The grants go to basic research in medicine, natural sciences, and technology, to projects considered to have the potential to lead to future scientific breakthroughs. This year’s projects range from energy- and data-efficient AI and simulations of the first galaxies to new materials for tackling hazardous water pollution, restoring lost hearing, and understanding the mechanisms behind fibromyalgia and psychiatric conditions.

“It is particularly gratifying to see that 43% of the projects awarded grants are led by women. For many years, the foundation has encouraged universities to aim for a more even gender balance when nominating project applications. That now seems to have had an effect, as the outcome of the international evaluations in recent years has been around 40%,” says Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chair, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

Siv Andersson, Deputy Executive Director of the foundation, highlights the long-term nature of the research: “This is fundamental, free, curiosity-driven research that will give us new knowledge but usually does not lead to immediate applications. Instead, further research can build on it, ultimately resulting in new treatments, methods, or products.”

Since the foundation introduced its project grants in 2011, 334 projects have received a total of SEK 9.2 billion.

The medical projects granted funding (each over five years):

  • Harnessing immune niches for efficient CAR-T cell therapy of brain tumors – Professor Anna Dimberg, Uppsala University, SEK 25 million
  • Do antibiotics, bacteria and gut mucosa together drive cancer development? – Professor Dan Andersson, Uppsala University, SEK 25 million
  • Regenerative blueprints for hearing restoration – Associate Professor Emma Andersson, Karolinska Institutet, SEK 30 million
  • Neural Pathways for Motor Control: Structure, Synapses, and Behavior – Professor Gilad Silberberg, Karolinska Institutet, SEK 29 million
  • The Inflammatory Proteome–Protease–Peptidome (P3) Atlas: From Homeostasis to Pathology and Therapeutics – Professor Johan Malmström, Lund University, SEK 30 million
  • Decoding peripheral immune-muscle-metabolic pathways in fibromyalgia – Professor Johanna Lanner, Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), SEK 27 million
  • Molecular Architecture of Tissue-Specific Insulin Resistance in Humans – Professor Juleen Zierath, Karolinska Institutet, SEK 36 million
  • Splicing Codes Controlling Brain Circuit Connectivity in Health and Disease – Professor Rickard Sandberg, Karolinska Institutet, SEK 37 million
  • Endogenous γδTCR ligands: the hidden regulators of γδT cell fate and function – Associate Professor Taras Kreslavsky, Karolinska Institutet, SEK 35 million
  • Killing cAncer With URacil (KAWUR) – Professor Thomas Helleday, Karolinska Institutet, SEK 25 million