Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

The Department of Computer and Information Science is one of the largest departments in northern Europe in its field. Research activity at IDA covers artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, software and computer systems, and data science.

The department is a dynamic and growing environment for research and education with around 300 employees. The activity covers a wide range of areas, from core computer science to applications of science. It is oriented towards both the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The research activity at IDA is mainly performed within four major areas, each divided into a number of subareas:

Artificial intelligence (AI) with the subareas of autonomous systems and robotics, knowledge representation and reasoning, ontologies and semantic web, automated planning, applied machine learning, multi-agent systems, natural language processing, and theoretical foundations of AI.

Cognition, interaction and design with the subareas of cognitive science, cognitive systems engineering, interaction design, service design, public safety and security, decision support, human factors, and social robotics.
Software and computer systems with the subareas of software engineering, embedded and cyberphysical systems, real-time systems, cyber security and resilient systems, networks and distributed systems, multimedia systems, formal methods, compilers and programming language, and parallel and high performance computing.
Data science with the subareas of machine learning methodology, statistics, database technology, and data analytics.

The broad research base of the department directly enriches the undergraduate and graduate education. The department gives courses within most engineering programmes, several Master programmes, as well as the programmes for innovative programming, cognitive science and statistics.

IDA also offers doctoral education in computer science, design, cognitive science and statistics. Currently, around 90 postgraduate students are active in the department’s PhD programmes.

The department was founded in 1983, but its roots can be traced to the early seventies. It is organised in six divisions.

Calendar

News at IDA

19 May 2025

New doctor in Cognitive Science: Emma Mainza Chilufya

On March 28, Emma Mainza Chilufya at the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA) successfully defended her thesis about human-computer interaction. "Being a PhD student at IDA has been eye-opening and inspiring", she says.

Dustin Stoltz, sitting at a table in urban setting

14 May 2025

5 minutes with Dustin Stoltz

Meet Dustin S. Stoltz from Lehigh University, a cultural and economic sociologist using computational methods to study cultural change.

Mikael Asplund in the cybersecurity lab.

12 May 2025

New cybersecurity lab at LiU

The new cybersecurity lab is a milestone in Linköping University´s investment in education in this field. The students should feel that "wow, it's possible to do something exciting here", said Vice-Rector Matts Karlsson at the inauguration on 7 May.

Research

Wallenberg AI autonomous systems and software program is a collaboration between academia and industry in Sweden.

robot dog Spot, drone, small helicopter, operator

WASP at Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

WASP, Wallenberg AI autonomous systems and software program, is the largest individual research investment in Sweden in modern times. One of the WASP research environments at LiU is located at the Department of Computer and Information Science.

Other large industrial collaborations and national strategic research areas

Small service robot together with a few persons

TAILOR – A European network of AI excellence centres

TAILOR is a European project coordinated by Linköping University, with the aim to build the capacity to provide the scientific foundations for Trustworthy AI in Europe. TAILOR is also a network of research excellence centres.

TrustLLM - trustworthy, open and sustainable language model for European languages

TrustLLM is a European project coordinated by Linköping University. The project will develop a language model for European languages including Swedish and is to benefit citizens and industry alike.

Image illustrating computer programming with a number of different symbols.

Adaptive Software for the Heterogenous Edge-Cloud-Continuum - ASTECC

ASTECC is a 5-year cooperative research project in software systems at the Department of Computer and Information Science. It is funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF).

ELLIIT

ELLIIT is a network organization for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research at Linköping, Lund, Halmstad and Blekinge. The objective is scientific excellence in combination with industrial relevance and impact.

Security Link

A platform for strategic interdisciplinary research, within crisis management, security and infrastructure protection. The research covers sensors, telecommunication, sensor and information fusion, decision support, information security and ethics.

More projects at IDA and centra/laboratories for collaboration

Car, taxi and bus traffic on road intersection at night in Hong Kong downtown, drone aerial view. Street commuters, Asian city life or public transport concept.

The Swedish Excellence Centre for Computational Social Science

This is a research hub and training center at the forefront of Computational Social Science, a rapidly growing field that leverages computational tools to advance our understanding of human behavior and the complex social dynamics it can bring about.

Cybersecurity lab at LiU

The cybersecurity lab offers facilities that are tailored for teaching cybersecurity in undergraduate and professional training programs.

Teacher and students with laptops interact

Graduate School in Computer Science, CUGS

The scientific scope of the graduate school CUGS at the Department of Computer and Information Science at Linköping University includes central parts of core computer science and computer engineering.

A portrait of Magnus Bång standing in between two shelves filled with electronics

Better results when AI and humans collaborate

Artificial intelligence that doesn’t take into account human operators creates problems. Now LiU researchers are building a system where AI and humans work together to control air traffic.

Aseel Berglund researches movement at work.

Game at work – for your health

Humans are hunters and gatherers. But in today’s modern society, we are sitting more than ever, which is bad for our Stone Age body. Researchers Aseel and Erik Berglund want to change this with the help of computer games at work.

Doctoral studies

Doctoral (PhD) studies at the Department of Computer and Information Science

Doctoral studies at the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA) are organised to cross traditional subject boundaries, and is common to the whole department.

What is it like to be a PhD student at IDA?

New doctor in Cognitive Science: Emma Mainza Chilufya

New doctor in Computer Science: Dominik Drexler

On March 24, Dominik Drexler at the Dept of Computer and Information Science successfully defended his thesis about integrating learning and AI planning. "Pursuing a PhD at IDA has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life", he says.

Mina Niknafs shows her printed thesis in the lecture hall.

New doctor in Computer Science: Mina Niknafs

On March 3, Mina Niknafs at the Dept of Computer and Information Science defended her thesis on resource management. "Pursuing a PhD at IDA is an enriching experience that combines academic freedom with a supportive research culture", she says.

Educational programmes involving IDA

The department gives courses within most engineering programmes, the Bachelor's programmes in Information Systems Analysis, Innovative Programming, Cognitive Science, and Statistics and Data Analysis, and several Master's programmes.

For more information on the programmes in Swedish that the department gives courses within, please visit Institutionen för datavetenskap (utbildningsprogram).

Master's programmes

three young persons discussing while sat in front of a computer screen

Computer Science, Master's Programme, 120 credits

Provides skills needed within modern software technology, for positions such as operating systems designer or Internet security specialists. You can also pursue a career in research or continue your studies towards a doctoral degree.

Cybersecurity, Master's Programme, 120 credits

Help defend society against cyberattacks and develop next-generation security solutions. This programme combines theoretical courses and practical exercises which will give you tools to address the digital security challenges of today and tomorrow.

Design, Master's Programme, 120 credits

This programme offers an interdisciplinary design-based approach to tackling societal challenges through service design, sustainable design and visual media design. Established and innovative design concepts are incorporated in a collaborative setup.

Popular online courses

Elements of AI, 2 credits

The course aims to give an introduction and overview of artificial intelligence. The focus is on understanding the concept and some important techniques such as search and machine learning as well as consequences of AI on society. Start the course

Elements of AI, Part 2: Building AI, 2 credits

Course contentThe course aims to introduce practical AI, focusing on basic machine learning. The aim is to understand how to build AI systems using machine learning, gain insight into the possibilities and limitations of the technology, and to get

AI for natural language, 3 credits

Course contentWriting computer programs that understand and produce human language is a central goal of artificial intelligence. This course aims to provide an understanding of how far we are from this goal: what is and what is not possible today.

Contact us

Student Office at IDA

Contact: expedition@ida.liu.se

Visiting address: Room 3F:477B, Building E, Entrance 27/29, Floor 3, Campus Valla

Opening hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays between 12.15 and 13.00.

Registrar at IDA

Contact: registrator@ida.liu.se

Doctoral education at IDA

Contact: Anne Moe, Coordinator

E-mail: anne.moe@liu.se

Phone: +46 13 28 14 60

Management

Job	Published To	Employment Type	External ID	City	Institution	Position	URL
Research engineer	2025-06-02	Time limited employment (temporary)	MAI-2025-00037	Linkoping	MAI - Department of Mathematics	Technical and Administrative personnel	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26453
Senior Associate Professor in Construction Engineering	2025-08-11	Permanent employment	LiU-2025-01086	Norrkoping	ITN - Department of Science and Technology	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26549
Postdoc in the field of Materials Science and Engineering	2025-06-10	Time limited employment (temporary)	IEI-2025-00222	Linkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26579
Associate Professor in Construction Engineering at the Department of Science and Technology	2025-08-11	Permanent employment	LiU-2025-01085	Norrkoping	ITN - Department of Science and Technology	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26631
Postdoc in Sustainable photosynthetic living materials and devices	2025-05-27	Time limited employment (temporary)	LiU-2025-02017	Norrkoping	ITN - Department of Science and Technology	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26676
Postdoc in the field of Materials Science and Engineering	2025-05-30	Time limited employment (temporary)	IEI-2025-00247	Linkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26682
Assistant professor in production engineering	2025-05-26	Time limited employment (temporary)	LiU-2025-01882	Linkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26693
Associate Professor in Industrial Marketing	2025-05-27	Permanent employment	LiU-2025-01563	Linkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26699
Senior Associate Professor in Industrial Marketing	2025-05-27	Permanent employment	LiU-2025-01562	Linkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26701
PhD students in Generative AI and Machine Learning	2025-05-26	Time limited employment (temporary)	IDA-2025-00156	Linkoping	IDA - Department of Computer and Information Science	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26718
PhD student in Multiagent Automatic Control	2025-06-09	Time limited employment (temporary)	LiU-2025-01951	Linkoping	ISY - Department of Electrical Engineering	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26739
PhD student in Environmental Science	2025-06-02	Time limited employment (temporary)	TEMA-2025-00113	Linkoping	TEMA - Department of Thematic Studies	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26774
PhD student in Environmental Science	2025-06-02	Time limited employment (temporary)	TEMA-2025-00114	Linkoping	TEMA - Department of Thematic Studies	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26775
PhD student in Materials Science	2025-06-02	Time limited employment (temporary)	IFM-2025-00102	Linkoping	IFM - Department of Physics, Biology and Chemistry	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26790
PhD student in Computer Science at IDA	2025-07-31	Time limited employment (temporary)	IDA-2025-00155	Linkoping	IDA - Department of Computer and Information Science	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26793
Principal research engineer in Molecular Biology at BKV	2025-05-28	Time limited employment (temporary)	BKV-2025-00382	Linkoping	BKV - Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	Technical and Administrative personnel	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26800
Teaching assistants/Amanuens in Business Administration	2025-05-28	Extrajob	IEI-2025-00279	Linkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Student	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26813
PhD student in Materials Science (Theory and modelling)	2025-06-03	Time limited employment (temporary)	IFM-2025-00152	Linkoping	IFM - Department of Physics, Biology and Chemistry	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26841
Amanuens (Research project student-assistant) in computer science at IDA	2025-06-08	Time limited employment (temporary)	IDA-2025-00180	Linkoping	IDA - Department of Computer and Information Science	Student	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26846
Research assistant in cancer at BKV	2025-06-03	Time limited employment (temporary)	BKV-2025-00409	Linkoping	BKV - Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	Technical and Administrative personnel	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26848
Postdoc in Computational Social Science	2025-06-03	Time limited employment (temporary)	IDA-2025-00181	Linkoping	IDA - Department of Computer and Information Science	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26852
Postdoc in Computational Social Science	2025-06-03	Time limited employment (temporary)	IEI-2025-00280	Norrkoping	IEI - Department of Management and Engineering	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26854
PhD student in animal behaviour	2025-06-05	Time limited employment (temporary)	IFM-2025-00241	Linkoping	IFM - Department of Physics, Biology and Chemistry	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26856
Postdoc in Optimization (WASP)	2025-06-16	Time limited employment (temporary)	MAI-2025-00029	Linkoping	MAI - Department of Mathematics	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26870
Postdoc in ion channel biophysics and evolution at BKV	2025-06-06	Time limited employment (temporary)	BKV-2025-00395	Linkoping	BKV - Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26875
Research engineer in hematology at BKV	2025-06-05	Time limited employment (temporary)	BKV-2025-00417	Linkoping	BKV - Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	Technical and Administrative personnel	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26876
Research Assistants in Tumour Evolution and Single-cell Genomics at BKV	2025-06-06	Time limited employment (temporary)	BKV-2025-00422	Linkoping	BKV - Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	Technical and Administrative personnel	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26884
Postdoc in Polymer Nanofibers for Solar Fuels Photocatalysis	2025-06-20	Time limited employment (temporary)	LiU-2025-02492	Norrkoping	ITN - Department of Science and Technology	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26893
UX design and development - Visualization Center C	2025-06-15	Extrajob	LiU-2025-02544	Norrkoping	ITN - Department of Science and Technology	Student	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26904
Employment as a PhD student in Medical Science at BKV	2025-06-13	Time limited employment (temporary)	BKV-2025-00442	Linkoping	BKV - Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	PhD students	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26934
Postdoc in Evolvable soft neural electrodes	2025-06-16	Time limited employment (temporary)	LiU-2025-02667	Norrkoping	ITN - Department of Science and Technology	Teachers and Scientists	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26940
Director of the Swedish AI Factory MIMER	2025-06-13	Permanent employment	LiU-2025-02698	Linkoping	NAISS - Nationell Akademisk Infrastruktur för Superdatorer i Sverige	Technical and Administrative personnel	https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/26944

Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

Calendar

News at IDA

New doctor in Cognitive Science: Emma Mainza Chilufya

5 minutes with Dustin Stoltz

New cybersecurity lab at LiU

5 minutes with Josef Ginnerskov

5 minutes with Marshall Taylor

New doctor in Computer Science: Dominik Drexler

Dominik Drexler awarded the Lawson Scholarship for 2024

The researchers who need to be one step ahead

New doctor in Computer Science: Mina Niknafs

Millions raised to advance quality assurance of software

Machine Psychology – a bridge to general AI

Innovative idea for more effective cancer treatments rewarded

Best student paper award to Riley Capshaw

Shaping AI technology for the benefit of society globally

LiU at the forefront of strategic research

New doctor in Computer Science: Klervie Toczé

The focus period resulted in new collaborations for the climate

LiU receives SEK 232 million from the Swedish Research Council

Symposium aiming to improve the climate

AI may boost society's cybersecurity

An AI look into the future

Machine learning can give the climate a chance

Collaboration between humans and AI - focus for conference

New PhD thesis in Computer Science about social media interactions

A new doctor in Computer Science: George Osipov

AI and interdisciplinarity go hand in hand

Fredrik Löfgren has passed away suddenly

IEEE Linköping University Student Branch Wins 2023 Regional Exemplary Student Branch Award

Robots are common in the care of older adults

Game at work – for your health

Best poster award for knowledge graph technology

Best paper award in automated planning

WASP extended with a new initiative: AI for Science

International recognition for AI researcher at LiU

ISY Day 2024 – AI in Society, Education, and Research

Kickoff Conference for SweCSS

Synthetic images can save a lot of time in healthcare

Developing medical AI without sharing sensitive information

Developing artificial intelligence that benefits society

Apply to Visiting Fellows Program at SweCSS

Erik Sandewall, one of LiU's pioneers, has passed away

George Osipov awarded the Lawson Scholarship for 2023

Celebration of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, at IDA

How can AI be made secure and used to create safety?

Studying whether a robot can awaken children’s interest in reading

New PhD Thesis in Computer Science

Where to place lifesaving bleeding control first aid equipment

Fredrik Heintz - member of the government’s new AI Commission

Two new Wallenberg Academy Fellows at LiU

LiU Game Awards 2023: finalists announced

Research

WASP at Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)

Other large industrial collaborations and national strategic research areas

TAILOR – A European network of AI excellence centres

TrustLLM - trustworthy, open and sustainable language model for European languages

Adaptive Software for the Heterogenous Edge-Cloud-Continuum - ASTECC

ELLIIT

Security Link

More projects at IDA and centra/laboratories for collaboration

The Swedish Excellence Centre for Computational Social Science

Cybersecurity lab at LiU

Graduate School in Computer Science, CUGS

Professional Self-efficacy, Emotional challenges and Moral stress in Teacher and Medical Education

Database and Web Information Systems

Security and Networks

Telecommunications for Smart Cities

Wireless Optimization and Analytics

Just Transitions Graduate School

Center for Advanced Research in Emergency Response - CARER

Semantic Web

Disaster Medicine

Changing the game of consumption

Switching the Current

Resilient Information and Control Systems (RICS)

AI literacy in Swedish Teacher Education

The joy in reading – a co-design project around students’ interaction with social robots

Women STEM-UP