Eight researchers at Uppsala University honoured by the Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala
Photo from the prize ceremony on 1 September 2026. From left: Jonas Bergquist (General Secretary of the Society), Martina Leso, Sara Florisson, Christian Glaser, Linnéa Smeds, Peter Fredriksson, Per Eklund, Terje Falck-Ytter, Sandra Håkansson, Ann-Mari Jönsson, Ingemar Struwe, Andrea Benediktsdottir, Fabien Burki and Hans Kronning (President of the Society).
The Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala awarded the Thuréus, Bergstedt and Benzelius Prizes in connection with the Society’s Day on 1 September 2026. Eight researchers at Uppsala University were honoured for their achievements.
The 2026 Thuréus Prizes have been awarded to:
Fabien Burki, senior lecturer at the Department of Organismal Biology, for his ground-breaking research on the diversity and evolution of eukaryote cells.
Per Eklund, professor at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory, for outstanding research in the field of materials chemistry, in particular the synthesis and characterisation of MAX phases, and for the development of new thermoelectric materials.
Terje Falck-Ytter, professor at the Department of Psychology, for developing tools to enable the early diagnosis of children on the autism spectrum. thereby creating the basis for their future treatment.
Peter Fredriksson, professor at the Department of Economics, for his important research on how institutions and policy affect people’s chances in life.
The 2026 Bergstedt Prize is awarded to:
Christian Glaser, senior lecturer at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, for his innovative and internationally recognised front-line research in the field of radio detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos.
The 2026 Benzelius Prizes have been awarded to:
Andrea Benediktsdottir, post doc at the Department of Chemistry in the field of life sciences, for her outstanding, multidisciplinary contributions to antibiotic research and development.
Sara Florisson, docent at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, for her outstanding studies of the hygromechanical properties of wood materials.
Sandra Håkansson, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Government, for having laid the foundations for scholarly expertise on gender, political office and violence.
Anders Berndt
The Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala
- The Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala is Sweden’s oldest scholarly society, having been founded in 1710 by Eric Benzelius the Younger and modelled on similar academies of sciences on the Continent.
- The Society is organised in four classes with a total of 130 ordinary members and has a scholarly network spanning most fields.
- The Lilly and Sven Thuréus Prizes were created as a result of a donation in 1971. It was originally a single prize, but through a rearrangement has become four prizes annually, one in each of the Society’s four classes.
- The Bergstedt Prize is the Society’s second-oldest prize, established through a bequest made on 12 May 1827 by State Secretary E. Bergstedt.
- The Benzelius Prizes were instituted in the early 1980s in order to utilise the Society’s own funds to recognise and reward the achievements of deserving young researchers.