Democracy and academic freedom is the theme for the lecture series Research just around the corner in 2026.

At Linköping University, knowledge is something not only to be created and collected but also to be shared. Via this series of lunchtime lectures, the aim with "Research just around the corner" is to disseminate knowledge to the general public, LiU employees and students on a general theme every term. Do you know what is just around the corner at your university?

Everybody is welcome to join us in Lövverket in Studenthuset, Campus Valla. All lectures can also be followed via live stream and viewed online retroactively.

Democracy and Academic Freedom: How Can We Save the World?

In an era dominated by geopolitical conflicts, economic uncertainty, and a pervasive sense of insecurity, one question stands out: What can we do to reverse this trend—and how can we ensure that the solutions are democratic and inclusive?

At Linköping University, we tackle these challenges with courage, innovation, and a clear focus on democracy. Every researcher and research team contributes in concrete, interdisciplinary ways to building a more stable, just, and sustainable world. But what does this look like in practice?

Welcome to a series of open lectures with leading academics and scholars!

Ett landskap med nio personer som står på varsin trave med böcker.

Josefina Syssner

In Swedish

Why universities are good for democracy

Time and place

  • 29 September, 12.15–13.00
  • Lövverket, Studenthuset, Campus Valla
  • The lecture can also be followed online: Livestream link

Md Fahim Sikder

Protecting Patient Privacy and Preventing Bias: What Synthetic Data Can Do

Machine learning systems in healthcare learn from the records of patients treated in the past. However, those records contain sensitive information on real people and cannot be shared freely. To address this, we work on synthetic data: artificial patient records generated by AI models that follow the patterns of the real data without containing information about any real patients.

In this lecture, Md Fahim Sikder will discuss how synthetic data can reduce privacy risk of sharing patient records, how the generation process can be adjusted to represent underrepresented groups better, and where this approach falls short.

Time and place

  • 13 October, 12.15–13.00
  • Lövverket, Studenthuset, Campus Valla
  • The lecture can also be followed online: Livestream link

Adam Briggle 

What is Academic Freedom for?

Democracies across the globe are in decline as internal political actors weaken civil rights and diminish the independence of core institutions, including the university. Of course, it is important to defend academic freedom in the face of such attacks. Yet we also need to think carefully about what this freedom means.

In this talk, Adam Briggle distinguishes three kinds of academic freedom: 1. Protective (freedom from power); 2. Critical (freedom to speak truth to power); and 3. Constitutive (freedom to cultivate democratic power). He argues that the third kind is now the most important, and that this highlights the vital role of the humanities for democracies.

Time and place

  • 10 November, 12.15–13.00
  • Lövverket, Studenthuset, Campus Valla
  • The lecture can also be followed online: Livestream link

David Livingstone Smith

How Not to Be a Fascist

It is widely accepted that one aim of higher education is to help young people to become thoughtful, responsible citizens. This is important, but there is a vital element that is neglected.  In this lecture David Livingstone Smith argues that to help young people become thoughtful, responsible citizens, we must teach them to recognize the powerful emotional appeal of far-right ideology and propaganda so that they can more effectively resist it.

Time and place

  • 24 November, 12.15–13.00
  • Lövverket, Studenthuset, Campus Valla
  • The lecture can also be followed online: Livestream link

Mariana Gustafsson

When Democracy Goes Digital: Who gains power and who gets left behind?

Digital technologies are transforming how citizens meet the state—from welfare services and automated decisions to digital participation and crisis governance. But does digitalisation strengthen democracy, or can it also create new forms of exclusion and distance?

Drawing on research from Sweden and Ukraine, the lecture explores how digital government redistributes power between citizens and public institutions, and what Ukraine’s experience under war can teach us about digitalisation, participation and democratic resilience.

Time and place

  • 8 December, 12.15–13.00
  • Lövverket, Studenthuset, Campus Valla
  • The lecture can also be followed online: Livestream link

Previous lectures in 2026

Previous lectures

Recordings of lectures

View previous lectures in the series Research just around the corner. Some of them are in Swedish, and some in English.