ERC Starting Grant funding

Parinya Chalermsook

Project: "New Algorithmic Techniques through the Lens of Combinatorics"
Duration: 2018 - 2023

Person profile Parinya ChalermsookWeb page

Michael Hummel

Project: "Unlocking the Entire Wood Matrix for the Next Generation of Carbon Fibers"
Duration: 2017 - 2021

• ERC PoC: "Bio-based carbon fiber - commercialization", duration 2020 - 2022

Michael Hummel, Postdoctoral Researcher, leads a five-year project aiming at the manufacture of high-quality carbon fibres from wood. Carbon fibres and composites made thereof are extremely strong and lightweight materials with many applications, such as replacing heavy structural parts in airplanes and space crafts. So far, the high price of carbon fibres has prevented more wide-spread use.

With the technology used in this research hybrid fibres can be composed of cellulose and lignin – as the precursor material for carbon fibre. It is not only cheaper but also more ecological, since the manufacturing process consumes less energy and chemicals and the raw material is renewable instead of an oil-based feedstock.

Person profile Michael HummelNews: Seven-figure grant for researcher producing carbon fibre from wood

Jani Oksanen

Project: "In-cavity thermophotonic cooling"
Duration: 2015 - 2021

• ERC PoC: "Resistance-free charge spreading for LEDs and solar cells"

If Oksanen, D.Sc. (Tech.), and his research group make a breakthrough, their work may result in an environmentally friendly solid state optical cooling solution that could be used to replace the mechanical cooling solutions of heat pumps and refrigerators.

Thermophotonics studies phenomena in which both electricity and heat are used to generate light energy. Oksanen's research group has performed ground-breaking work in the field of LED structures suitable for cooling and heat transfer. Making use of thermophotonic phenomena is possible when the photons emitted by a LED receive energy from the electricity supplied to the LED and also obtain heat from the system.

The research project will progress from creating computational models to manufacturing new semiconductor structures in the cleanroom facilities of the Micronova Centre for Micro and Nanotechnology. The main goal is to perform experiments that will prove the light-emission-based cooling phenomenon of electrically doped semiconductors.

Person profile Jani OksanenNews: LED cooling research project receives seven-figure funding

Lauri Parkkonen

Project: "High-resolution magnetoencephalography: Towards non-invasive corticography"
Duration: 2016 - 2021

Professor Lauri Parkkonen has been awardes a Starting Grant to develop a new sensor technique for measuring human brain activity from outside the head.

The objective of this project is to develop a new type of MEG system in which the neuromagnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain are measured much closer to the surface of the head than what is possible with existing MEG equipment. The project will also study the combination of transcranial magnetic simulation (TMS) with the HRMEG method, which would enable much more accurate monitoring of the effects of electrical brain stimulation.

Person profile Lauri Parkkonen

News: Major funding for developing a new brain research method at Aalto University

Jaakko Timonen

Project: "Interacting with Active Particles"
Duration: 2019 -2023

This five-year research project Interacting with Active Particles will design a new kind of magnetic tweezers with which to control and study the interaction of moving active particles. The tweezers could be used in microbiological research, for example, to separate and differentiate between various types of cells.

The new extensive research projects led by Professor Jaakko Timonen seek a breakthrough in controlling microscopic active particles with magnetic tweezers. The research focuses on particles that move in different ways: bacteria, microalgae, and synthetic active particles.

The aim is to develop a new type of magnetic tweezers to manipulate rapidly moving active particles in real-time and also to study the mechanisms underlying the interaction between the particles.

Person profile Jaakko TimonenNews: New multi-million euro projects design magnetic tweezers to explore interaction and swarming dynamics of moving particlesWatch the Youtube video

Jaana Vapaavuori

Project: "Autonomously adapting and communicating modular textiles"
Duration: 2021 - 2025

Jaana Vapaavuori carries out pioneering research with functional fibres. The study aims to develop smart materials that react to changes in their environment, exploring how soft materials change colours or move in response to changes in light or temperature. These fibres will be built into modular multifunctional textiles using traditional techniques, which enable more complex networks when compared to widely used knitting and weaving techniques.  

News: EU grants for smart materials and next generation LEDs

Person profile Jaana Vapaavuor