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DTU researchers receive grants from the Villum Foundation

26 researchers from DTU have just received Villum Experiment grants from the Villum Foundation. They are part of a total group of 53 researchers set to test bold, innovative, and daring research ideas.

Building 324, DTU Lyngby Campus. Photo: Stamers Kontor.

Monday 05 October 2026

Patrick Kirk Langschwager

The Villum Foundation has recently awarded a total of DKK 129 million through the Villum Experiment research program. The program is designed to support unorthodox research ideas in their early stages, when the risk of failure is relatively high, but the experiments hold the potential for major scientific breakthroughs. The projects were selected from 280 applications through an anonymized review process in which the panel assessed the originality and potential of the ideas alone, without considering the researchers' academic credentials.

Among the recipients are 26 researchers affiliated with DTU, each receiving a major research grant. The recipients are:

Marlene Mark Jensen, DTU Chemical Engineering, with the project 'MagnetAR – Magnetic Bacteria for Arsenic Recovery from Groundwater'.

Kresten Yvind, DTU Electro, with the project 'Power to the PIC'.

Jan Hidding, DTU Energy, with the project 'Extraordinary magnetometry using fault-tolerant daisy-chaining of one million sensors'.

Aleksandr Razumov, DTU Electro, with the project 'From Randomness to Determinism in Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing'.

Babak Vosoughi Lahijani, DTU Electro, with the project 'Ultrafast photonic computing via Brownian motion and electromechanical transduction'.

Matteo Castagnola, DTU Physics, with the project 'Disentangling surface-molecule interactions with entangled plasmon spectroscopy'.

Mai Winstrup, DTU Space, with the project 'A SWOT-ICE Experiment: Revealing Hidden Ice Sheet Waterways from Space'.

Paul Kempen, DTU Nanolab, with the project 'Capturing the Molecular Point of No Return: Real-Time Liquid-Cell Electron Microscopy of Bacterial Surface Commitment'.

Michela La Bella, DTU Construct, with the project 'How can we make concrete structures self-healing? A multiscale and multimodal crystallographic investigation'.

Yang Liu, DTU Electro, with the project 'Discordant Harmony in Photonics: Quiet Microcombs via Strong Mode Coupling'.

Ming Chen, DTU Energy, with the project 'Testing the Designability of Molten-Salt Corrosion with a Digital Twin Reactor for Additively Manufactured Alloys'.

Apurv Dash, DTU Energy, with the project 'Elastic Ceramics: A New Mechanical State Beyond Brittleness'.

Long Cheng, DTU Electro, with the project 'Silencing the Electron: Pure Magnetic control of 2D antiferromagnets via the 'Dark' Side of Light'.

Ivano Eligio Castelli, DTU Energy, with the project 'Quasicrystals on Demand (QUASI)'.

Edmund Kelleher, DTU Electro, with the project 'Towards terahertz wave nano-imaging of single-bit spin textures (TWIST)'.

Christian Niclaas Saggau, DTU Electro, with the project 'Spectrally Programmable Chip Integrated Frequency Combs for Efficient High-Capacity Data Transfer'.

Stefania Serafin, DTU Engineering Technology, with the project 'AI of Human Experience: Exploring Generative Personal Models for Multisensory Interaction'.

Birgitte Dalsgaard Larsen, DTU Offshore, with the project 'Pressure Communication That Heals? Turning Degassing into Fault Seals for CO2 Storage'.

Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen, DTU Space, with the project '3D Printed Lunar Regolith Extremely Large Aperture Antennas for Deep Space Observations'.

Anders E. Daugaard, DTU Chemical Engineering, with the project 'Water Free Pockets in Water: Turning Fermentation Broth into High Value Materials (HYDROPOC)'.

Ajanta Barh, DTU Electro, with the project 'Precision infrared spectroscopy reaches nanoscale (IR-nano)'.

Joao Otavio de Sousa Mendes, DTU Nanolab, with the project 'Unlocking superionic conductivity in unconventional materials systems'.

Anne Ladegaard Skov, DTU Chemical Engineering, with the project 'Suppression of crystallization in elastomers at low temperatures'.

Jef Canals-Riclot, DTU Energy, with the project 'Plant waste and sand based next generation K-ion batteries'.

Jakob Kibsgaard, DTU Physics, with the project 'Atomic Anchor - Stabilizing Dual- and Triple-Atom Catalysts for the Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction'.

Neri Bonciani, DTU Offshore, with the project 'Unseen but persistent: Can low-concentration discharges create arsenic hotspots on the seafloor?'.

Backed by these grants, the researchers now have the opportunity to push the boundaries of what is possible and test research ideas that could potentially transform their fields.

Read more about the program and the individual projects at the Villum Foundation.

Contact

Marlene Mark Jensen Researcher Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering mmaj@kt.dtu.dk

Kresten Yvind Group Leader, Professor Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering Phone: +45 45256366 Mobile: 2371 2241 kryv@dtu.dk

Jan Hidding Postdoc Department of Energy Conversion and Storage jahid@dtu.dk

Babak Vosoughi Lahijani Assistant Professor Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering Phone: +45 45253642 bala@dtu.dk

Matteo Castagnola Postdoc Department of Physics matcast@dtu.dk

Mai Winstrup Senior Researcher Department of Space Research and Space Technology Phone: +45 45259658 maiwin@dtu.dk

Paul Kempen Associate Professor DTU Nanolab - National Centre for Nano Fabrication and Characterization pkem@dtu.dk

Michela La Bella Postdoc Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering mlabe@dtu.dk

Yang Liu Postdoc Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering Phone: +45 45256567 Mobile: +45 50325519 yangliu@dtu.dk

Ming Chen Professor Department of Energy Conversion and Storage Phone: +45 46775757 Mobile: 2133 0268 minc@dtu.dk

Apurv Dash Assistant Professor Department of Energy Conversion and Storage Mobile: +45 93511612 adash@dtu.dk

Long Cheng Postdoc Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering longch@dtu.dk

Ivano Eligio Castelli Head of Section, Professor Department of Energy Conversion and Storage Mobile: +45 53538491 ivca@dtu.dk

Edmund John Railton Kelleher Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering Phone: +45 45253205 edkel@dtu.dk

Christian Niclaas Saggau Postdoc Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering chrsa@dtu.dk

Stefania Serafin Associate Professor Department of Engineering Technology and Didactics stefse@dtu.dk

Birgitte Dalsgaard Larsen Geoscience Advisor Danish Offshore Technology Centre Mobile: +4593511836 blarsen@dtu.dk

Rasmus Elkjær Jacobsen Assistant Professor Department of Space Research and Space Technology rajac@space.dtu.dk

Anders Egede Daugaard Professor Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Mobile: +45 23652152 adt@kt.dtu.dk

Ajanta Barh Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering Mobile: +45 71457889 ajaba@dtu.dk

Anne Ladegaard Skov Professor, Head of Department Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Mobile: +45 23652156 al@kt.dtu.dk

Jef Canals-Riclot Postdoc Department of Energy Conversion and Storage jefcan@dtu.dk

Jakob Kibsgaard Professor, Section leader Department of Physics Phone: +45 45253290 Mobile: +45 28490648 jkib@fysik.dtu.dk

Neri Bonciani Postdoc Danish Offshore Technology Centre Mobile: +45 52600870 nerbo@dtu.dk