AU Launch: “It’s a really great way to support young researchers”
PlasmoGlass is one of 34 recipients of an AU Launch grant in spring 2026. But bringing the technology to market will be no easy task, says its founder.
It has been hailed as one of Denmark’s five greatest scientific achievements of 2025.
Using nanotechnology, postdoctoral researcher Xavier Baami González and Professor Duncan S. Sutherland have developed a self-regulating window that allows sunlight in while keeping heat out, potentially saving millions of people from having to install air-conditioning systems and other energy-intensive solutions.
Testing the technology is expensive, however, which is why PlasmoGlass, a startup from the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) at Aarhus University, has just been awarded its second AU Launch grant of DKK 150,000.
“It’s a really great way to support young researchers like me,” says Xavier Baami González, one of the 34 grant recipients this spring.
Eighteen of the recipients are from the Faculty of Health, while the university’s other four faculties – Natural Sciences, Technical Sciences, Arts, and Aarhus BSS – account for the remaining 16.
Recipients have received an average of DKK 125,000 through AU Launch, which was established in 2022 and distributes funding from the Danish Research Reserve, BioInnovation Institute (BII), the Salling Foundations, and the Vissing Foundation.
Tiny silver rings capture heat
PlasmoGlass will primarily use the grant to cover the cost of testing at the Danish Technological Institute, where the startup is currently scaling up the technology.
“So far, everything has taken place in the laboratory. Now we’re trying to move closer to the market,” says Xavier Baami González, who holds a master’s degree in materials science from Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona.
In simple terms, his patented technology involves applying a coating of tiny silver rings suspended in a solvent to double-glazed insulating glass. The coating forms a thin film on the inner pane that absorbs heat at specific wavelengths.
PlasmoGlass is in talks with several glass manufacturers and aims to develop a medium-sized window prototype during 2026, before bringing the technology to market at full scale by the end of 2027.
“We need to make sure that our coating process costs no more than the processes manufacturers use today, while performing far better. So it won’t be easy. But with time and patience, I truly believe we can create something big.”
Facts: AU Launch
All startup and spin-out projects rooted in academic work at Aarhus University can apply for an AU Launch grant of up to DKK 400,000. The programme is divided into four application tiers, with progressively more rigorous evaluation criteria.
In spring 2026, 34 of 55 applicants were awarded grants – a success rate of 62 per cent.