Skip to content

Topics: Natural science

Van Minh Dinh in the lab at the Department of Chemistry, Umeå University. Photo: Huton Nguyen

Catalytic system turns biomass waste to renewable chemical stock

Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden, in collaboration with scientists from Finland, Vietnam, India, and Italy, have developed a catalytic system to convert lignin structures into highly valuable chemicals. This innovative technology offers promising solutions to pressing environmental and energy challenges.

Jun Zhang, Laura Herzog and Yaowen Wu have found a way to control proteins in living cells. Photo: Shuang Li

New light-tuned chemical tools control processes in living cells

A research group at Umeå University has developed new advanced light-controlled tools that enable precise control of proteins in real time in living cells. This groundbreaking research opens doors to new methods for studying complex processes in cells and could pave the way for significant advances in medicine and synthetic biology.

New research shows that conifers have special strategies to survive the harsh winters in the north. Photo: Johnér Bildbyrå AB

The science behind Christmas trees: How conifers brave winter's worst

As the festive season approaches, evergreen conifers adorn homes worldwide. But while Christmas trees bring warmth and joy into our lives, they endure some of the harshest conditions on Earth in their natural habitats. Most people take it for granted that they maintain their needles lush and green in freezing winters but now scientists can unwrap the science behind conifers’ winter survival.

A mixed forest leads to less damage to trees, according to extensive data analysed by Micael Jonsson and his colleagues. Photo: Ulrika Bergfors

Mixed forests reduce the risk of forest damage in a warmer climate

Forests with few tree species pose considerably higher risk of being damaged and especially vulnerable is the introduced lodgepole pine. This is shown in a new study by researchers from Umeå University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science in Uppsala. The results can be useful for preventing forest damages and financial losses related to the forest industry.

Self-driving machines need to be able to adapt to changes in the environment in order not to risk harming the environment or, in the worst case, people. Graphic: Martin Servin

Computational physics to make AI-controlled heavy machinery safer

When heavy machinery is to become robots with autonomous capabilities, safety is at highest priority. In a new EU project, researchers and industry collaborate to develop reliable and efficient AI-driven machines that minimize the risk of harming people or the environment.

A certain protein in listeria bacteria helps them survive in food production, putting them at risk of food poisoning. Photo: Johnér Bildbyrå AB

Research on calcium transport can fight bacteria and provide safer food

Researchers at Umeå University have revealed details on how bacteria use calcium to regulate vital processes, in a way that differs from human cells. This breakthrough is significant in the fight against antibiotic resistance and for increasing safety in food production.

At the Dåva waste treatment plant in Umeå, microalgae are grown in wastewater, both in greenhouses and outdoors, to be used for producing biodegradable plastics. Photo: Christiane Funk

Researchers aim to create biodegradable plastic – from algae

The Waste2Plastic project at Umeå University has received SEK 15 million from the Swedish Energy Agency and its industrial partners to produce biodegradable plastics, PHA, using microalgae. The algae are grown in wastewater in Umeå and convert carbon dioxide from flue gases into biomass.

Rachel Feeney, PhD Student, and Björn Schröder, Docent in infection biology, the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University. Photo: Anna Shevtsova

Antibiotic usage can damage the protective mucus layer in the gut

Researchers at Umeå University and Tartu University have found that a history of repeated antibiotic use causes defects in the normally protective mucus barrier of the gut, due to antibiotic-driven alterations in the microbiota. In a further study in a different collaboration, the researchers found a bacteria-independent mechanism through which antibiotics can damage the mucus barrier directly.

The Umeå professors' discovery is important for understanding a variety of biological processes in cells. Photo: Mattias Pettersson

Discovery explains the chemistry behind the cell's energy molecule

An international research team led by Umeå professor Magnus Wolf-Watz has discovered how the magnesium atom directs the chemistry that catalyzes the production of the energy molecule ATP in a cell. ATP is a vital driving force in the cell. The study is published in the journal Science Advances.

The project will develop fish and shrimp production in circular aquaculture systems. Photo: Sergio Zimmermann

10 million to project for sustainable shrimp and fish production

The Swedish Agricultural Agency has granted SEK 10 million for a project on sustainable food production, led by Olivier Keech, Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University and Umeå Plant Science Centre. The project aims to establish and optimize sustainable production of shrimp and fish in a circular aquaculture system.

By burying tea bags world wide researchers have been able to measure decomposition. Photo: Tomas Utsi

36’000 tea bags explain global decomposition pattern on new web

Co-developed by Umeå University, a method to measure the decay of plant material with the help of simple tea bags has become the standard in scientific research. Researcher Judith Sarneel, Umeå University, Sweden, has now collected data from over 36’000 individual tea bags worldwide and has revealed global patterns of decomposition in the journal Ecology Letters and on a newly established website.

Stylistic image of how an electron beam from the cryo-microscope hits frozen PSII particles, whereby a reflection is formed that enables the reconstruction of how the atoms are situated. Illustration: Wolfgang Schröder

Details of photosynthesis revealed with record-breaking images

By generating extremely high-resolution images in a cryo-electron microscope, researchers at Umeå University have revealed the positions of hydrogen atoms and water molecules in photosynthesis. This breakthrough provides a new avenue towards uncovering how water is split – a process crucial for life on Earth as well as for scaling up renewable energy systems.

National school for cancer research to be started in Umeå

With support from Cancerfonden, the Swedish Cancer Society, Umeå University will start a new cancer research school in the spring of 2025. The programme, which is unique in Sweden, is aimed at doctoral students throughout the country.

The simulated and the real forestry machine are controlled by the same AI model developed on a supercomputer in several million training steps. Photo: Viktor Wiberg

The world's first AI-controlled forest machine trained on supercomputor

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in creating a self-driving forest machine controlled by artificial intelligence. In a research study at Umeå University, Sweden, an AI system was developed that can operate the 16-ton machine without human intervention. The study has been carried out in collaboration with Skogforsk and Algoryx Simulation.

The bright LEC device with the logo of Umeå University is extremely thin, flexible and lightweight. Photo: Xiaoying Zhang and Joan Ràfols-Ribé

New understanding of energy losses in emerging light source

Umeå University has achieved a breakthrough in the development of next-generation light sources with a new method for understanding and measuring efficiency losses in the emerging light-emitting technology known as LEC.

  The Department of Computing Science at Umeå University is working actively to create a good and inclusive working environment for everyone, whether you are male, female or non-binary. Image: Raenge/Unsplash

Prejudices favour neither students nor the IT industry

The world urgently needs skilled software developers with a holistic perspective. Yet there are many 'he' and few 'she' and 'they' in the industry. “The prejudiced view of computer scientists as a shy white man sitting alone coding in a basement, does not benefit you as a student, the IT industry or society," says Anna Jonsson, responsible for the Civil Engineering Programme in Computing Science.

Show more

Umeå University

Umeå University is a comprehensive university and one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with around 38,000 students and 4,600 staff. We have a diverse range of high-quality educational programmes and research within all disciplinary domains and the arts. Umeå University is also where the groundbreaking CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool was discovered, starting a revolution in genetic engineering that led to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The University has an international atmosphere and centres its work around core academic values. Our tightly knit campus makes it easy to meet, collaborate and share knowledge, something that encourages a dynamic and open culture where we celebrate each other’s successes. Umeå University prides itself in offering a world-class educational and research environment and expanding knowledge of global significance, where the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 inspire and motivate. We have creative and innovative research environments that offer the best potential for taking on the challenges facing society. Through long-term collaborations with organisations, industry and other higher education institutions, the University is helping northern Sweden become a knowledge region. The societal transformation and the massive investments currently occurring in northern Sweden create complex challenges but also opportunities. Umeå University is focused on conducting research about and within a society in transition and continuing to offer academic programmes for regions that need to expand quickly and sustainably.

Campus Umeå and the Umeå Arts Campus are close to the city centre and next to one of Sweden’s largest and most renown university hospitals. Education is also provided in several other towns, including Skellefteå, Örnsköldsvik, Lycksele and Kiruna. Umeå University is home to the highly ranked Umeå Institute of Design, the environmentally certified School of Business, Economics and Law, and the School of Architecture, the only one in Sweden with an artistic profile. Next door is Bildmuseet, which is Umeå’s contemporary art museum, and Curiosum, Umeå’s science centre. Umeå University is one of Sweden’s five national sports universities, has an internationally leading Arctic Research Centre, and has Várdduo, which is Sweden’s only research unit for Sámi research and indigenous research.