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Mastering Light – An Innovation Engine for Science and Technology

Research networks

Active research

Project period

2026 - ongoing

Project owner

Raimund Feifel

Area

Science and Information Technology

Topic

Physical Sciences

Short description

Just as electronics defined the twentieth century, photonics – the science and technology of light – is becoming a key enabler of the twenty-first, offering e.g. energy efficient and much faster information processing. Our vision is to establish Sweden as a global leader in the control of light in space and time, implying control of matter through light-matter interaction.

Contact

Åsa Claesson

Innovation coordinator

asa.claesson@ri.se

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Paramount example

Attosecond science (NP in Physics 2023) allows us to ultimately manipulate electronic processes on their natural scales.

Potential breakthroughs

Breakthroughs are expected in autonomous photonic processors and smart materials that adapt their electronic and optical functions to their environment, bypassing the thermal and speed limits of traditional silicon computing.

What do we want to achieve?

-> Create Sweden’s first fully integrated national ecosystem for light-driven science and technology, connecting universities, research infrastructures, photonics companies, system integrators, innovation actors, investors, and public stakeholders in a coordinated platform for discovery, education, innovation, and societal impact.

-> Unlock the full potential of Sweden’s world-leading expertise in photonics and light-matter interactions by combining experiment, theory, computation, and AI across disciplines and institutions, enabling breakthroughs beyond the reach of individual laboratories or research environments.

-> Integrate social sciences and humanities throughout the innovation process, ensuring that technological advances are developed responsibly, aligned with societal needs, and translated into long-term public value.

-> Accelerate the transformation of scientific excellence into societal and economic impact, translating discoveries into industrial renewal, sustainable growth, competitive products, new companies, and solutions to major societal challenges.

-> Build a national engine for investment, innovation, and scale-up, aligning research programs, infrastructures, industrial initiatives, and funding opportunities to attract new national and international investments that no individual actor could leverage alone.

How to get there, and what to do?

We are building from a unique academic position and our national platform PhotonicSweden connecting companies, academic institutions, research organizations, and public sector stakeholders.

Out of about 400 companies and organisation who work with and have needs for photonic solutions we have interviewed more than 100 that have provided LoI´s to hear their needs expectations and what they can contribute with.

Wish list in short:

Joint engineering programmes
Educated personnel
Lab access
Technical support

Who we are

A constellation of major ”academic” groups in Sweden*, utilizing national and international research infrastructures partnering and supporting photonic companies system developer

Research organization

involves three complementary levels of activities:

Technology Research (TR), which develops capabilities for engineering light.
Exploratory Research (ER), which uses these capabilities to open new scientific frontiers.
Applied Research (AR), which translates them into solutions for five strategic Sectors (S) identified in our Innovation Plan and in line with Europe’s Photonic21 roadmap: