dioxide. Research shows that the reason that the sea is now becoming saturated in carbon dioxide is presumably the input of organic material from land that had previously been trapped by the permafrost. When the permafrost thaws, the material is carried into floodwaters and the sea, where it is broken down by micro-organisms and reinforces the greenhouse effect. “We observed this during an expedition to the same sea in 2008, but that was in areas closer to land than where we’ve been this time,” Leif Anderson says. “Coastal erosion has consequences for people living in those areas, but the increasing leakage of carbon dioxide affects us too since it’s connected to the global climate system.” LEIF ANDERSON has carried out his last

polar expedition. Göran Björk is less certain on this point. “The last few times I’ve said ’never again’ after every expedition, but we’ll have to see,” he says with a brief smile. Text Robert Karlsson PHoto Leif Anderson

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Learning physics in the playground The Plikta playground at Slottskogen in Gothenburg is a popular daytime visit for both pre-schools and primary schools. And that’s the case on this particular morning. However, there was one group that stood out a bit from the rest: it was the start of a course in Science and Technology for preschools.

he course is being offered by the Department of Physics and is a part of the ’Preschool Initiative; that is to say, further training for educationalists working at preschool level. The teacher on this particular day was Ann-Marie Pendrill, a Professor in Physics. “We show them simple physical phenomena, and there are many of these in a

playground. The playground is a natural part of the preschool’s teaching environment, so we try to use aids that you normally find in a preschool such as swings and slides.” Preschool teachers were placed in groups to have a go at everything from swinging in tandem with an empty swing or rolling marbles of different materials and sizes either from a height or down a slide, to see which ones came first. They then discussed as a group what had happened and what mattered – or didn’t matter. “There are quite a few things that come as a surprise, and the reality doesn’t always match their expectations. “The idea is that they become equipped to involve themselves in the children’s play and encourage them to think about physical phenomena and experiment further, given that they are outdoors anyway and exploring things,” Ann-Marie Pendrill says. This is far from the first time that Ann-

Marie Pendrill has made use of everyday objects to explain physics. She has, for instance, tested the role of physics by using the attractions at Liseberg Amusement Park together with both teachers and school classes, and has been involved in exploring dif-

ferent activities for schools and teachers over a long time. Today she divides her working time between the University of Gothenburg and Lund University, where she is a representative for the National Resource Centre for Physics Education. “Force and motion are often regarded as difficult areas, but when force has an influence one’s own body it’s no longer something abstract.” The idea that mass does not affect motion in many different situations is surprising, and this discovery can fascinate both children and adults at the same time that it provides an illustration of the equivalence principle, a fundamental principle in physics. Text Camilla Persson photo Johan Wingborg

THE PRESCHOOL INITIATIVE The Preschool Initiative is aimed at preschool teachers, staff employed in preschools and preschool heads who wish to improve their skills and thereby help their preschool to achieve its goals. u The National Resource Centre for Physics Education: fysik.org och playground physics: physics.gu.se/liseberg

science faculty magazine december 2014

The beach mollusc is in the process of splitting into two species, and these differ in terms of not only behaviour but also personality. The crab variety shown in the picture is more shy than the wave variety.

THE SHY NATURE OF MOLLUSCS IS HEREDITARY What do sandy beach molluscs from Bohuslän, fish in volcanic lakes and stick insects have in common? According to Kerstin Johannesson, they help researchers to understand how different species develop.

ast summer we collected 2,400 molluscs from islands off the Bohuslän coast,” says Kerstin Johannesson, Professor in Marine Ecology, “and in each individual case we took precise measurements of the environment they were found in. We then mapped every possible characteristic they had, from shell thickness to the degree of shyness they displayed, and we are now analysing tens of thousands of their genes.” The molluscs came from different beach environments and have completely different characteristics. The aim is to understand how species change as they evolve and how they adapt to different habitats. Repeating this mapping process for several different beaches makes it possible to understand which genes are involved and to what extent natural selection and circumstance determine their evolution.

science faculty magazine december 2014

“The species is dividing itself into two new ones: one that is adapted to a strong wave environment and the other to become more crab-like. And now with the help of advanced genetic analysis we can find out what distinguishes these two types and understand how and why a species barrier is being erected. Ever since Darwin presented his theory of evolution, species development has been a mystery, but today we have methods for solving the riddle. And research in species development is taking place as regards a number of other species, including stick insects and cichlids in volcanic lakes.” In the past it was thought that a further

barrier was needed in order for a species to split into two, but no such barrier exists between the different varieties of molluscs. Their adaptation to different beach habitats is sufficient for them to be so different that they almost stop mating with each other. The crab variety is large in size and has a thick shell that can fend off attacks from crabs on beaches that have dense crab populations, while the wave variety is small and has a large foot so as to avoid being washed away on

NEWS

beaches exposed to waves. “In many cases species development takes hundreds of thousands of years, but these two types of molluscs have developed over a period of a matter of thousands of years since the land rise raised the islands they inhabit out of the sea. To establish whether these types of molluscs had evolved in isolation on each island, we carried out a test whose results were published last spring, and it is the first time that anyone has been able to demonstrate a case of parallel evolution, something that we suspect occurs in many different organisms.” Now Kerstin Johannes-

son and her colleagues hope that their detailed genetic mapping will also provide answers as to how genes determine different characteristics. How, for example, is mollusc behaviour coded? The personality of each mollusc is established by carrying out a shyness test. “The wave variety comes out of its shell almost as soon as it’s disappeared inside it in fright, while the crab variety can wait a long time before coming back out. The less shy behaviour is part of the mollusc’s adaptation to cling to slippery rocks, and the other is to protect itself against crabs. And these characteristics are hereditary – shy molluscs produce shy offspring.” Text Robert Karlsson PHoto Patrik larsson

New research vessel begins to take shape At the end of last year, the University of Gothenburg ordered a new research vessel. Now, one year on, the vessel is beginning to take shape in the Gdynia shipyard in Poland. In a little under one year - that is to say, in the autumn of 2015 - the research vessel is expected to be ready.

t was at the start of September this year that the first steel plate was cut. The process is called steel-cutting, and it means that the vessel is complete in terms of construction. The first steel plates cut were 8 millimetres thick and approximately 20 square metres in size, and are to be placed on the bottom in the fore part of the ship. “The steel-cutting was a milestone in the construction process. It is proof that we have now begun to construct the vessel and that we have working designs that have been approved,” says project manager Anders Backman of the University of Gothenburg. The next milestone is the laying of the keel, which is a legacy of the traditional form of shipbuilding. “These days one can construct vessels with great precision, and therefore they are built in sections that can then be joined together to form a complete vessel.” Despite this, the laying of the keel still has great significance. The date for laying the keel is essential for knowing which legislation applies to the ready-built vessel. The last milestone before the vessel is ready is its launching. It will be launched and towed to a fitting-out dock where most of the assembly is then done. On delivery, it will have the best available technology

and be one of the most modern of its kind in Europe. “The vessel will, for instance, have enough capacity to make a variety of measurements at the same time that it will store data on board. One result of this is that the researchers will be given fresh opportunities to tailor the different measurements they want to carry out,” Anders Backman says. This is what the vessel will look like >>> science faculty magazine december 2014

THE AFTERDECK is a large working area with room for heavy equipment for various research assignments. A container with a specialist laboratory and direct access to the large hangar can also be positioned on the deck.

THE vESSElâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S STARBOARD SI

has a hatch leading into the hangar, where overhead crane with a winch can be used to l and retrieve heavy instruments. To the left is a ro sampler, consisting of a large number of bottles th be opened and closed from the vessel above. Pressu temperature and salinity are communicated via a cable researchers, who can then fill the bottles at depths of in to them. The net to the right is a fine-meshed bag for co plankton or other biological materials.

THE InSTRuMEnTET above is an ROV (remotely

operated vehicle), which can operate underwater at depths beyond reach of ordinary divers. The ROV is equipped with a camera and an underwater positioning system to communicate its precise location. On board, the researchers control the ROV via a monitor. A manipulator and sampling bottles are used to take samples.

science faculty magazine december 2014

AT THE TOP OF THE MAST there are

instruments for taking atmospheric measurements. There is a weather station on board, and measurements such as air temperature are taken continuously. All values are transmitted to land via the masthead antenna.

IDE

an launch rosette hat can ure, e to the nterest ollecting

s h

R/V Skagerak R/V stands for Research Vessel. The R/V Skagerak opens up brand new areas for marine research at the University of Gothenburg. The permanent crew consists of 2 x 5 crew members, and the vessel can accommodate up to 16 researchers for longer voyages. The R/V Skagerak is 45.5 metres long and 11 metres wide. In addition to research, the vessel is also intended for teaching. It can carry larger groups for short day trips.

On THE BOTTOM OF THE vESSEl

is a sophisticated echo sounder which provides high resolution information about the appearance and nature of the seabed. There is also a penetration echo sounder that penetrates down into the seabed sediment. Illustration: Ulf Sveningson science faculty magazine december 2014

LESS COLLABORATION AFFECTS TEACHING At the same time that the effects of climate change, environmental toxins and problems relating to energy supply are being reported daily, new research shows that the conditions for enabling teachers to address these interdisciplinary issues have become worse. The study shows that teachers in science have high ambitions but are being curtailed in their aim to address sustainable development. For seven years, Ingela Bursjöö, a teacher and researcher at the Department of Physics has gathered data from teachers and trainee teachers in Western Sweden on the way they approach the task of teaching sustainable development.

New method increases our understanding of the immune system When the immune system does not function the way it should, this can give rise to diseases such as asthma, diabetes, leukaemia and cancer. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have now found a new method for studying the specific immune system that reacts to certain xenobiotics. The new method means that researchers can produce the actual protein in only a couple of hours compared to the number of days it takes to produce the protein with the aid of bacteria. Linnéa Isaksson at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology has described this method in her doctoral thesis.

QUALITY CONTROL OF PROTEINS CRUCIAL FOR AGEING David Öling at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology has identified in his doctoral thesis an enzyme that is crucial for the life span of cells – a discovery that could in the long run have an impact on age-related diseases. Ageing is characterised by parts of the cell being damaged. This applies to both single yeast cells such as those in human cells. The damaged cell components may be building blocks in cells such as proteins and DNA.

science faculty magazine december 2014

illustration: Han Remaut, VIB/VUB, 2014

New findings on the survival strategies of bacteria published in Nature For the first time, researchers have acquired a detailed three-dimensional picture of the transport protein in bacteria for what are known as curli – hair-like structures that mean bacteria can adhere to each other and form biofilm. The study is published in the scientific journal Nature. Parveen Goyal, a researcher at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, is one of the authors.

On the next few pages, a group of Gothenburg scientists present this year’s Nobel Prize Laureates in Chemistry and Physics. Editor: Ulf Persson

Professor of Mathematics, Department of Mathematical Sciences

NOBEL PRIZES 2014 IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry ”for discoveries that have enabled optical microscopy to become nanoscopy” naked eye. However, it was The interplay of fluorescent soon realised that there was molecules and smart techa clear limit to the detecting nology has meant that these of small details. In 1873, researchers have Ernst Abbe formumade it poslated an equation sible, with that set this the help of limit. It related optical miresolution to croscopy, the wavelength to study of the light living used. When matter and visible light is cells using a used, the smallest high resolution details resolvable are that in the past © ® Nobelstiftelsen 0.2 micrometres apart. For had only been possible using over 120 years, this equaelectron microscopy. tion has been regarded as a At the time that optical truth set in stone, but this microscopy was developed, year’s Nobel Prize winners it gave humanity the opin Chemistry have succeeded portunity for the first time in breaking this law with the to gain an insight into the aid of fluorescent molecules building blocks that make and smart technology. up our world but are too small for us to see with the

science faculty magazine december 2014

NOBEL PRIZES 2014 IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS ant

hair

1 mm

ABBE’S DIFFRACTION LIMIT (0.2 µm)

mammalian cell

100µm

bacterium

10µm

mitochondrion

1µm

virus

protein

100 nm

10 nm

small molecule

1nm

Illustration: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The object to the right of the line of dashes is too small to detect using conventional optical microscopy. THIS YEAR´S NOBEL prize in

Chemistry has been awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner for their work in circumventing this optical limit. There are two principles developed in parallel that have earned the award. Stefan Hell is being awarded for the discovery of the principle of STED (stimulated emission depletion). Hell presented STED for the first time in the year 2000. The technology is based on so-called laser scanning fluorescence microscopy whereby a laser beam is used in a microscope to scan the sample that will gradually build up an image. The STED process involves exciting fluoropho-

res in the sample by scanning them by the laser beam, while a second ring-shaped laser beam is used to stimulate the emission of – that is to say, to extinguish – much of the fluorescence apart from an extremely small area. The extinguished fluorophores do not serve to create the image; only the light from the defined area is registered. Changing the intensity of the ring-shaped laser can control the size of the defined area, thus producing nano-sized resolution. Scanning the sample means that the image is built up nanometre by nanometre. In this way, an image with higher resolution than that foreseen by Abbe can be constructed. THE OTHER principle of

nanoscopy is based on the

possibility of detecting individual fluorophores. The foundations for this were laid by William Moerner in 1989, when he was the first researcher in the world to demonstrate light absorption from individual molecules. Moerner›s continued research also showed that fluorescence from a variant of fluorescent protein known as GFP (green fluorescent protein) can be switched on and off. Inspired by Moerner›s research, Eric Betzig developed a technology known as PALM (photoactivated localisation microscopy). PALM is based on so-called photoactivated localisation miscroscopy. By allowing only a few interspersed fluorescent molecules to be activated by a light pulse,

The principle of STED-microscopy STED-microscopy

Regular optical microscope

Exciting laser beam Exciting laser beam

Illustration: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Quenching laser beam

The principle of STED, based on laser scanning microscopy and the principle of extinction by way of stimulated emission.

The principle of single-molecule microscopy

The distance between each protein > 0.2 µm

NOBEL PRIZES 2014 IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

Microscope

The principle of PALM, whereby the localisation of individual fluorophores is registered on a one by one basis. High-resolution image Single fluorescent protein Illustration: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

these can be registered one by one. However, instead of imaging the fluorescence, the positions of the fluorophores can be determined with a high degree of accuracy. Repeating this process a number of times and lighting up different molecules by building up the image layer upon layer can produce a combined high-resolution image. PALM was demonstrated by Betzig for the first time in 2006. ALTHOUGH the

breakthroughs in this field are relatively new, a number of variants and similar technologies have already been developed. The three Prize winners are also still active as researchers. Hell, for his part, has applied STED in the study of living nerve cells so as to understand better the synapses of the brain. Moerner has studied the proteins involved in Huntington›s Disease, while Betzig has examined the way cells divide themselves in the embryo, to give just a few examples.

FURTHER RESEARCH at the

University of Gothenburg is being done on both the development of similar laser scanning techniques and the methods of applying nanoscopy. The Biomedical Photonics Group is developing laser scanning microscopy based on multiphoton excitation in order to be able to study biological tissue in a noninvasive way. The focus here is not on achieving higher resolution but rather to be able to produce more in-depth imaging of living systems so as to monitor processes and the effects of pharmaceutical compounds in tissue. Research has, for example, great significance for the ongoing activities at the Centre for Skin

Research (SkinResQU), where we are trying to understand the molecular processes involved in skin cancer, allergies and transdermal drug delivery. The Sahlgrenska Academy has made available a «nanoscope» based on PALM that has recently been installed as part of a public infrastructure facility called “the Centre for Cellular Imaging”. As a result, this is the place where nanoscopy is being applied in several research projects that are primarily in the field of medicine, but the facility is open to all researchers. Illustrations: The royal swedish academy of sciences

Johan Borglin, PhD.Student Biomedical Photonics, Dept. of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg Marica Ericson, Associate professor Biomedical Photonics, Dept. of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg science faculty magazine december 2014

The nobel prize in physics The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 has been awarded to Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University and Nagoya University, Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California in Santa Barbara “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes leading to bright and energysaving white light sources”.

lthough the highly prestigious prize in Physics this year is being awarded for something that is more of an invention than a discovery, it is definitely in the spirit of Alfred Nobel since it has been given to those who “have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind”. Blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the cornerstone of white LED lamps. They enable considerable energy savings due to their high power efficiency compared to incandescent light bulbs. Furthermore, LEDs contribute to an improved quality of life by providing solar-powered lighting to people far from electricity grids, which means, say, that children can do their homework in the evening and small businesses can stay open after dark.

White light can be created

by combining red, green and blue light, as was demonstrated as far back as 1672 by Sir Isaac Newton. A white LED lamp can thus be cre-

science faculty magazine december 2014

ated by combining one red, one green and one blue LED. However, most white LED lamps today are based on the more cost-effective solution of using only blue LEDs covered with a phosphor coating to convert part of the blue light into green and red through luminescence. White LEDs of this kind currently exceed 300 lm/W, while they achieve at the same time an electric-to-light-power efficiency of more than 50%. This can be compared to the incandescent light bulb which produces 16 lm/W and has a power efficiency of about 4%, and also with the fluorescent tube which yields 70 lm/W. Therefore, replacing incandescent light bulbs with the white LEDs which are 10 times more efficient can mean considerable energy savings, particularly in industrial economies where 20-30% of electricity consumption goes on lighting. Moreover, the LEDs have a very long lifetime of 100,000 hours, which is 100 times

longer than the hitherto common incandescent light bulbs and 10 times longer than fluorescent tubes. In addition, the LEDs contain none of the toxic mercury unfortunately present in fluorescent tubes. Due to their high efficiency and compact size, blue LEDs are now a part of our daily lives, forming standard components in devices such as full-colour displays, flashlights in mobile phones, car headlights and light sources for general illumination and decorative lighting. Industry and academia had

been able to envisage many of those applications before blue LEDs became a reality, and considerable investment was therefore put into the field, but despite all the efforts made the creation of blue light proved a drawnout struggle until the Nobel Laureates finally succeeded where everyone else had failed or given up. Why was it so challenging to create blue LEDs, and what did Professors Akasaki, Amano

NOBEL PRIZES 2014 IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

The story of the blue LED LED emissions in the visible spectrum (red) were demonstrated in October 1962 by Holonyak and Bevacqua at General Electric. The researchers had used a gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) compound to fabricate pn-junctions as shown in the figure above. The devices were introduced on the market in record time by General Electric. Red LEDs were commercially available as early as December in that same year, and cost US$ 260 per item. Today, a red LED costs less than US$ 0.20.

Due to its inherent material properties, light emission from GaAsP LEDs is limited to colours ranging from infrared to yellow. Green, blue, violet and ultraviolet light cannot be produced by combining the components in this way. The commercial success of the red LEDs spurred intense efforts in research which lasted almost 30 years and sought to fill in the gap in the colour spectrum. The research during this period was, with very few exceptions, exclusively focused on II-VI compound semiconductors such as zinc selenide. These semiconductors were seemingly ideal for this purpose. They have the same crystal structure (zinc blende) as the relatively cheap and

high-quality gallium arsenide substrates. The lattice constants (specific atom-toatom-distance in the crystal) were also very similar, which meant that II-VI crystals with very low defect concentrations could be synthesized on gallium arsenide substrates. Both lasers and LEDs based on these materials were demonstrated in the laboratory but did not result in any commercial products due to their very limited lifetimes. It was discovered that

despite the advantages, the II-VI materials were extremely sensitive to defects which were created and multiplied as a result of the current passing through it when connected to a power source.

The basic principle behind an LED. It consists of an electron-rich region (n-type semiconductor) and an electron-deficient region (p-type semiconductor). The different types can be produced through doping, a process in which some of the crystal atoms (typically 1 out of 100,000) are replaced by atoms of a different element. If the replacement atom has more (less) electrons than the substituted crystal atom, an excess (deficiency) of electrons is created, yielding a so called n-doped (p-doped) material.

hole p-layer active layer n-layer electron

anode (p-electrode)

cathode (n-electrode)

wire bond post anvil

p-GaN Zinc-doped InGaN

p-AIGaN n-AIGaN

GaN Buffer Layer Sapphire Substrate

n-GaN anode cathode

science faculty magazine december 2014

Illustration: ÂŠ Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

and Nakamura do to overcome these hurdles?

CONDUCTION BAND

ELECTRONES

RECOMBINATION

LIGHT

HOLES

FERMI LEVEL BAND GAP

VALENCE BAND

The energy diagram shows how the electrons in the n-doped material occupy the upper level (conduction band) and the holes in the p-doped material occupy the lower level (valence band). When a p- and n-type semiconductor are joined together, electrons flow from the n-doped material towards the p-doped material leaving behind fixed ionized positive charges, and holes flow from the p-doped material leaving behind fixed ionized negative charges. This results in a built-in electrical field that eventually prevents further flow of carriers across the junction. When an external electric field is applied by, say, connecting the LED to a battery with the anode on the p-side and the cathode on the n-side (i.e. forward biased), the thermal equilibrium is disturbed and the overall field across the junction lowered. Electrons from the n-doped material and holes from the p-doped material are then injected towards the junction where they can recombine and emit their excess energy in the form of photons.

The defects rapidly degraded the device performance until it completely failed within minutes or hours. The only blue LEDs that were commercially available during this period were based on silicon carbide. The properties of this latter material (indirect band gap) made it highly unsuitable for light emission applications. Consequently, the devices employing it were of extremely low efficiency and brightness. They were commercialized despite these severe shortcomings for the simple reason that no alternatives existed.

Princeton Laboratories. This type of device worked without p-doping which was as yet unachievable, but its efficiency was too low for practical application. The material produced by Maruska and Tietjen, also at the RCA Laboratories, exhibited a very high and uncontrollable n-type background doping. For these reasons and because of the very poor quality of the GaN crystal layers (there was no suitable substrate), GaN received very little attention during the 1970s and 1980s. It was seen as a useless material.

Another material consid-

However, the ground-

ered for blue light emission was gallium nitride (GaN). As early as 1971, blue, green, yellow and red emissions from a special type of GaN consisting of a metal insulator semiconductor diode were demonstrated by Pankove et al. at the RCA

breaking work of Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano at Nagoya University removed the major roadblocks concerning GaN and restored it as a potential candidate for blue LEDs. In 1986, Amano and his coworkers showed that high-quality GaN crystal

science faculty magazine december 2014

layers could be obtained using a special technique involving crystal â&#x20AC;&#x153;bufferâ&#x20AC;? layers. During 1988, Akasaki and his coworkers presented p-type doped GaN layers using for the first time magnesium as the p-dopant material. Surprisingly, even after these key discoveries, GaN was still not considered as a serious candidate for blue LEDs. Shuji Nakamura changed

all this. At the time, he was an employee of Nichia Chemicals (Japan), a small company specializing in phosphors and other chemicals. The company chairman and founder, Nobuo Ogawa, gave Nakamura the task of exploring GaN further. Ogawa realized that the market value for blue LEDs was sky high, and he therefore decided to make a killing by investing in GaN. The results were quick to follow. In 1991, Nakamura

NOBEL PRIZES 2014 IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

fabricated his first pn-junction that emitted blue light, and in 1993 he developed the first efficient blue GaN LED with a high light intensity. Nichia introduced the device on the market the same year. The first GaN-based blue-violet laser diode was developed in 1996 by Nakamura, who also improved the lifetime of both LEDs and laser diodes by developing a special crystal growth method. The devices were a resounding commercial success and the range of applications for blue LEDs has been constantly extended. Why did the Nobel Laureates succeed where everybody else had failed? The problems surrounding the choice of blue GaNbased LEDs were massive. There were no suitable substrates on which to grow the GaN-based semiconductor material, which meant that crystal growth had to take place on a different material, such as sapphire. This resulted in increasing mechanical strain on the GaN material layer, which in turn generated a considerable number of defects (one defect being, for example, a missing atom in the crystal). A material with a high defect density will result in a poorly performing device, since high defect density will tend to have a detrimental effect on both electrical and optical

properties of the material in question. By comparison, silicon, which is employed in the vast majority of microelectronic components fabricated, has a defect density of <100/cm2, and GaAs, a material used in many optoelectronic devices, has a corresponding density of 100-5000/cm2, while the defect density in GaN is in the order of 100.000.000/ cm2. GaN was therefore considered useless as a material for efficient light emitters. Amazingly, however, it turned out that despite its high defect density, GaN can prove most efficient: it is the type of defect that matters, not simply the density as such.

strong motivation and commitment, worked with great determination, and managed to obtain funding for their work despite all the scientific challenges. One proof of their success was the investment made by Nichia in Nakamura to the tune of USD 3.3 million, the equivalent of 1.5% of its annual sales. This amounted to remarkable risk-taking for a small company on a single blue-sky research project with a completely unknown outcome which nobody else believed in. Nevertheless, this is proof once again that it is often essential to take risks in research in order to achieve significant breakthroughs and commercial profit. When asked why Nichia had placed so much trust in Nakamura, Nichia’s chairman Ogawa simple answer was that: “Nakamura fell in love with GaN”.

Another major hurdle was the p-doping. Since most optoelectronic devices are based upon a junction between p and n-doped materials, no such devices could be produced without p-doping. These two obstacles (achieving high crystal quality as well as p-doping) were the main reasons Tommy Ive, why virtually Associate Professor all researchers Dept. of Microtechnology throughout and Nanoscience (MC2) Photonics Lab. the world had Chalmers University given up on GaN, with the noÅsa Haglund, table exceptions Associate Professor Photonics Lab. of Professors Dept. of Microtechnology Akasaki, Amano and Nanoscience (MC2) and Nakamura. Chalmers University They showed

science faculty magazine december 2014

SOCIETY

New opportunities for scientists in professional life The proportion of scientists in the services sector has increased by 30 percent in five years, according to a new labour market report. “The demand for qualified scientists to have the ability to solve problems and carry out analysis is on the increase,” says Marita Teräs, a strategist at Naturvetarna.

n October, the union organisation Naturvetarna (the Swedish Association of Professional Scientists) published its labour market report entitled New Opportunities in a Changing World. The report was based on salary statistics drawn from Association members and also on interviews with sector representatives and other kinds of sectorspecific reports and articles. “It is extremely important for us to be knowledgeable about all our member groups and at the same raise their profile in society. We also want to provide information about the labour market for scientists to the scientists themselves so as to support them,” Marita Teräs says. Just over 60 percent of scientists work in the public sector, where 36 percent work for government and 26 percent for municipal authorities and county councils. One out of four is a postgraduate, and many of these work in research and development both within and without academia. The biggest labour market for scientists is in life science, followed by the environment and nature conservation and different kinds of jobs as inspectors. The report also shows that the proportion of scientists working in the services sector has increased by 30 percent over

science faculty magazine december 2014

the past five years, at the same time that the proportion of scientists in life science in the private sector has shrunk by 10 percent. The results were pretty much expected by the Association. “There is not a lot that surprises us, but it was rather unexpected that there are so many working in different kinds of roles as inspectors. It is also heartening that the number of those working in research and development is not smaller than this; the figure is a stable one despite the cutbacks in life science which is the sector where most of the scientists are,” says Marita Teräs. Most of the scientists who lost their jobs when the major pharmaceutical companies cut back on their operations have made a swift entry back in the labour market again, either by starting up new businesses or by finding employment in government and county councils. However, according to the report, many new graduates in science are finding it hard to get a job in the life science sector. Of those who have recently graduated, an even larger proportion work for municipal authorities and county councils. For understandable reasons, there are also significantly more new graduates who have given research as their current job. It is also possible to see

that different roles of inspector and environmental consultant seem to be the common type of subsidised employment scheme, whereas it is less common for new graduates to work in administrative roles. As regards unemployment among scientists, there is no mention made of this in the report. That said, the Association are soon producing a new report which looks at the set up for those who graduated in 2010 and 2011. According to the Swedish Public Employment Service, a balance exists within most professional fields in science between the number of jobs and that of qualified scientists, and in some quarters the forecast is for a shortage of qualified scientists. Those having the greatest difficulty entering the labour market are new biology graduates. “For our part as a University, we would like to develop certain aspects of the study programme to increase graduate employability and to help students to build networks. One example of this is job experience in the workplace, but one could also make more use of bringing in mentors from outside and encourage students to carry out their independent work outside the University. But naturally this would have to be weighed up

against the rest of the programme content since no course of education can contain everything,” says Stefan Hulth, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science. Text Camilla Persson

10 trends for scientists in professional life • • • • • • • • • •

Society is becoming ever more knowledgeintensive Globalisation is on the increase – companies are switching their operations between different countries Sectors are merging with each other Networks and collaborations are a common trend in society New professions are being created in step with changes in society The service sector is growing for scientists Research and development are the focal point for scientists More scientists are working in the public sector Turmoil in life science Environment, climate and sustainability are developing into strategic issues in all parts of society

science faculty magazine december 2014

Researchers set sail to free the sea of rubbish Last summer it was time to set off from the landing stage in Smögen and head for Visby and Almedalen. Martin Hasselöv, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, was on board as Project Manager of the Expedition Skräpfritt Hav (Expedition for a Rubbish-Free Sea), a sampling expedition in the Skagerrak/Kattegat area and southern Baltic. The aim was to study the magnitude of microplastics floating in the sea and communicate this to the decision-makers. WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE EXPEDITION SKRÄPFRITT HAV?

“It was a truly successful expedition, in terms of both study and communication. The communication side of the work was of course a campaign divided into two parts, one of which was targeted at the decision-makers in Almedalen and the other at the broader public later on during West Coast Maritime Week. I think we achieved everything we’d set out to do. We got both the Minister for the Environment and Isabella Lövin to take part in our seminar, and many visitors turned up despite the tough competition to attract attention at Almedalen. There were even representatives from the plastics industry there, and the Minister for the Environment seemed to understand that the government needs to help ensure that producers assume greater responsibility. Beach cleaning is a big problem today for the Bohuslän coastal municipalities that have to take care of all the rubbish. THE EXPEDITION ATTRACTED A LOT OF MEDIA ATTENTION. HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT WENT?

“Our media communication went ever so well. We got our information out via lots of

science faculty magazine december 2014

channels ranging from local papers to regional radio and the national press, as well as themed journals. I took part in radio broadcasts myself on a number of occasions. It is of course important that the research will be of use in society. It can also benefit us personally as researchers as our results become more widely known, which can create a ripple effect.” WHAT SIGNIFICANCE HAS EXPEDITION SKRÖPFRITT HAV HAD IN PURELY PRACTICAL TERMS FOR THE COASTAL MUNICIPALITIES?

“The municipalities received a great deal of attention at both local and national level, but actually those living in Bohuslän also learned the extent to which the sea and their beaches were being littered with plastics.” In purely practical terms, the expedition may have helped clinch the fact that Clean Bohuslän Coast were given funding of SEK 1.9 million from the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM). The expedition was organised jointly with the West Coast Municipalities, KIMO Sweden (Local Authorities International Environmental Organisation), the Clean Bohuslän Coast Project and the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment. In the autumn, Martin Hasselöv’s microplastics project was granted just over SEK 7 million from FORMAS.

GET IN SHAPE QUICKLY – A WINNING CONCEPT IN THE SEAS AS WELL

Mussel farming helps improve the marine environment Given the right conditions, mussel farming can improve water quality in eutrophic areas of the sea. New research can help develop the mussel farming industry and take part in drawing up better programmes of measures for managing eutrophic coastal areas. Per Bergström has devoted his doctoral thesis to studying mussel farming as a restorative measure. His studies show wide variation in the rate of mussel growth both between the occasions the studies took place and between the locations studied. However, it is apparent that it is in the inner coastal areas by fjords and other protected environments that mussels show the fastest rate of growth. “It is also these areas that are in greatest need of environmental improvement measures, which is positive if the use of mussel farming is seen to be a restorative measure.”

Breakthrough in photosynthesis research Professor Richard Neutze and his research team at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology has been able to show with the aid of extremely focused and intensive X-rays how a photosynthetic protein undergoes an earthquake-like movement when exposed to large amounts of energy. The researchers conducted this experiment by lighting up a protein with a laser, and this was what triggered the photosynthetic mechanism. By then focusing a strong X-ray beam on the activated protein, the researchers produced a still image of the way in which the protein changed. Once they had a sufficient number of still images with different time intervals between the laser and X-ray, the researchers were able to construct a film sequence on the way in which the protein changed after being hit by the laser pulse.

Fish have the ability to survive in almost any kind of marine environment that exists on Earth, but climate change and an increase in temperatures push many species to their limit. The time it takes to adapt to new conditions can be crucial for the way in which different species will cope in the future. This has been shown in a new study that Erik Sandblom and his colleagues at the Department of Biology and Environmental Science published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The trial was conducted over an eight-week period, and the results show that the physiological strain decreases for each week that passes while the fish gradually succeed in adapting their bodily functions and optimising them to their new environment. Furthermore, the results show that the ’cost’ to the creatures is very much related to how long a time it takes them to adapt. In a warmer and more variable future it is therefore probably essential to be able not only to adapt but also to do so quickly. science faculty magazine december 2014

ON THE CLIMATE’S SERVICE Taking the step from researcher to consultant may be viewed as a long one, but for Signild Nerheim the choice was not hard. “My work involves exciting fluctuations between the subject matter and the needs of society.”

he view from her office at SMHI is spectacular. If you lean out a bit, you can see the entire inlet to Gothenburg Harbour, with the Älvsborgsbron bridge as its focal point. “It is a fantastic environment to work in,” Signild Nerheim says about her workplace at Nya Varvet. She has held different posts at SMHI since 2006, and today she heads a consultancy group whose tasks include carrying out assignments on the flood risks and environ-

science faculty magazine december 2014

mental hazards resulting from industrial emissions. The clients can range from other public authorities to businesses, and what has become more common is assignments on climate adaptation, such as architects or town planners wanting help with discussing the minimum height of ground on which to build bearing in mind rising water levels in the future. “This type of assignment requires an understanding of not just scientific events but also the potential consequences. It’s exciting to have studied science and then go on to work on social issues. In other kinds of assignments, such as when they were going to find out if wind farming in the Kattegat would affect the sea mix and, say, result in less oxygen-rich water, a high degree of theoretical understanding is needed regarding marine processes.

six months of being unemployed, when the Swedish Public Employment Agency felt she should change career and instead undergo teacher training, she secured a temporary position at SMHI in Norrköping. Just over a year later, the much discussed ketchup effect happened. “A permanent position came up in Norrköping, at the same time that I learned that I’d been granted Swedish Research Council funding for a postdoctoral position in Norway. On top of that, they rang me from SMHI in Gothenburg and said there was a vacancy they wanted me to apply for.” She decided on the job in Gothenburg,

Signild Nerheim comes originally from

Norway, but ended up taking her degree in oceanography in the middle of the oil crisis. There were no jobs in science in Norway, and the doctoral studentship she had been aiming for in her home university in Bergen was withdrawn. She believed the choice was between applying to Tromsö or leaving Norway. “I wasn’t that keen to move north, so when a number of doctoral studentships cropped up in Gothenburg it sounded exciting.” Right from the time she attended her interview for the doctoral studentship she felt she was made welcome, so in 2000 she left Norway and moved to Gothenburg. Five years later, she defended a thesis on ocean currents which addressed issues such as the way plankton, pollutants and salt are dispersed over the surface of the sea. After

which suited her better than the one in Norrköping. She decided to postpone taking the postdoctoral position, and in fact it never happened. Today she has been working for just over a year as head of group, with half of the group stationed in Norrköping and the other half in Gothenburg. “It’s important to establish personal contacts, and a lot of video conferencing takes place,” she says. What about her future plans in that case? So far she feels her job as head of group is not complete, and she likes working both on a strategic basis and on issues closely related to the activities. “I would really like to stay put until I’ve learned everything there is to know in this role. And I haven’t got there yet.” Text Camilla Persson photo Malin Arnesson

SIGNILD NERHEIM Age: 40 years Education: PhD. in Oceanography from the University of Gothenburg Occupation: Head of Group, Produktion Vattenmiljö at SMHI Family: Husband and two children When not working, she enjoys: ”cutting the grass. And singing in a choir”.

science faculty magazine december 2014

The West Coast Maritime Week on tour A minibus packed with a petting aquarium, 110 litres of seawater, 20 kilos of gravel, one sea cucumber, dead man’s fingers, five starfish and two marine biologists have been touring the inland muncipalities of Region Västra Götaland. The tour, which was given the name Hela Västra Götalands Västerhav (the Whole of Region Västra Götaland’s West Coast), started out in Alingsås on 4 November and finished in Skövde on 28 November.

he University of Gothenburg and the Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences have been taking part in the West Coast Maritime Week for several years now, a themed week on the marine environment offering activities in Region Västra Götaland’s coastal municipalities. The Hela Västra Götlands Västerhav Project has been jointly funded by Region Västra Götaland and the Lovén Centre, and is an extension of the West Coast Maritime Week. Martin Larsvik and Marie Moestrup Jensen, both of the Lovén Centre, have spent four weeks visiting lower and upper secondary schools to talk about the West Coast and discuss issues about the marine environment.

During the course of a one-hour lesson, the pupils have been given an introduction on the West Coast and the opportunity to see three films that have just been made about environmental changes in the sea and the environmental research taking place at the Lovén Centre. They have also been able to touch the fifteen or so spectacular organisms in the petting aquarium. Last of all, the pu-

science faculty magazine december 2014

pils visiting the interactive West Coast Wall have built food webs and discussed the effects of environmental change on the marine ecosystem. “The lesson has been really appreciated, and many of the pupils have said that they’ve acquired a greater understanding of the sea and the way the entire ecosystem is being affected by change,” says Marie Moestrup Jensen, a marine biologist and communications officer. The petting aquarium was a great idea, and many of the pupils have said that that was the highlight of the hour. But the three films on foreign species, acidification of the sea and eutrophication have been popular as well. “We have discussed with the pupils what sort of sea we want. We have also discussed whether change is good or bad, and the idea that when certain species are threatened other species may benefit. It is has been great fun for us to meet youngsters who despite their not living on the coast are so committed and interested,” says Martin Larsvik, a marine biologist and information officer at the Lovén Centre.

BECOME GOOD AT GAMES WITH THE HELP OF MATHEMATICS When hockey audiences see the hockey player Nicklas Lidström making a decision on the ice, they see one of the world’s best players doing what he is better at than most others. When the mathematician Jan Lennartsson sees Nicklas Lidström making a decision in the ice, he also sees a player who is making optimal use of mathematics.

he fact that Jan Lennartsson’s research is in the field of sport should perhaps come as no surprise: he has been playing handball all of his adult life, and can list 125 international matches on his CV. “As an elite sportsman I’ve kept hearing the message that I’m able to win in any situation. Go for it! Run! And I agree. But maybe the best thing is not to be involved in every situation but rather choose which situations one would like to be involved in.” He believes that there is more to lose in a situation where one chooses to be involved than there is in a situation where one chooses not to be involved at all. This is where the term game intelligence comes in; an abstract skill that some people are mostly presumed to have been born with. Jan Lennartsson, his colleague Carl Lindberg and Nicklas Lidström have produced a study showing that game intelligence can in fact be taught, and that it is a matter of assessing the results of different actions and the consistent use of those actions to maximise the value of a given situation. Carl Lindberg had analysed Lidström’s

game and believed that his style differed from that of other hockey players. “Nicklas maybe wasn’t the strongest or fastest hockey player, or if he was he didn’t have to demonstrate it on the ice. That said, he was incredibly effective because his way of playing was consistent once he had minimised the best alternatives open to his opponent. We are able to demonstrate together

that his strategy is, on average, optimal.” Lidström’s actions can be broken down in terms of statistics. In any situation one can assess the probability of succeeding by the use of certain actions and also assess the value of succeeding. This can then be weighed up against the probability of not succeeding by using an alternative form of play. The three authors have mapped several examples of situations that are common in hockey and handball, and have counted up the optimal choices for each situation. “Nicklas has experience of these situations and knows how he should assess them. He has based his fantastic career on a mathematical model, and the interesting thing is not only that it worked for him at that particular time but also that it is the optimal in mathematical terms. So does that mean that anyone can become

a better player in their own sport with the help of this research? “Physical accomplishments such as strength, technology and swift action are essential for all players, but categorising game strategies and making choices on the basis of a scientific perspective can make you a better player.” By using actions that minimise the opponent’s best alternatives in situations that typically arise again and again in a match, one can on average achieve the best possible results. Text Robert Karlsson phOTO cAROLINE eKING & gETTY iMAGES

ALGAE OIL AS A BIOFUEL A FUEL OF THE FUTURE Collaboration proved an advantage in the biggest competition held in Sweden for those wishing to develop their business ideas and start up a business. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have, together with business developers from Chalmers, produced an algae oil that can be used as a biofuel. Swedish Algae Factory is the name of a company that recently scooped the prizes in the Environment and Energy competition category as part of the Venture Cup in Umeå. The researchers in the company have discovered a new type of alga that thrives best in Nordic conditions and grows round the clock. The leader of this research is Professor Angela Wulff at the Department of Biology and Environmental Science.

WHALE CARCASS RESEARCH USING AN UNDERWATER CAMERA

In mid October, a long-finned pilot whale was sunk next to one of the cameras at the underwater observatory at Kristineberg. The whale carcass, which is three metres long, was washed up off Kungälv in September and found by a private individual who reported it to the Göteborg Natural History Museum. The long-finned pilot whale is part of a research project examining specialised societies of organisms that develop on the skeletons of dead whales. Examples of these are the so-called “bone-eating worms”, one common species of which is Osedax mucofloris. The research project is being led by the researcher Thomas Dahlgren at the Department of Biology and Environmental Science. u Link to the underwater observatory:

uw-observatory.loven.gu.se/uw3.shtml

science faculty magazine december 2014

Axel Wenblad, recently appointed honorary doctor Natural scientist Axel Wenblad is a new honorary doctor at the Faculty of Science. He has been appointed for his contribution to the development and revamping the Faculty of Science at the University of Gothenburg. “I feel extremely honoured and very humble about receiving this appointment,” Axel Wenblad says.

he question came like a bolt out of the blue. Axel Wenblad was in China at the time, it was four o’clock in the morning, and after the phone call he could not get back to sleep. “Naturally I was delighted! It came as a huge surprise.” Axel Wenblad advocates that research must be carried out in collaboration with the outside world and enjoy a close relationship with both public authorities and businesses. “But this isn’t always the obvious way, because it is more rewarding from a scientific point of view to immerse oneself in one’s own subject area rather than work across sectors, which of course involves having to listen to and learn from others. Still, I think this is an important perspective,” Axel Wenblad says.

Axel Wenblad has a university degree in Chemistry and Limnology (the study of inland waters), and has previously held the post of Director General at the Swedish National Board of Fisheries in Gothenburg. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the Swedish World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In Axel Wenblad’s opinion, one of

Axel Wenblad receives his honorary doctorate from the promotor Kjell Nordberg at The Conferment of Doctoral Degree.

the two most important issues regarding the marine environment is to preserve biological diversity. “The other is that we have a fisheries administration that takes into account the biological conditions, and does so not just in terms of our food requirements but also to ensure that the fishing we do is sustainable in the long term.” It’s been going in the right direction within the EU. There is a fisheries policy in place as of this year, and this is a step in the right direction, but it also means living up to it. Seen from a global perspective, we still have a massive problem,” Axel Wenblad says. He has headed a government inquiry into marine planning for Sweden, and has worked on sustainability issues in trade and industry for various public authorities and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN (FAO). He believes that researchers need to think about how their knowledge can be put to use. “Marine planning is an excellent example of cross-sectoral work. We could, say, be poring over a map of the Kattegat or Skagerrak

and having to allocate different spheres of interest which can be anything from nature conservation to environmental protection and aquaculture. Everyone has got their own agenda and reasons, and these all need to be reconciled. Knowledge is therefore necessary when making decisions and negotiating. I think this is an important consideration for people in research.” Axel Wenblad recently conducted an inquiry for the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology and Region Västra Götaland regarding the creation of a maritime cluster for cooperation, work that he is continuing to head. “The cluster is in full swing now. One exciting aspect of this is that the University of Gothenburg has advertised for a professor in marine administrative law, who will be appointed shortly. And that is only one outcome of having established the cluster,” Axel Wenblad says.

Text Carina Eliasson photo Johan Wingborg

science faculty magazine december 2014

AWARDS

Autumn 2014 DELIANG CHEN, a Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg, has been awarded the Pro Arte et Scientia Medal for 2014. The Pro Arte et Scientia Medal (made of silver, 8th size) was established at the University of Gothenburg in 1987 and is awarded primarily to those individuals holding posts linked to the University and whose efforts have promoted the work of the University. The motivation for awarding the Medal was as follows: Deliang Chen is a world-leading climate researcher. One of his achievements was being selected by the UN as one of the two principal authors from Sweden of the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report on climate science and the regulation of climate issues. He is also a key player in Earth System Science for Global Sustainability in Sweden, and he initiated the design of Future Earth, a new international research programme for global sustainability. Deliang Chen has enjoyed a lot of success and had a high profile in outreach activities within and without the academic world. He is making a significant contribution to the vision held by the University of Gothenburg’s in the form of his articulated sense of social responsibility and global commitment. LEIF ERIKSSON, a Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, has been awarded the Entrepreneur of the Future Prize by Swedish Pharma AB for a plaster that can stick to wet surfaces and treat skin cancer. MAGNUS HAGLUND, a student at the Department of Conservation, has been awarded the

science faculty magazine december 2014

annual DIK Scholarship for his Bachelor thesis on the way to assess modern built environments and determine what should be assessed. His Bachelor thesis is entitled Assessing the Cultural Values of Late Modernist Built Environments. STEFAN HOHMANN at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology is receiving the prestigious award of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The Prize ceremony is taking place at the AAAS annual meeting in San José, California, on 14 February next year. The Prize winners will then receive a diploma in gold and blue, the colours that represent science and technology. ALAVI KARIM, a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, has received two prizes for her research. During the International Symposium on Halogen Bonding in Italy, Alavi Karim was awarded a prize by the New Journal of Chemistry. She has also received an award from Organikerdagarna, a national meeting of researchers in organic chemistry in Stockholm. JACOB THOMAS, a researcher at the Department of Conservation, has been awarded a gold medal at Brussels Innova 2014, a world exhibition on inventions, research and new technology. He is receiving the gold medal for research that he had carried out in the past at the Jagiellonian University in Poland. The research has focused on the development of multifunctional packaging material made of hybrid nanocomposites.

ANNE FAREWELL, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, was awarded the Faculty of Science’s Pedagogical Prize for 2014. The Pedagogical Prize is awarded in recognition of commendable work in teaching at the University. The Prize, a grant of SEK 100,000 for her welcome and successful work in teaching, was awarded at the promotion ceremony on 24 October 2014.

Prizes awarded for commendable contributions in the field of teaching

Thirteen people received awards at the Faculty of Science’s Education Day in recognition of commendable work in teaching. The recipients included former directors of studies, heads of department, teachers and study advisors. The following recipients have been recognised for their commendable work: Monica Börjesson Margareta Ekroth Edebo Kerstin Ericson Lars-Johan Erkell Laura Fainsilber Ann-Margret Lund Andreasson Jeanette Montell Curt Nyberg Marie Rådbo Gun Selldén Lennart Sjölin Inga Tundblad-Johannson Margareta Wedborg

Keep a look out! In January the Science Faculty Magazine will also come out as an online magazine films. sound. slideshow. extra material. in-depth presentation.

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