Luxembourg University physicist awarded ERC Consolidator Grant
A physicist at the University of Luxembourg has been awarded a €2m Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council to further research into liquid crystals and related materials.
Professor Dr Jan Lagerwall, a Swedish expert in liquid crystals, is only the second academic from the University of Luxembourg to be awarded a highly prestigious ERC Grant, after engineering scientist Professor Dr Stéphane Bordas also won funding.
Giving his reaction, Lagerwall said he could “hardly believe” that he had won a grant, describing the news as “absolutely fantastic”.
Adding his thoughts, university president Rainer Klump said: “This funding is proof of the excellence of our physics researchers and reaffirms how competitive Luxembourg is as a place for research.”
Currently, liquid crystals are found in displays in laptops, TV sets and mobile phones, but Lagerwall believes that their potential is far from exhausted. Consequently, the physicist will use the ERC grant to channel funding into investigating soft artificial ‘muscles’ for new types of robots. Unlike hard industrial robots, ‘soft’ robots can interact directly with people and therefore provide valuable assistance in everyday situations.
Still in its infancy, this discipline, which is known as ‘soft robotics’, is currently seen as a particularly promising area for future research. The funding to Lagerwall from the ERC will be provided over the next five years.
