Myriam Aries and Géza Fischl, from Jönköping University (JU), have recently received the SLL Leon Gaster Award 2024. The researchers were given the award for two papers related to a study on the relationship between light exposure and sleep outcomes among office workers.

“By adapting the light environment, both at home and in the workplace, we can potentially improve our sleep quality and thus our overall health and well-being,” says Myriam Aries.

The Leon Gaster Award is presented annually by the Executive Committee of the Society of Light and Lighting for the best article on lighting applications. The prize was first awarded in 1929, and this year the prize went to researchers from JU plus two other universities:Myriam Aries, Professor of Lighting Science and Géza Fischl, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, from Jönköping University, Arne Lowden, Associate Professor at Stockholm University and Femke Beute, Professor at the University of Southeast Norway.

The award ceremony will take place at the Society of Light & Lighting's Annual General Meeting in London in May 2025, and it is likely to be Myriam Aries who will travel there to receive the award.

Awarded for extensive work

The researchers were honored for their extensive work on light exposure and sleep outcomes among office workers. The papers were published in the Journal of Lighting Research and Technology.

The study looks at how light exposure in the modern workplace affects our sleep, and how we are affected by working in an office or at home. The researchers also examined how sleep is affected according to whether it is a weekday or a weekend.

In the study (funded by the Bertil and Britt Svensson Foundation for Lighting Technology), the researchers followed 15 office workers in Sweden for 4-6 weeks. Participants wore light meters on their clothes and used sleep trackers at home.

“We compared light exposure and sleep quality between working days in the office and working days at home,” says Myriam Aries.

The study shows that the light environment, both in the office and at home, plays an important role in our sleep quality.

Light affects when we wake up and fall asleep

The researchers found that being exposed to more light in the morning was associated with waking earlier, while being exposed to more intense light in the afternoon was associated with falling asleep at a later hour on the office workdays.

“This suggests that light in the morning can help us wake up earlier and feel more rested, while light in the afternoon can delay us falling asleep,” says Myriam.

The study also examined the differences in the relationship between light exposure and sleep outcomes on days with and without social restrictions. That is, whether there were differences in people's sleep patterns on weekdays and weekends, for example.

Myriam's tips for better sleep and a better light environment at home

• Prioritize sleep. You may have to sacrifice something else but prioritize trying to get that extra hour of sleep.- Be outside when it is light. Getting fresh air and daylight is important, especially during the darker seasons.
  
• If you work a lot from home, make sure you have good quality lighting, similar to what you would have if you were in the office.
• Try to go to bed and get up around the same time every day (whether it's a weekend or a weekday).