“Daylight is an ubiquitous and renewable resource on Earth that allows us to foster human centric building technologies in favour of a sustainable development.“
Prof. Jean-Louis Scartezzini, Spokesperson
Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory, EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland
Expertise: Daylighting Technology, Passive & Active Solar, Sustainable Building Technology
“As a plant ecophysiologist and an ecosystem ecologist, my interest in daylight research is obvious. Plants and (almost) the whole ecosphere gain their energy from sunlight. Moreover, we understand more and more how daylight and the day-night cycle convey information and allow plants and ecosystem to use photoperiod as surrogate for other less reliable cues. Light acts as source of both, energy and information, for the ecosphere - that is what I find exiting.“
Prof. Arthur Gessler
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Expertise: Plant Ecophysiologist, Ecosytem Ecologist, Botany, Agricultural Plant Science
Albert Gjedde is a Danish-Canadian neuroscientist who explores the effect of light on the activity and functions of the cerebral cortex of humans. In this work, Albert Gjedde uses light in the form of 511 keV photon radiation to map the locations of the cerebral cortex where activity and functions change in relation to exogenous light exposure. The activity and functions mapped in this way include energy metabolism and neurotransmitter synthesis, release, and binding to monoamine receptors in the mammalian brain.
Prof. Albert Gjedde
Center of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Expertise: Neuroscience, Physiology, Neurology
“Daylight is energy. I am interested to use visible light in chemical synthesis. Artificial photosynthesis extends the toolbox of chemistry by energy efficient and selective reactions that are useful for the synthesis of drugs and chemicals.“
Prof. Burkhard König
Institute of Organic Chemistry University of Regensburg, Germany
Expertise: Organic Chemistry, Chemical
Brian Norton is an engineer and physicist undertaking research into solar energy conversion and energy in buildings. He has made contributions to the understanding of daylight transmission through advanced adaptive glazing materials particularly for low-heat-loss windows and for luminescent and suspended particle devices storage of daylight in novel photonic systems and the optimisation of solar energy uses in buildings for heat and electricity.
Prof. Brian Norton
Dublin Energy Lab
Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Expertise: Architectural, Electrical & Environmental Engineering
“My research group is looking at the cycles of carbon and nutrients in natural waters.
Daylight drives the growth of green algae which initiate complex food chains in lakes. We are specifically interested in the twilight zone in deep waters where daylight fades away. In this transition zone, the green world of algae and photosynthesis reaches its limits and the dark power of respiration takes control of the biological processes.”
Prof. Bernhard Wehrli
Surface Waters Research & Managment Eawag Dübendorf, Switzerland
Expertise: Biogeochemistry, Water, Sediment, Nutrients, Carbon
“The 24-hour day-night cycle and its changes in day length throughout the year are the most important signals for our biological clock. As a researcher who has studied light effects on human behaviour and physiology as well as its therapeutic applications, I am curious how we can refocus on natural daylight to improve our well-being, performance, and quality of life, as well as implementing advances in chronobiology into improving the built environment.“
Prof. em. Anna Wirz-Justice
Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Clinics, University of Basel, Switzerland
Expertise: circadian rhythms and sleep, light therapy, psychiatry