Optimization is at the heart of the challenge to increase our quality of life while maintaining the environment for current and future generations. In order to address this challenge, we use computing for example to forecast weather in order to optimize crops, fine-tune power distribution and optimize transportation routes, all of this in order to reduce wasteful use of resources. A major hurdle in this effort is the huge electricity consumption required for storing and analyzing data, and computing forecasts and optimizations in light of this data. In fact, large scale computing centers are projected to consume over 20% of the global demand for electricity by 2030. Much of this energy budget is used for cooling off waste heat due to inefficient processes and materials. Today, the majority of information is transferred through optical means and the data is stored in magnetic domains and processed electronically. Therefore, progress in the understanding of magnetic materials and their interaction with light is fundamental to the development of energy efficient technologies. This project aims at reducing these inefficiencies through the development of new optically active magnetic materials for low-loss information and communications technologies. Through the use of existing computational tools, and proposed developments, we may efficiently screen candidate materials and mechanisms to propose for our experimental collaborators. A promising route is the development of novel 2D materials – materials formed by one or a few atomic layers. The project is funded by the following external grants and sources: Coherent Control of Materials Properties, Swedish Research Council (VR), PI: Oscar Grånäs Ultrafast Resistive Switching for Bioinspired Devices, Carl Tryggers Stiftelse (CTS), PI: Oscar Grånäs Magneto-optical control of 2D nano-heterostructures for spintronics applications PI: Oscar Grånäs