The Mistra Board has granted Idea Support to six of the 69 proposals that have been received this year. Each of the proposals has been evaluated by an international scientific panel that judges the proposals with respect to environmental benefit and their elements of boldness, originality and creativity. The research must also be explorative and innovative, and may also explicitly challenge or question established views.Elizabeth Ness, Dr. of Chemistry and chair of the international scientific panel that reviewed the Idea Support proposals, believes that the design of the Idea Support initiative is unique. “This type of funding is unusual, and the ideas that Mistra supports would have difficulty being approved by other research funding sources," she says.
Evaluations are necessary
Having financed a total of 30 Idea Support projects, for a total of approximately 160 million Swedish Crowns, Mistra has decided to end the initiative. This year´s tender is the last in the initiative´s current form. Ness feels that this is a good time to stop and evaluate Idea Support. “The concept is a good one, but we would like to know how the initiative has performed, with respect to both research results and what the funding has meant for individual researchers."
Mistra has already drawn some conclusions. One is that Idea Support needs to be better integrated with Mistra´s other research programmes. “We haven´t succeeded in reaching researchers in the social sciences and humanities to the degree we had hoped either. But Idea Support has been able to support unusual initiatives and brave ideas from researchers. That is a power that we want to continue to tap into," says Ola Engelmark, Mistra´s Executive Director.
Six projects share 30 million
The six projects that have been granted Idea Support this year are:
Fuel from the air
The purpose of the project is twofold; to reduce net emissions of carbon dioxide from cars, and to solve the problem of storing hydrogen. The idea involves capturing carbon dioxide from cars and letting it react with locally-produced hydrogen. The reaction produces methane that can then be used as a vehicle fuel. In that way, car owners could produce their own carbon-neutral vehicle fuel.
Project name: Fuel from the air — a study of a new concept
Grant awarded from Mistra: 3.9 MSEK
Contact person: Bengt Steen, Chalmers University of Technology
Sustainable washing machines
The goal is to design a prototype washing machine for household use that reduces the use of water by 70 percent, reduces environmental impact by 60 percent by reducing detergent use with each wash, and reduces electricity consumption by 60 percent — all without reducing the quality of the washing process. A central idea in the project is to reduce water consumption by re-using it.
Project name: Clean development and demonstration — sustainable domestic washing — s´wash
Grant awarded from Mistra: 6 MSEK
Contact person: Peringe Grennfelt, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute
Urban mind
Urban systems have come and gone throughout history, and developed in different directions in part because of environmental change. The purpose of the project is to gain knowledge from history about the urban transitions we face today, i.e. adapting to climate change. This knowledge will be produced by studying the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire and comparing it to ongoing studies in Africa, Eurasia, and North and South America.
Project name: The urban mind — cultural and environmental dynamics
Grant awarded from Mistra: 5.1 MSEK
Contact person: Paul Sinclair, Uppsala University
Universal primer
The goal of the project is to produce an environmentally-adapted universal primer that will increase the ability of surface treatments to affix to metals and plastics. The primer is made up of a protein — MAP — that comes from mussel glue. The glue fixes on all solid materials and is water repellent. In addition, the protein counteracts corrosion on steel and is likely to have the same effect on a number of other metals.
Project name: Universal primer with anticorrosive properties for all types of metals and plastic materials
Grant awarded from Mistra: 5.3 MSEK
Contact person: Camilla Fant, Biopolymer Products AB
Mobile cleaning in agriculture
The purpose of the project is to develop a mobile so-called pyrolysis unit that when burned converts organic waste from agriculture, forestry and park and garden management to charcoal. The process prevents carbon from being emitted to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Instead, the carbon is bound up in the charcoal, which is then used as a fertilizer. The fertility of the soil and its capacity to absorb water increase as a result, and nutrient loss decreases.
Project name: A mobile pyrolysis unit for carbon sequestration and fertilizer production
Grant awarded by Mistra: 5.8 MSEK
Contact person: Lars Hylander, Uppsala University
Lignin-based wood glue
The most common wood glues used today are based on petroleum and formaldehyde — two compounds with known harmful effects on the environment and people. The purpose of the project is to develop a wood adhesive based on lignin, a natural substance from plants that is cheap, safe for the environment, and a renewable resource.
Project name: Lignin based formaldehyde free wood adhesives
Grant awarded by Mistra: 4.5 MSEK
Contact person: Rajni Hatti Kaul, Lund University
Contact person at Mistra:
Anna-Karin Engvall, Director of Communications
Phone: +46 8 791 1027 or +46 70 732 3007
Johan Edman, Project Leader for Mistra´s Idea Support
Phone: +46 70 425 0763
