The idea to start the project was born at Lund University.

- I got a call from Finland that conducted this type of research and thought I wanted to do the same thing in Sweden, says Johan Revstedt, professor of fluid mechanics at Lund University.

A network was started and the project is now led by Luleå University. The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and Chalmers University of Technology have also jumped on the bandwagon.

- The purpose is to investigate how particles move when you cough and breathe. And then also look at what effect mouthguards have in this regard. We have a pandemic and therefore the project is important right now, says Johan Revstedt.

Simulation and experiments

The research project will run until the autumn of 2021 and has been granted SEK 1.8 million from the Swedish Research Council.

- We do not look at the medical aspect but the mechanical one. And we will investigate saliva particles through computer simulation, but also through practical experiments, says Johan Revstedt.