TNNN's 5th annual conference

Save the date

The TNNN Conference 2026 will be held 6-8 May in Trondheim. The conference will mainly take place at the campus of Gløshaugen. 

The conference will begin with lunch on Wednesday, May 6, and will end on Friday, May 8, after lunch.

Registration

Sign up for the conference here

Accomodation

We have reserved a limited number of rooms at hotel Scandic Lerkendal in Trondheim. 

TNNN will cover the hotel accommodation for PhD members from outside of Trondheim for the two nights during the conference. 

Master’s students are welcome to attend the conference. They cannot participate in the conference dinner and will not have accommodation covered. Registration is completed as usual via the registration form.

Conference fee

TNNN will also cover the conference fee for PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers who are members of the TNNN Research School.

For other participants, the conference fee will be approximately 2000 NOK (exact amount will be known when the registration opens). Payment link will be sent by email after you have registered.

Program

Wednesday 6 May

11.00 - 12.30	Lunch and Registration
12.30-12.35	Opening of the conference
12.35 - 14.10	Session 1: Quantum technology part 1
12.35 - 13.20	Atomically precise structures tailored into 2D materials Jani Kotakoski, Professor, University of Vienna
13.25 - 14.10	Towards in-memory computing using ferroelectric memristors Mattias Borg, Associate Professor, Lund University of Sweden
14.10 - 14.30	Coffee break
14.30 - 16.00	Industry session & Contributed presentation
15.00 - 16.30	Poster pitch presentations
16.45	Bus to Lager 11
17.00 - 21:00	Poster session and dinner at Lager 11

Thursday 7 May

09.00 - 12.00	Session 2: Nanotechnology part 1
09:00 - 09.45	Next-Generation Concepts in Cancer Nanomedicine Twan Lammers, Professor of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
09.45 - 10.00	Contributed presentation
10.00 - 10.15	Contributed presentation
10.15 - 10.45	Coffee break
10.45 - 11.00	Contributed presentation
11.00 - 11.15	Contributed presentation
11.15 - 11.30	Contributed presentation
11.30 - 11.45	Contributed presentation
11.45 - 12.00	Contributed presentation
12.00 - 13.00	Lunch
13.00 - 15.45	Session 3: Nanotechnology part 2
13:00 - 13.45	Medical Micro & Nanotechnologies – fast blood analysis and "swallow your doctor" Anja Boisen, Professor Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark
13.45 - 14.00	Contributed presentation
14.00 - 14.15	Contributed presentation
14.15 - 14.45	Lunch
14.45 - 15.00	Contributed presentation
15.00 - 15.15	Contributed presentation
15.15 - 15.30	Contributed presentation
16.30 - 18.30	Social program
19.00 -	Conference dinner at Rockheim Panorama

Friday 8 May

09.00 - 12.00	Session 4: Optics, photonics and materials
09:00 - 09.45	Title and abstract coming soon Balpreet S. Ahluwalia, Professor / Ultrasound, Microwaves and Optics, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
09.45 - 10.00	Contributed presentation
10.00 - 10.15	Contributed presentation
10.15 - 10.45	Coffee break
10.45 - 11.00	Contributed presentation
11.00 - 11.15	Contributed presentation
11.15 - 11.30	Contributed presentation
11.30 - 11.45	Contributed presentation
11.45 - 12.00	Contributed presentation
12.00 - 13.00	Lunch and end‑of‑conference wrap‑up

Meet the invited speakers

Prof. Dr. Dr. Twan Lammers 

Nanomedicine and drug delivery

Title: Next-Generation Concepts in Cancer Nanomedicine

Abstract:

Nanomedicines are extensively used for cancer therapy. By delivering drug molecules more effectively and more selectively to pathological sites, nanomedicines assist in improving the balance between drug efficacy and toxicity. The tumor accumu-lation of nanomedicines is traditionally ascribed to the EPR effect, which is highly variable, both in animal models and in patients. To address issues associated with tumor targeting heterogeneity, and to promote cancer nanomedicine clinical per-formance and translation, we are working on tools and technologies to modulate, monitor and predict tumor-targeted drug delivery. In this TNNN lecture, several of these strategies will be highlighted, including physical (ultrasound), pharmacological and physiological interventions to prime the tumor microenvironment, and the use of imaging and histopathology biomarkers for patient selection and personalized medicine. Altogether, our efforts aim to establish rational and realistic ways forward to improve the clinical impact of cancer nanomedicines.

Prof. Anja Boisen

Technical University of Denmark

Title: Medical Micro & Nanotechnologies – fast blood analysis and ‘swallow your doctor’

Abstract: 
Our ability to shape materials at the nanoscale opens new possibilities for, among other things, rapid diagnostics and smart medication. I will give examples from our research that encompass both new discoveries and startup stories.

In the treatment of leukemia and sepsis, there is a need for therapeutic monitoring of drug concentrations in patients’ blood. Silicon structures at the nanometer scale can have surprising optical properties. For example, they can enhance the so-called Raman scattering more than a million times. This effect can be used to perform very sensitive measurements of small molecules in a complex blood sample.

Our vision is that in the future we can ‘swallow our doctor’. Ingestible capsules can be made smart so that they can eventually measure, take samples, and perform local repairs/medication in the stomach and intestines. Can this be done without also having to swallow a battery, and how do you take a sample from the intestines?

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jani Kotakoski

University of Vienna

Ttile: Atomically precise structures tailored into 2D materials

Abstract: 

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is often carried out separate from other experimental steps, allowing only “post mortem” analysis. This is a significant disadvantage compared to for example scanning tunneling microscopy, where the microscopic investigation is directly integrated as a part of the same experimental setup where the samples are grown and manipulated. There is however no fundamental reason why TEM and scanning TEM (STEM) could not be similarly integrated into more comprehensive system.

In this contribution, I will present the experimental setup that we have established at the University of Vienna over the past decade to overcome this disadvantage [1]. I will further show how this setup and other advances made in the group in manipulation of 2D materials have enabled research towards truly atomically precise structures that can be tailored into 2D materials (e.g., Refs. [2-8]) for applications ranging from catalysis to quantum information technology.

     1. Mangler et al., Microsc. Microanal. 28 S1, 2940 (2022)
     2. Trentino et al., Nano Lett. 21, 5179-5185 (2021)
     3. Leuthner et al., 2D Mater. 8, 035023 (2021)
     4. Trentino et al., Micron 184, 103667 (2024)
     5. Längle et al., Nat. Mater. 23, 762 (2024)
     6. Speckmann et al., Adv. Mater. Interfaces 12, 2400784 (2024)
     7. Längle et al., arXiv: 2404.07166 (2025)
     8. Joudi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 166102 (2025)

Prof. Balpreet S. Ahluwalia

UiT, The Arctic University of Norway

Title: From Glass Slides to Photonic Chips: A New Era of Multi-Modal Microscopy

Abstract:

For more than a century, optical microscopy has relied on glass slides and coverslips as the basic support for biological samples. To overcome the diffraction limit of conventional optical microscopy, researchers have historically modified the photophysical properties of fluorophores and developed advanced laser engineering techniques. These efforts have significantly enhanced the microscope’s optical setup, yet the fundamental sample support, i.e. glass slides or coverslips has largely remained unchanged.

In this talk, an overview of photonic chip-based multi-modal super-resolution microscopy is presented. Instead of a glass coverslips, the sample is seeded directly on top of an optical waveguide, (photonic-chip), that delivers the evanescent field illumination directly to the sample via total internal reflection (TIR). The core of chip is made of high-refractive index material ensuring excellent optical sectioning via ultra-thin (decay <50nm), ultra-large and clean TIR illumination over entire length of the chip (centimeter scale) and supports broad spectral range.

The photonic-chip based microscopy not only reduces the footprint, and complexity but enables integration of different microscopy platforms such as on-chip single molecule localization optical microscopy (SMLM) [1], on-chip TIRF-structured illumination microscopy (TIRF-SIM) [2], light intensity fluctuation based optical super-resolution microscopy [3] and its compatibility with correlative light-electron microscopy [4]. The chip-based SMLM enabled super-resolved images over millimetre field-of-view scale; a 100-fold increase in imaging area as compared to conventional SMLM platforms, thus opening the opportunities of high-throughput optical nanoscopy. The compatibility of photonic-chip for different biological applications have been demonstrated on living (5) and delicate cells such as neurons (6). Similarly, the photonic-chip withstands standard preparation protocols of histopathology (7). This makes photonic-chip optical microscopy an attractive platform for application looking for scanning large areas with super-resolution and ultra-high contrast.

In this talk, I will also present, recent development of harnessing dark-field alike TIR-illumination from a photonic-chip for label-free superior contrast imaging (8) and label-free super-resolution imaging (9) of nanosized extra-cellular vesciles and tissue sections. By exploiting the photoluminence of the silicon nitride waveguide platform in tandem with the autofluoroscence of tissue sections, we proposed novel incoherent label-free super-resolution optical microscopy. Depending on time, will reflect future directions towards spatial omics applications using photonoic-chip nanoscopy.

Reference
1. R. Diekmann, O. I. Helle, C. I. Oie, P. McCourt, T. R. Huser, M. Schuttpelz, and B. S. Ahluwalia, “Chip-based wide field-of-view nanoscopy,” Nature Photonics 11, 322 (2017).

2.. Ø.I. Helle, F.T. Dullo, M. Lahrberg, J.C.Tinguley, O.G. Hellesø and B. S. Ahluwalia, “ Structured illumination microscopy using a photonic chip. Nature Photonics 14, 431–438 (2020).

3. N. Jayakumar, Ø.I. Helle, K. Agarwal and B. S. Ahluwalia, “On-chip TIRF nanoscopy by applying Haar wavelet kernel analysis on intensity fluctuations induced by chip illumination”, Opt. Express, 28, 35454, 2020.

4. J.C. Tinguely, A. M. Steyer, C. I. Øie, Ø.I. Helle, F.T. Dullo, R. Olsen, P. McCourt, Y. Schwab, B. S. Ahluwalia, “Photonic-chip assisted correlative light and electron microscopy”, Communication Biology 3, 739 (2020).

5. J.C. Tinguely, Ø. I. Helle, and B. S. Ahluwalia, "Silicon nitride waveguide platform for fluorescence microscopy of living cells," Opt. Express 25, 27678-27690 (2017).

6. I. S. Opstad, F. Ströhl, M. Fantham, C. Hockings, O. Vanderpoorten, F. W. van Tartwijk, J. Q. Lin, J.C. Tinguely, F. T. Dullo, G. S. Kaminski-Schierle, B S. Ahluwalia, C F. Kaminski, “A waveguide imaging platform for live-cell TIRF imaging of neurons over large fields of view”, Journal of Biophotonics, 13, 6, e201960222, 2020.

7. Villegas-Hernández, L.E., et al., Chip-based multimodal super-resolution microscopy for histological investigations of cryopreserved tissue sections. Light: Science & Applications, 2022. 11(1): p. 1-17.

8. N. Jayakumar, F.T. Dullo, V. Dubey, A. Ahmad, F. Ströhl, J. Cauzzo, E. M. Guerreiro, O. Snir, N. Skalko-Basnet, K. Agarwal, B. S . Ahluwalia, "Multi-moded high-index contrast optical waveguide for super-contrast high-resolution label-free microscopy" Nanophotonics, vol. 11, no. 15, 2022.

9. N Jayakumar, L E. Villegas-Hernández, W. Zhao, H. Mao, F. T Dullo, J.C Tinguley, K. Sagini, A. Llorente, B. S. Ahluwalia, “Label-free incoherent super-resolution optical microscopy”, Light: Science & Applications 14 (259) 2025.

Assoc. Prof. Mattias Borg

Lund University of Sweden

Title: Towards in-memory computing using ferroelectric memristors

Abstract:

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have led to rapidly escalating energy demands, motivating the search for fundamentally new hardware paradigms for efficient computation. In‑memory computing based on memristive devices offers a promising route to dramatically reducing energy consumption by eliminating the traditional separation between memory and processing. Among these devices, ferroelectric memristors stand out due to their intrinsically low operating currents and robust, nonvolatile switching characteristics.

In this work, we present our recent progress toward reliable in‑memory computing using ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) memristors. Through the development of refined programming schemes, we have enhanced the analog resistance precision from 5 to 7.5 effective bits, enabling more accurate analog computation within neuromorphic and AI‑accelerated architectures. We further evaluate FTJ device performance in representative AI workloads, including image segmentation and natural language processing, and identify an especially strong match with the computational patterns found in natural language applications.

Finally, we demonstrate advances in materials engineering aimed at improving device scalability and manufacturability. Using nanosecond‑pulse laser annealing, we reduce the ferroelectric tunnel barrier thickness to 3.4 nm while improving the electrode/ferroelectric interface quality, paving the way for back‑end‑of‑line integration. Together, these results represent a significant step toward practical, energy‑efficient in‑memory computing platforms based on ferroelectric memristive technologies.