Göran Gustafsson Prizes in Engineering Physics awarded to Uppsala researchers

The Göran Gustafsson Foundation consists of two foundations with different focuses, one of which awards prizes in medicine and engineering physics at Uppsala University, as well as in engineering physics at KTH. The major Göran Gustafsson Prize at UU/KTH consists of a research grant totaling 3.75 million Swedish kronor, distributed over three years. The maximum age of the winners is 36 years.

This year, the three-year prize at UU goes to Patrick Sandoz, who was born in 1988 in Switzerland and studied at EPFL Lausanne, where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, the latter in bioengineering. His research is at the intersection of materials science and cancer immunology and focuses on developing reliable models of human tissue in so called microphysiological systems. In parallel, his research group uses sensors and optical tools that can characterize both the molecular profiles and the mechanical properties of tumours, such as their stiffness and fluidity, without having to disturb them.

“Ultimately, I hope this work contributes to a better understanding of how tumors evade the immune system, and perhaps to smarter ways of designing or testing treatments, especially for cancers that are still difficult to treat,” says Patrick Sandoz.

What do you plan to use the research grant for?

“The grant will primarily fund a new research position in my laboratory to carry out a project that combines Brillouin microscopy with our 3D microtumor platforms. Brillouin microscopy is a non-contact, fully optical technique that can map the mechanical state of cells under various conditions.”

The Göran Gustafsson Foundation also awards a small prize to younger researchers, consisting of a one-off research grant of SEK 1.25 million. This year’s one-year prize at UU goes to Sergii Shylin at the Department of Chemistry-Ångström and Chenyu Wen at the Department of Electrical Engineering.

Electron interactions and nanofluidics

Sergii Shylin conducts research into hybrid materials for solar energy conversion and storage. More specifically, he focuses on how strong electron interactions, arising from unusual oxidation and spin states of metal centers, can enhance energy and charge transfer processes. He obtained his PhD in Chemistry from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz in 2017 and held his first postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz. In 2022, he was appointed to a research post at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström.

Chenyu Wen obtained his PhD in electronics at Uppsala University in 2019. Following postdoctoral positions at Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, he returned to Uppsala University in 2024 as an associate professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering. His research focuses on nanopore-based nanofluidics, including applications in single-molecule sensing and ionic neuromorphic devices. His current project is “Hydraulic pressure in nanofluidics: from theoretical models to new practical control methods in nanofluidic devices”.

Anneli Björkman