SciLifeLab Voices: Patrick Truong & Markus Ekvall
Hi guys, you are students at SciLifeLab and entrepreneurs (Terran). Tell us more about your research and innovation.
Markus: I started my academic journey in Lukas Käll’s lab as a research engineer, where I focused on creating methods to search for KTH scientists through their publications using retrieval techniques typical of modern Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems. Since then, my co-founders and I have launched Terran, aiming to expand scientific exploration globally. Additionally, I have further developed RAG for biological applications within my PhD project in Joakim Lundeberg’s group.
Patrick: I also began my academic journey in Lukas Käll’s lab but as a PhD student, where I focused on developing methods in mass-spectrometry-based proteomics. I met Markus here and it was quite natural for me to become a co-founder of Terran since we worked well together and had a lot of fun working. Since then, my research has evolved to include methods development in phylogenetic trees with Benjamin Murrell, and I am now contributing to advancements in spatial multimodal analysis as part of Joakim Lundeberg’s group.
Where do you see Terran in, say 5 years from now?
Markus: In five years, I see Terran as the driving force behind a Nobel Prize-winning idea, providing the infrastructure to make it possible. Terran will have catalyzed the idea’s inception, the formation of collaborations, the acquisition of funding, and the societal recognition needed to bring it to the spotlight. Terran will be the platform where all scientific stakeholders can engage and catalyze impactful innovations.
Patrick: We’re gaining some awesome traction right now, so I think we’re going to grow into something truly impactful over the next five years. By then, I see us making a real difference, not just for researchers, but for society and industry as a whole. We’ll be a major force in helping industries grow and enabling PhDs to find exciting, meaningful work beyond academia. With our expanding database and plans to include patents, company data, policy documents, clinical trials, and even social media, we’ll be connecting the dots like never before to fuel collaboration and innovation. But what excites me most is the team we’re building. In five years, I picture us surrounded by an incredible group of talented, fun, and passionate people—hopefully in a cozy office in Gamla Stan—doing meaningful work and having a blast while we’re at it.
What would be the dream scenario for you career-wise – academia, industry, or a combination?
Markus: To make Terran succeed, we must have a foot in academia and industry, which perfectly aligns with our interests. To understand the creation of innovation and where it’s headed, we need to be close to the scientists in academia. But to make innovations impactful, we also need to be closely connected with other scientific stakeholders, such as, e.g., R&D companies and scientific journalists, and make the innovation digestible to the public since innovation will ultimately impact their lives.
Patrick: I mean we work with the intersection of Academia and Industry, so it would be very nice to have a foot in both places. If you think about this, it makes sense because we want to make a bridge between scientists and the rest of society. For this to happen in the right way we need to still understand how scientists work and think. But, most importantly, I think it would be more fun to work with scientists as well. I really enjoy the environment we have here at SciLifeLab and KI Science Park.
If you today could give yourselves some advice when you developed the technology behind the company – what would that be?
Markus: Finding an enjoyable team to work with is crucial – choose people you enjoy spending time with outside of work. Developing impactful technology will occupy a significant part of your life. If that journey becomes painful, depressing, and lonely, you’re wasting your life, in my opinion. While many other factors are involved in creating impactful technology, having the right team sets the foundation. You will stumble into many problems during the journey, and solving the issues with a team will be fun rather than burdensome.
Patrick: You are going to spend a lot working when you are building a company. It’s really important to work with people you like. Actually, that has been my main goal in life, to just do stuff I enjoy doing and when you enjoy building, something difficult will feel much easier. So make sure that you enjoy what you are doing and enjoy the company you surround yourself with, every hard working hour will then be filled with laughter and fun 🙂
Which movie did you see last that made a lasting impression on you, and why?
Markus: The movie ‘There Will Be Blood’ is influential to me because the main character embodies traits often seen in successful founders: ambition, hard work, and a strong will to win, but unfortunately, also a lack of respect for others. He achieves monetary success but ends up very lonely and sad. This movie serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of focusing too much on “winning” at the expense of positively impacting others.
Patrick: Honestly, I just like manly stuff so gotta say 300. I really like the manly roars and screams and the guys just getting pounded at the compound and pushing through. The first battle scene wow…. I’ve watched that movie like 6-7 times or something, also it constantly gets me jacked before gym sessions.
In the picture (from the left): Patrick Truong, Markus Ekvall and Sébastien Morand (3rd co-founder).
