This year, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has appointed 31 young researchers Wallenberg Academy Fellows, meaning that they will receive five years of funding and the opportunity to benefit from a unique mentoring program.
Will future computers operate solely using light? Could human hearts be healed in the same way as those of ribbed newts? How do dwarf galaxies form and develop, and how can we improve the assessment of risk probabilities linked to catastrophes? These are just a few of the research questions that this year’s Wallenberg Academy Fellows will be examining.
"It is with great pleasure we see the width of the research and the high quality of the applications, as well as the diverse backgrounds of the applicants. This includes both young researchers already present at Swedish universities and foreign researchers recruited to Sweden," says Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chair of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences assist the Foundation by reviewing the applications and helping with selection. The Academy also runs a mentoring program in which the selected researchers can participate.
“This is a great way for us to learn about the fascinating projects that are being planned and to contribute by identifying the ones with the most potential. For the Academy to then be part of it by using the mentoring program to guide these young researchers in their careers is really motivating,” says Hans Ellegren, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The fellowships were first announced in 2012, after the program was established in partnership with the royal academies and 16 Swedish universities. Funding amounts to SEK 6.5 to 15.6 million per researcher for five years, depending on the subject area. After the first five-year period, it is possible to apply for funding for an additional five years. Funding covers research in the natural sciences, medicine, technology, the humanities, and social sciences. Including this year’s cohort, 261 young researchers, of whom 46 per cent are women, have been appointed Wallenberg Academy Fellows.
2023’s Wallenberg Academy Fellows:
(Where the nominating university differs from the researcher’s current university, the nominating university is given in parentheses.)
Natural sciences
Dr Jessica Stephenson, University of Pittsburgh, USA (Stockholm University)
Dr Andrea Scotti, Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH, Aachen, Germany (Lund University)
Dr Georgia Panopoulou, Chalmers University of Technology
Dr Azadeh Fattahi, Durham University, UK (Stockholm University)
Dr Thomas Nordlander, Australian National University, Weston Creek, Australia (Uppsala University)
Dr Ruth Pöttgen, Lund University
Dr Foivos Perakis, Stockholm University
Dr Susanna F. de Rezende, Lund University
Dr Birgit Wild, Stockholm University
Dr Matthias Geilhufe, Chalmers University of Technology
Dr Ilaria Piazza, The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany (Stockholm University)
Dr André Mateus, Umeå University
Dr Courtney Stairs, Lund University
Medicine
Dr Hugo Zeberg, Karolinska Institutet and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Dr Alessandro Furlan, Karolinska Institutet
Dr Niklas Mejhert, Karolinska Institutet
Dr Stefanos Stagkourakis, California Institute of Technology, USA (Karolinska Institutet)
Dr Elif Eroglu, Karolinska Institutet
Dr Xingqi Chen, Uppsala University
Technology
Dr André Teixeira, Uppsala University
Dr Mika Sipponen, Stockholm University
Dr Olaf Hartig, Linköping University
Dr Nicolò Maccaferri, Umeå University
Dr Alexander Gillet, University of Cambridge, UK (Linköping University)
Dr Julia Wiktor, Chalmers University of Technology
Humanities
Professor Orri Stefánsson, Stockholm University and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study
Dr Mateja Hajdinjak, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany (Stockholm University)
Social sciences
Dr Jacob Nyrup, University of Oslo, Norway (University of Gothenburg)
Dr Gaia Olivo, University of Gothenburg
Dr Julia Zulver, National Autonomous University of Mexico and Oxford University, UK (Swedish Defence University)
Dr Moa Lidén, University College London, UK (Uppsala University)
Presentations of the research conducted by each researcher
Contact:
Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chair, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46 (0)8 545 017 80
kaw@kaw.se
Göran Sandberg, Executive Director, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46 (0)8 545 017 80
kaw@kaw.se
Hans Ellegren, Secretary General, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
+46 (0)8 673 95 03
hans.ellegren@kva.se
Eva Nevelius, Press Secretary, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
+46 (0)70 878 67 63
eva.nevelius@kva.se