Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

Undergraduate teaching and research in the areas of biology, chemistry, materials, applied physics, theory, modelling and more are conducted at this department.

About IFM

Photo credit Thor BalkhedThe Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, or IFM, is one of the original departments of Linköping University and was founded in 1969 as the Department of physics and measurement technology. In the beginning there were thirty employees including three professors at the department. Since then a lot has changed and IFM is now one of the biggest departments at LiU.

Current organisation

Today the department has more than 400 staff, including 50 professors and 150 doctoral students. Each year, about 20 doctoral students receive their doctorates at IFM. In addition to this, the department receives guest researchers from all over the globe. The yearly budget exceeds 500 million SEK, the majority of which related to research projects. IFM also offers over 200 undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate courses each year.

Funding 

Xiongyu Wu, IFM, tillsammans med student. Photo credit Anna NilsenOur great expansion in research has been possible thanks to generous grants from external funding agencies such as the Swedish Research Council (VR), Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF), VINNOVA, Formas and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW). Added to this is also increasing research funding from the EU Framework Programmes. Materials Research has received a number of major contributions as strategically important and excellent environment: VR Linnaeus Centre LiLi-NFM, Vinnova Excellence Centre FunMat, SSF's strategic research centre MS2E and the government's strategic research grants for materials research - AFM.

Upcoming events at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology (IFM)

Research at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology (IFM) 

Hanne Løvlie
At IFM, research is conducted in collaboration with eminent researchers from all around the world Photographer: Anna Nilsen

Prominent research and host for doctoral schools and larger research projects.

At the Department of physics, chemistry, and biology, we conduct innovative research in the areas of biology, chemistry and physics.

IFM also hosts two multi disciplinary research schools, Forum Scientium and Agora Materiae, as well as a number of major research projects and centres such as Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CeNano), Biosensor and Bioelectronics Centre and Swedish Interdisciplinary Magnetic Resonance Centre (SIMARC) . 

Research groups and projects at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology

Pedersen group

Pedersen Group

The Henrik Pedersen research group at Linköping University is working on chemical vapour deposition (CVD) with the aim to develop better CVD routes to, primarily, electronic materials.

fruit flies

Evolutionary genetics of ageing and sex differences - Friberg Group

Research in our group focuses on two fascinating biological phenomena – ageing and sex differences - and their interesting intersection. To answer questions related to these topics we conduct research using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster.

teaser image Hagenblad Group

Crop evolution - Hagenblad Group

Humans rely on crop plants for food, medicine, clothing and many other functions. The Hagenblad lab studies how crop plants have spread across the world and how they have adapted to different climates and cultivation methods.

Education at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology (IFM)

Education and teaching at IFM

Prominent research and undergraduate education at IFM with a comprehensive range of courses in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology.

The research dominates the activities at IFM, but the teaching within undergraduate education is extensive. Each year, IFM offers more than 200 courses within civil and engineering programs, bachelor's and master's programs in physics, chemistry, and biology, teacher training programs, technical and science foundation year, as well as standalone courses.

Study programmes at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology (IFM)

Doctoral studies at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology (IFM)

Graduate schools at the Department of physics, chemistry and biology (IFM)

Articles about the Department of physics, chemistry and biolgy (IFM)

Read more about about the latest news and popular science from the department.

Ambassador of Italy in Sweden talks at the workshop.

Networking and collaboration in smart sensor technologies - highlights from the Italy-Sweden Bilateral Workshop

The Italy-Sweden Bilateral Workshop on Smart Sensor Technologies and Applications took place at Linköping University on 1-2 October 2024. It was organised by the Embassy of Italy to Sweden and Linköping University.

Two pipettes poring liquids on to a disk.

Research for a sustainable future in ten new projects

Photosynthetic materials, two-dimensional noble metals and sustainable semiconductors are some of the projects at LiU that have been granted funding from the research programme Wallenberg initiative materials science for sustainability – WISE.

Lego model of an electron microscope

Next-gen electron microscope procured for LiU

Two years after the original grant, the procurement of the next generation advanced scanning transmission electron microscope, has finally concluded.

Contact

Visiting address

Campus Valla, B building and Fysikhuset building

Mail address

Linköping University
IFM
581 83 Linköping

Department management

Directors of studies

Technology manager

Staff

Staff