Physics Professor appointed new Editor-in-Chief of IOP Journal

It is "an interdisciplinary and fully open access journal that aims to set the agenda in identifying and publishing the most exciting and significant developments across all areas of energy-related research." Patrik Johansson has been an active member of the journal's Executive Editorial Board for several years. He started his new role on October 1st, with a transition period until January 1st, 2025.

What are your thoughts as you take on this new role? What ideas are you bringing with you?

“I am, first and foremost, truly honoured and look forward to taking on the role. Many of my thoughts revolve around the current and future state of the publishing landscape, how we navigate it, and how I can influence it, even just a little, from within. It's difficult to formulate concrete ideas right now, but of course, there are ideas regarding both content and conceptual aspects that we might explore. I have great support from IOP and the management to ensure I don't stray too far...”

What kind of research do you think is important to highlight in this type of journal?

“Traditionally, we have been broad in our coverage – energy and physics are deeply interconnected for me, so there are few limitations. We've also been clear in our series of "Roadmaps" that we aim to target both fundamental and application-inspired research. When it comes to fully applied research, we might not be the right journal, but there are certainly grey areas worth exploring.”

What role do you believe this journal should play in society?

“I can refer back to our “Roadmaps”, which have had a tremendous impact, both in academia as a way of identifying "hotspots”, and in industry as critical snapshots and future scenarios. We're quite unique in the volume and design of these, and for me personally, they are far more precise and valuable than typical review articles.”

“Perhaps we also need to reach a broader audience with these types of publications, including policymakers and others. In the future, we also need more "regular" high-quality scientific publications of various kind.”

About Patrik Johansson

Patrik Johansson’s research focus is next generation batteries. His research mainly aims to better understand the functionality of new materials at the molecular level, often via various computational methods and spectroscopy, combined with battery concept development and actual battery performance – with a special interest in all types of electrolytes. He is also co-director of Alistore-ERI; a unit of French CNRS which is one of Europe's largest industry-academia networks within battery research, and the Director of the Graphene Flagship, led from Chalmers. In 2021 he got a Swedish Research Council Distinguished Professor Grant for “Next Generation Batteries”.