Erkka Frankberg

Entrepreneurial Researcher interested in solving some of the toughest challenges in Materials Science.

I'm leading a research team focusing on ceramic materials research at the interface of experimental and computational Materials Science.

Introduction video: Research Fellow Erkka J. Frankberg, 2021

Presentation video: Glass Performance Days 2025 - Ductile glass at room temperature

Processing of Advanced Ceramics MSE.460, 5 cr

Discovery of ductile glass (Frankberg et al., Science 2019)

Young Scientist Award 2025 - The European Ceramic Society 

2025 - 2027, Member of the Permanent Executive Council (PEC), The European Ceramic Society

2023 - 2025, Working group leader - Young Ceramists and Training, The European Ceramic Society

2023 - 2026, Finnish Ceramic Society, Secretary and member of the Board of Directors

2016 - 2022, Young Ceramists Network (YCN), Cofounder and member of the Executive Committee 

We have discovered a glass material that does not break, but yields and bends at room temperature. We want to understand what gives glass these new, superior properties. Because if we understand how the properties of a material emerge, we can start manufacturing it, in the future even at industrial scale. 

The new malleable glass materials are stronger than steel, but much lighter in comparison. Glass materials also have significant electrical, chemical and biological properties and functionalities. We use the latest experimental research methods and supercomputing to understand how this kind of glass is formed and becomes a solid, atom by atom.

Ceramic & Glass Science and Technology, Materials Science, Condensed Matter Physics, Computational Physics, Thermodynamics

- Academy Research Fellow/Team leader, Academy of Finland/Tampere University, 2024 - 2028

- Academy Postdoctoral Researcher, Academy of Finland/Tampere University, 2021 - 2024

- Postdoctoral Researcher, Tampere University 2020 - 2021

- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, Italian Institute of Technology, 2019 - 2020

- Postdoctoral Researcher, Italian Institute of Technology, 2018 - 2019

- Doctor of Science in Technology (with distinction), Tampere University of Technology, 2018

- Visiting Researcher, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, 2015 - 2016

• Exceptional Microscale Plasticity in Amorphous Aluminum Oxide at Room Temperature, Erkka J. Frankberg et al., Advanced Materials, 2303142, 2023, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202303142 (Open Access)
• A ceramic that bends instead of shattering, Erkka J. Frankberg, Science 27 Oct 2022 : Vol 378, Issue 6618, pp. 359-360, DOI: 10.1126/science.ade7637 (open access here)
• Highly ductile amorphous oxide at room temperature and high strain rate, Erkka J. Frankberg et al., Science 15 Nov 2019 : Vol. 366, Issue 6467, pp. 864-869, DOI: 10.1126/science.aav1254 (open access here)