Materials research at Karlstad University has a long tradition. With strong external funding and close collaboration with the industrial and regional actors, they are now establishing the Materials Research Group, MRG@KaU, taking further steps to contribute through basic and applied research to a sustainable future in material science.
– In total, approximately 40 active researchers are involved in the Materials Research Group at Karlstad university, says Ellen Moons, Professor of Physics and one of the coordinators of the research environment. A strong interdisciplinary collaboration has developed within the team, with research activities ranging from basic materials research to applied research and industrial applications, as well as between experiments and modelling on length scales from nanometer to micrometer and to the macro-scale level. We have just had a relaunch event, including interesting discussions with representatives from the research funding bodies, clusters and Region Värmland.
The event included external speakers, among them Gert Nilson from Jernkontoret, the Swedish iron and steel producers’ association and one of the research funders. He presented “Impact Innovation program Swedish Metals and Minerals”, and stressed the importance of a sustainable supply of materials at the national level. He reminded the audience that Sweden is at the forefront of the materials research area and that continued cooperation regionally, nationally and internationally should be promoted.
Another invited speaker was Magnus Berggren, director of WISE, Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability. He emphasised that a future climate-neutral industry requires more research and that WISE, as a research funding programme, wants to enhance the expertise of both academia and industry with regard to sustainability.
–Two research areas, “Mechanical properties of high-performance materials” and “Additive manufacturing and new materials”, perform research in fundamental and applied science, many projects are carried out with industrial partners, says Pavel Krakhmalev, Professor of Materials Science and the second coordinator of the materials research environment. We work on characterisation and advanced mechanical testing of high performance materials, including new materials for 3D printing. Within the materials research group, we develop new knowledge in materials science and create a platform for effective knowledge transfer and collaboration between companies and the university.
The research team has structured its activities in five thematic areas
- Mechanical properties of high-performance materials
- Additive manufacturing and new materials
- Solar energy materials
- Surface physics and nanomaterials
- Computational Theoretical materials research
Computational materials research is actively advancing at Karlstad University, with links to all the other thematic areas. Calculations and modelling of material properties is one of the pillars of materials research. The team also shares advanced research infrastructure for experimental characterisation of materials using microscopy, spectroscopy, materials synthesis, and more. The researchers are active users of national and international research infrastructure, such as the synchrotron MAXIV and the supercomputer NAISS.
The core of the materials research team consists of researchers at Karlstad University in materials engineering, materials physics, physical chemistry and mechanical engineering. Collaborations and cooperation with other universities, research institutes and companies are important and extensive. The research team has strong external funding from many different sources, both national and international, and it has been a prioritised area since the founding of the university 25 years ago.
