NordForsk has funded 16 projects in neutron research, which focus on everything from cancer treatment to the establishment of a neutron research school in Estonia.
Professor Kim Lefmann from University of Copenhagen runs the Neutron School funded by the Nordic Neutron Science initiative of NordForsk. Since its launch in 2016, several PhD candidates from throughout the Nordic and Baltic regions have taken part in the school initiative.
“The neutron school is run by University of Copenhagen, Denmark and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and is situated in Tartu, Estonia. The school can measure up to similar schools at the international level. We offer students new and highly varied teaching methods, including e-learning. The school helps to create closer ties between the Nordic and Baltic countries, and by providing funding, NordForsk is boosting not only the Nordic countries, but the entire Baltic region as well.” says Kim Lefmann.
Doctoral students at the school build a network with other Nordic students that they can expand on throughout their careers.
Kim Lefmann
Can bees help to treat cancer?
One of the research projects in the neutron initiative is trying to find an answer to this question.
Melittin from honey bee venom has long been known as effective against several types of cancer cells. Everything from breast cancer to birthmark cancer.
In this project researchers will use neutron and X-ray methods with computational simulations to unravel the origins of melittin's selectivity to cancer cells at the molecular scale.
Thus, the research project will help to investigate whether bees can help treat cancer.
What is neutron research?
Neutron researchers apply different techniques to see what materials are made of, all the way down to the atomic level. This encompasses hard materials, such as ceramic and metal, soft materials such as plastic and paint, and even biological materials such as wood or pharmaceuticals.
Neutrons can show where atoms are and what atoms do. By scattering neutrons from materials, scientists can visualise the positions and movements of atoms and make discoveries that have the potential to affect almost every aspect of our lives.
Strengthening neutron research through Nordic collaboration
Fredrik Melander, committee chair for NordForsk’s Nordic Neutron Science Initiative is a nestor in the field of neutron research at the Nordic level and has been involved in the initiative from its start-up in 2016. When asked why the Nordic countries are cooperating on neutron research, he answers:
Neutron research is a small area of research, and the Nordic countries are not large enough individually to conduct neutron research adequately on their own. They can benefit from each other’s different strengths and working together enables them to build up long-term expertise in precisely the area of neutron research.”
Fredrik Melander
Neutron research involves developing techniques for examining the components behind all kinds of materials. If a plane’s wing has been ripped off, neutron researchers can examine the wing’s material in such detail that they can provide answers to why it gave way. Neutron research can also be useful in analysing what different pharmaceuticals are made of in order to explain how they react when absorbed into the human body. In the case of archaeological finds, neutron-research techniques can be used to determine the age of an object and what it is made of.
“Neutron research is often a form of applied science, as the techniques it develops can be directly applied in many different contexts,” Fredrik Melander explains.
In Lund, Sweden, a major Nordic research facility European Spallation Source (ESS) is being constructed.
NordForsk's initiative on neutron research is designed to support long-term use of the research facility. When the ESS is finished it stands to be one of the leading neutron research facilities in the world.
Learn more about NordForsk's initiative on neutron research.
