Ludvig Edman rewarded for his bright ideas in research

Ludvig Edman is a researcher at Umeå University and one of the founders of the company LunaLEC.

ImageMattias Pettersson

Ludvig Edman has been a researcher at the Department of Physics at Umeå University since 1996, with a few breaks for further education and research in California. He has now been recognized by the European Research Council (ERC), receiving an ERC Advanced Grant after intense competition with researchers from all over Europe.

“I still can't quite believe it. It is both exciting and stimulating to receive a genuine stamp of quality, indicating that we are conducting cutting-edge research. While the grant goes to me personally, it is definitely my doctoral students and colleagues who have contributed to making it possible,” he says.

It is both exciting and stimulating to receive a genuine stamp of quality, indicating that we are conducting cutting-edge research

Ludvig Edman and his research team are exploring ways to control the function of organic semiconductors to enable a new type of thin, flexible and malleable light source. It can be designed in different colors and patterns, printed or sprayed on almost any surface, such as fabric, plastic or metal, and powered by a simple battery or wirelessly.

“I dare to say we are at the forefront of developing these brilliant thin films. They are environmentally friendly because we have shown that they can be completely free of critical raw materials and metals. They are also easy to produce in an energy- and material-efficient way,” says Ludvig Edman.

Eleven years ago, Ludvig Edman co-founded the company LunaLEC, which develops practical applications of the technology. Some early projects include the development of blue-emitting soft blankets for home treatment of jaundice in newborns and medicine packages that illuminate green or red depending on whether the patient has taken their medicine or not.

The ERC Advanced Grant now allows Ludvig Edman to scale up the fundamental research behind the technology in the coming years.

“It will make a huge difference. I believe and hope that through this we will be able to attract the most promising and skilled researchers to undertake exciting basic research, which in turn can enable the development and realization of new technology in Umeå and in Sweden,” he says.

Read a longer report on Ludvig Edman and his research