¸£Àû¼§

Materials are used for everything, all the time. Research in this field has enormous potential to solve our planet’s energy requirements. If society is to function in the long term and human health is to improve, finding new materials is more important than ever.

At Linköping University, we conduct world-leading materials research, and we host the largest investment ever in materials science in Sweden. The hard materials we develop can provide new opportunities for industry. We also develop extremely thin two-dimensional materials, a teaspoonful of which can cover an entire football pitch. The large surface area of thin materials in relation to volume and weight means that they often have unusual properties and great potential in a variety of areas, such as energy storage and water purification. The transition we are now facing will require new materials and technologies beyond current solutions, in terms of renewable energy, climate and environment. LiU has a lot to contribute here. Being strongly positioned in AI enables us to carry out simulations and faster develop vital materials that can make a huge difference.

We have also come a long way in terms of mimicking nature’s way of building materials and using these in medical contexts. This opens up opportunities in, for instance, cancer research, where we want to make the artificial tumours we are already creating behave just like real ones. We can then develop new pharmaceuticals more quickly and reduce the need for animal testing. Our researchers are also developing materials for rapidly growing new skin from the patient’s own cells. This involves the use of a special 3D live skin cell printer to produce skin of the right shape and size.

In the intersection between biology and digital technology, we research grown electrodes for treatment of nervous system and brain diseases. Where it currently takes an operation to insert a device to set off electronic processes in the brain, it may suffice to inject a gel, which is also much more compatible with human biology. LiU researchers are world-leading in this field and want to take new steps to revolutionise treatment methods.

Meeting tomorrow’s health challenges requires new breakthroughs in treating and curing diseases where today’s knowledge is not enough. We must also develop new diagnostic methods to detect disease early, even before patients are affected. At Linköping University, we are convinced that this requires a broad and interdisciplinary scientific approach. We combine the emerging medical research with other disciplines and develop new, innovative methods to achieve just that. In addition, we ensure that the results generated by our researchers are implemented in healthcare for better patient benefit.

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in Sweden, but this does not have to be the case according to our researchers. They have developed a fast and safe method to diagnose heart and coronary artery disease. AI and images of a heartbeat taken in a few milliseconds can save lives, reduce suffering and save money. If the technology is further developed and put into use in hospitals worldwide, this would be a revolution for both doctors and patients.

Cancer is also a disease that claims many lives and causes great suffering. Researchers at LiU are developing a method using sensors to measure specific groups of enzymes that can be signs of cancer. So far, such measurements are not possible and if the researchers succeed, this could contribute to earlier diagnosis. The sensors can also be used to deliver drugs directly into the body with great precision. 

We are also conducting world-leading addiction disorder research that may be the key to finally finding effective treatment for people addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Collaboration between medical science, brain research and psychiatry is the only way to address the rise in addiction disorders.

Mental illness is a major and growing social problem. We want to be able to offer effective, tailored treatment to everyone who needs it. Researchers at LiU are world leaders in online psychological treatments, which have proven to work just as well as meeting a psychologist face-to-face. This opens up opportunities to help even more people in other areas.

We also conduct globally unique research on a completely new type of medicines – electronic medicines – for the treatment of nervous and brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS and aggressive brain tumours. The treatments available today require surgical procedures and normally lose their effect over time. We hope to develop a new kind of treatment that works over a longer period, and which does not require surgery on the nervous system.

Another challenge that LiU researchers are taking on is difficult-to-heal wounds. The new wound dressings being developed have the great advantage that they do not need to be changed, unlike traditional ones. This saves many treatment appointments in healthcare, and frail elderly people do not have to visit healthcare centres or hospitals several times a week. In the case of the most severe wounds, even advanced wound dressings are not enough, so the researchers want to be able to grow skin instead.

Research at Linköping University also caters for the youngest. Prematurely born children who would not have survived ten years ago now have the opportunity to grow up and reach their full potential with the help of LiU research. These children are at increased risk of autism, ADHD and learning difficulties, but some of this can be prevented with the right interventions early on. We want to gain more knowledge about these interventions, and then spread it to the healthcare sector.

LiU’s opportunities to take important leaps forward are increased by us having a strong position in the field of medical humanities, which investigates issues at the intersection of humanities, medical sciences and practice. To address future global health crises, we need to understand how illness, loss, suffering and new medical diagnoses shape our experience of ourselves and our environment. The COVID pandemic is a clear example where individuals and groups were affected in different ways. Another example is the impact of climate change on human health. We want to combine theories and methods from different fields even more to better meet the major health challenges of the future.

We do much of the above using new, innovative methods. TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation), a form of brain stimulation that does not require surgery, is what currently seems most promising in addiction research. We also want to investigate whether TMS treatment can help develop premature babies’ brains. And our unique CT scanner is used to capture images of a heartbeat as well as to understand the mechanisms that control alcohol and drug addiction.

We need to understand humankind, how we acquire knowledge and make decisions, in order to be able to take the right measures in our efforts to change the world for the better. LiU’s strong interdisciplinary work and high-quality research provides good opportunities to use new perspectives and lessons learned to take decisive steps towards a healthier world.

Researchers at LiU conduct advanced research in analytical sociology, where social scientists use large amounts of data, machine learning and AI to understand, for example, what causes segregation and what consequences a certain change could have. Would making a different change improve children’s school performance? By studying what happens at the individual level, we can understand why things turn out the way they do at societal level. This gives us the tools to make changes.

Human behaviours and decisions are also in focus in the research conducted at the intersection of disciplines such as psychology, economics, neuroscience and statistics. This is about the individual’s decisions regarding their own life (e.g. exercising or saving for retirement), and bigger decisions that have wide consequences (e.g. climate issues or healthcare priorities). The reason for many problems in society is that we do not always make decisions in the right way. Even professional decision-makers make decisions that to a large extent are not rational – what can we do about it? For us to be able to use AI as decision support in the future, we also need to know how decision-making is done. LiU is well equipped to contribute to better decisions in a number of areas, such as health and environmental issues.

We also face challenges in children’s and young people’s learning – everything from reduced interest in technology and science subjects to increased need for individualised education at a time when resources are shrinking. All children deserve to reach their full potential. Everyone is needed to build society, solve problems and ensure that Sweden can continue to be one of the world’s strongest innovation countries.

At Linköping University, we have decided to reverse the trend and increase children’s and young people’s interest in technology. For the generation growing up now, the visual is very important. Our world-leading research in visualisation is the foundation when we make scientific information accessible to everyone. The Exploranation Laboratory visualisation lab offers young and old an opportunity to explore large amounts of scientific data, and when the results are visualised, you can understand facts and relationships in a way that was previously not possible. We now want to take this further by launching an initiative for younger children. By developing the pedagogy of tomorrow and furthering our research into visual technologies, we show the new generation how exciting science is and pave the way for the engineers of the future.

AI and new technologies have great potential to make teaching more effective and increase students’ knowledge. For this to succeed, however, we need to develop well-thought-out methods that are rooted in educational research. We cannot let algorithms act as decision makers and watch our children become guinea pigs. At LiU, some of the world’s leading AI researchers work together with colleagues in cognitive science, educational science and computer science. This provides us with very good conditions for developing interdisciplinary research in AI, learning and education and for producing teachers with high AI skills who can educate and enthuse our future change leaders.

Researchers at LiU can and want to contribute to innovative and successful learning. In the long run, it is not just about young people’s learning; there is great potential for everyone – regardless of age – to benefit from the progress.