The Faculty of Science and Technology

Metals play a crucial role in biological processes, and up to half of all enzymes are metalloenzymes. These kinds of enzymes rely on metal ions to function and enable complex chemical reactions that are central to all life, such as the formation of the building blocks of DNA and the splitting of water molecules in photosynthesis.

My research lies at the intersection of chemistry, biology and biophysics, with the goal of understanding, at the molecular level, the intricate interplay between proteins and metals that give metalloenzymes their unique properties. In particular, my research focuses on microbial hydrogen metabolism.

Billions of years ago, microorganisms began to use hydrogen as an energy source and have since developed a sophisticated hydrogen economy. At the heart of this process is a metalloenzyme called hydrogenase, which both breaks down and forms hydrogen gas (H2).

One of the most exciting aspects of hydrogenases is their potential in sustainable energy systems. My research aims to develop methods where these enzymes can be used to convert solar energy into hydrogen, a clean fuel. This could revolutionise our energy production and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, which would be a major step towards a sustainable future.

Understanding hydrogen metabolism is also crucial to better understanding microbial metabolism in general, which could lead to the development of new antibiotics but above all is expected to increase our understanding of life in extreme environments.

The human presence on Earth, also referred to as the anthroposphere, has expanded greatly since the dawn of humanity. Each time in history that people have appropriated new sources of energy, their power has increased to the point that today, global human society is threatening the stability and functioning of the entire biosphere. In recognition and anticipation of this existential threat, scientists and others have studied and warned about environmental boundaries.

Environmental boundaries are linked to the realisation that scarcity has become endemic for human societies. Scarcity is often quickly explained away as ‘too many people and too few resources’. But this explanation overlooks the fact that scarcity also arises from the aspirations and needs of humans, and from the ways in which we humans exercise power over nature, over others, and over ourselves.

My goal as a Professor of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development is to understand why and how changes in resource scarcity and resource abundance are related to the development of human societies and their biocultural diversity. Ways in which this manifests itself include changes in human emotions, beliefs and desires, social power and inequality, technological development, and institutions that organise and justify the exploitation of natural resources. For this purpose, I integrate knowledge from the social sciences with ecology, biology and geology into a long-term historical perspective.

Before a volcano erupts, magma accumulates inside the volcano and is then transported to the Earth’s surface. The magma’s journey through the volcano is characterised by complex chemical and physical processes that create earthquakes and isostatic uplift for example, which at best can facilitate the prediction of volcanic eruptions.

I study the processes that take place inside active volcanoes by exploring dead volcanoes whose interiors have been laid bare on the Earth’s surface. With the aid of detailed field studies, and drone and aerial photography, my research group and I create computer models and reconstructions of magma chambers. We also simulate the complex processes that occur when magma forms and is transported inside a volcano. We also use microscopy and texture analysis to understand how the magma’s properties affect its ease of transport within the volcano, and its potential to cause natural disasters.

As volcanoes also play an important role in the Earth’s planetary differentiation and heat transport, our research also contributes to a better understanding of ore formation and geothermal systems.

Laboratory exercises are generally considered to be important in the teaching of many subjects in science and technology, where they are intended to support learning of both theory and practice. However, previous research has not fully clarified how laboratory exercises that include motor actions as elements can best support learning, or which underlying mechanisms lead to improved learning outcomes.

In my research, I aim to understand learning processes in order to improve teaching. Programming and software play an increasingly important role in society and my focus has been on learning in the laboratory with beginner programmers as my study subjects.

My research has shown how rapid shifts in focus between theory and hands-on practice are beneficial for learning, and what the different roles are that theory and practice play in the learning process. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that there are underlying mechanisms that explain why hands-on practice is beneficial for learning. Working hands-on positively affects emotions such as self-confidence and lowers stress, as well as having a beneficial effect on long-term memory compared to learning that is hands-off.

Human learning depends on the individual’s working memory, which receives information from our senses. My results suggest that motor actions can reduce the load on working memory, which may be beneficial for learning, and that it might be emotions that are the conveyors of the observed effect. It is assumed that these results are applicable to learning in any laboratory, even beyond programming.

Materials engineering has always been a key aspect of human history and fundamental to the development of civilisation. For example, we name periods of time based on the materials that were used such as the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. On the other hand, modern materials engineering is not only about manufacturing materials. It is also about understanding the connection between the manufacturing process and the structure of the material and its properties.

In my research, I work with extremely thin materials – nanomaterials and thin films used for surface coatings – in order to steer the functions of materials. Unlike structural materials such as building materials, functional materials are those where the interesting factor is the material’s function, for example its electrical, magnetic, optical or certain mechanical properties. Multifunctional materials are selected or designed to have multiple functions such as good electrical conductivity, abrasion resistance, and corrosion resistance.

The reason a surface is coated with a layer of something else is that the surface coating changes the properties and function of the coated object. Thin films are coatings thinner than one or a few micrometres (millionths of a metre). The anti-reflective coating on spectacles and the Teflon coating on a frying pan are some everyday examples of thin films. In my research, I use advanced physical and chemical methods to create new materials with greatly improved properties. They are used in cutting tools, electrical connectors, batteries, fuel cells and nuclear engineering to name a few applications.

My research in particle physics and astroparticle physics is about the very smallest and the very largest forms of matter. Examples include elementary particles and the forces between them, cosmic radiation from black holes, and exploding stars millions of light years away, and how the Universe as a whole came to be what it is. The aim of this research field is to understand matter and the fundamental forces at their most fundamental level, and how these forces have influenced the evolution of the Universe following the Big Bang.

We have a very successful theory, called the standard model, which describes all particles and fundamental forces hitherto discovered (except gravity, which is described by the general theory of relativity). But we also know that this cannot be the ultimate theory because it is incomplete at high energies, does not explain the gravitational force, and cannot explain the mass of neutrinos or observations such as the Universe’s dark matter and the Universe’s imbalance between ordinary matter and antimatter.

My research combines constructing and analysing theories for new physics beyond the standard model with investigating what these theories predict in different experiments, and conversely figuring out what the data say about these theories. In particular, I study the role of the Higgs boson and what particle physics experiments can teach us about it, and how this relates to what happened in the very young Universe. I also study what we can learn about fundamental physics from observations of cosmic rays, neutrinos and gravitational waves from the cosmos.

Human curiosity about, and our understanding of, the Universe in general and in detail have always fascinated me. Through my background as a teacher, I understood early on that different individuals can have different views about our world, and very often it was difficult to communicate this to the pupils and students I encountered in ways that they could understand. Physics and astronomy are the language for communicating knowledge about the Universe, and this language consists of so much more than ‘just’ spoken and written words. It also uses other resources such as graphs, formulas, tables, images, simulations, animations, gestures, devices, activities and much more. Learning physics and astronomy is like learning a new language.

There are many different ways to study communication within the subject area, and associated learning processes. In my research, I often start from the theoretical framework called social semiotics, where you study the communication within a subject area via all the different resources that are used. My research also aims to improve teaching and learning in physics and astronomy by systematically examining communication and learning processes in these subject areas. I explore issues such as how knowledge can be communicated and used in more productive ways, how different digital tools and other tools can be used to support the teaching of these subjects, and the effects that social and cultural practices have on learning, and how these practices are communicated.

In recent years, the discovery of densely populated microbial communities in the human body – called microbiota – has revolutionised our understanding of human physiology. These microbes number many, many more than our own cells and play a pivotal role in our health through complex interactions with our bodies. The gut is the main site of metabolic activity, and the microbes there produce a variety of bioactive molecules that can either harm or help us. To understand this complex interaction, researchers use mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, an analytical chemistry tool for studying metabolites.

However, traditional methods encounter obstacles such as interference from sample matrices and difficulties in detecting metabolites at low concentrations. In my group, we develop new methods that combine chemistry and biology to improve the analysis of metabolites using mass spectrometry. These innovative methods use advanced chemical and enzymatic tools. By improving mass-spectrometry sensitivity, we can isolate and analyse microbial metabolites with high selectivity. The aim of this research is to discover new bioactive metabolites from the microbiome, including potential antibiotics, and to identify biomarkers for pancreatic cancer and other diseases where imbalances in the microbiome have been linked to the development of these diseases. By using an interdisciplinary approach that combines chemistry, biology and medical research, we hope that this research will reveal the role of microbiota in human diseases.

Many different structures – in everyday life as well as in research – are best described by models that contain random variables. For example, how an infection spreads, what relationships in social networks look like, or how long a search in a data set takes. Particularly central models are random graphs and random trees, which are generated by random processes. For example, we can assume that people are in contact with other people with a certain probability. I study the characteristics of these models. For example, how does the probability of contact affect whether a disease can spread throughout the entire population?

By understanding mathematics better, we can develop better models of reality and predict the properties of the real structures we study. My area, combinatorics and probability theory, provides tools to model such problems. I have conducted a lot of research into split trees, which are a large class of random trees that are often used to describe computer algorithms. A special feature of my research is that it provides general results that can be used for many, seemingly different, structures.

An interesting feature of many random structures is that relatively small changes in the probabilities result in large changes in total. One example is the spread of infection where a small change in immunity/cross-infection (for example, how many people are vaccinated) can determine if a contagion dies out or spreads. These are called thresholds and are linked to percolation theory, which is an important part of my research.

To fully understand human history, we need insights into the genetic connections between past and present populations. In my research, I explore the evolutionary history of humans and the genetic adaptations that have occurred in human populations, with a particular focus on Africa. My work integrates genetics data with archaeological finds and linguistics discoveries to explore the dynamics of populations. I investigate how genetic variation reflects the long history of humankind, and how changes in the environment and culture have affected human evolution.

I collaborate with experts from different disciplines to advance our understanding of human history and use genetics data from both modern era and prehistoric DNA. An important aspect of my work involves population genetics studies among African hunter-gatherers and farming groups, but also how agricultural practices spread across the African continent.

With my research, I strive to create a comprehensive picture of human prehistory and adaptation, and my ongoing projects continue to push the boundaries of our understanding. By integrating new technologies such as proteome and pathogen analyses, we can acquire greater insights into the ways of life and migrations of humans in the past.

Solar energy is a clean and abundant renewable resource with the potential to replace the fossil fuels that people have traditionally relied on for over a century. Converting and storing solar energy is therefore a crucial scientific challenge.

Inspired by natural photosynthesis, my research group focuses on developing organic materials, including molecules and polymers, that can absorb solar energy. We aim to use the absorbed energy to produce solar fuels or solar chemicals from water and carbon dioxide, which are sources of protons and carbon atoms in the reactions. These organic materials have adjustable structures that allow us to control their optical properties with precision.

We also investigate organic nanoparticles by aggregating these materials to improve light collection and charge generation in photocatalytic reactions. In addition to homogeneous systems, we also develop organic units that facilitate product differentiation for practical applications.