Linköping University (LiU; Swedish: Linköpings universitet) is a publicresearch university based in Linköping, Sweden. Originally established in 1969, it was granted full university status in 1975 and is one of Sweden's largest academic institutions.[5]
The university has four campuses across three cities: Campus Valla and Campus US in Linköping, Campus Norrköping in Norrköping and Campus Lidingö in Stockholm. It is organized into four faculties: Arts and Sciences; Medicine and Health Sciences; Science and Engineering (also referred to as the Institute of Technology); and Educational Sciences. To facilitate interdisciplinary work, there are 12 large departments combining knowledge from several disciplines and often belonging under more than one faculty.[6] In 2021 the university had 35,900 students and 4,300 employees.[7] Linköping University emphasizes dialogue with the surrounding business sphere and the community at large, both in terms of research and education.[8]
The origins of Linköping University date back to the 1960s. In 1965, The Swedish National Legislative Assembly (Riksdag) decided to locate some programmes within the fields of technology and medicine to Linköping. A branch of Stockholm University was placed in Linköping in 1967, offering education within humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
Two years later in 1969, a unit for medical training and the Institute of Technology were established, marking the founding of the university. In 1970 all activities were brought together in three faculties within the Linköping University College: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Technology. Linköping University College was granted full university status in 1975 and renamed Linköping University.
In 1977 the teacher training colleges in Linköping and Norrköping were transferred to Linköping University. The Faculty of Health Sciences was formed in 1986 based on the faculty of medicine and regional funded education in health care professions. In 1997 a campus was opened in the neighbouring city of Norrköping. The renowned Carl Malmsten School of Furniture — officially Malmstens Linköping University (MLU), and most often referred to as Malmstens — has been part of Linköping University since 2000; after almost 60 years at the city centre, in 2009 Malmstens moved into new premises on the outskirts of Stockholm.[9]
Campuses
Education and research are conducted at three campuses in the cities of Linköping and Norrköping — Campus Valla, Campus US and Campus Norrköping — situated approximately 200 and 160 kilometers southwest of Stockholm, respectively. The Campus Bus (free of charge for students) connects the three campuses in Linköping and Norrköping. A fourth campus, Campus Lidingö, is located in Lidingö, an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago.[10]
Aerial view of Campus Valla. The edges of Linköping Golf Course and Linköping Science Park is on the right.
Studenthuset on Campus Valla opened in 2019. Houses the library, student services and many study areas.
Study areas inside Studenthuset on Campus Valla.
The southern part of Campus Valla. Left: Studenthuset and Key Building; right: B, D and Zenit Buildings.
Aerial view of the Corso (the main walkway) on Campus Valla.
The Corso outside B Building on Campus Valla, with one of the self-driving campus minibuses in the back.
Key Building on Campus Valla. The main building for the Faculty of Educational Sciences.
Student union building Kårallen on Campus Valla.
University Park on Campus Valla with an exhibit of Permanens, the permanent art exhibition in the park.
The sports stadium on Campus Valla. Campushallen — housing indoor sports facilities — is on the left.
The Campus Bus at Campus Valla (connects Campus Valla, Campus US and Campus Norrköping).
Hiking and running trail in the nature reserve Valla Wood next to Campus Valla.
Campus US
Campus US (the University Hospital campus) in Linköping houses the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Campus US is located next to Linköping University Hospital and Linköping City Park (The Garden Society, Swedish: Trädgårdsföreningen), and only a few hundred meters from the city centre.
The atrium of Building 511 on Campus US.
Building 511 on Campus US.
Dean's Office, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences on Campus US.
Entrance 65 on Campus US — the entrance to the Medical Library.
The Old Hospital on Campus US. Houses Clinicum, the clinical skills and simulation centre.
Örat on Campus US, the student union building for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Main entrance of Linköping University Hospital on Campus US (north entrance).
ER entrance of Linköping University Hospital on Campus US (west entrance).
South entrance of Linköping University Hospital on Campus US, with the city centre in the background.
Tinnerbäckshuset on Campus US. Houses the psychiatric clinic.
Aerial view of Linköping City Park with the edge of Campus US and Linköping University Hospital on the top.
Campus Norrköping
Campus Norrköping is a city campus in central Norrköping, 40 kilometers northeast of Linköping. Approximately one-fourth of the students are enrolled here. The campus is located in the historical Industrilandskapet district, with campus buildings on both sides of the river Motala ström connected by Campusbron, a footbridge.
The west wing of Kåkenhus building on Campus Norrköping. Houses student services, the Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Clinicum.
The east wing of Kåkenhus building on Campus Norrköping. Houses the campus library and the student union Trappan.
Visualiseringscenter C on Campus Norrköping. Houses C-Research.
Kopparhammaren building and Motala Ström on Campus Norrköping. Houses the Institute for Analytical Sociology (IAS).
Campusbron, the footbridge over Motala ström on Campus Norrköping connecting Visualiseringscenter C, Kopparhammaren (left) and Kåkenhus (right).
Täppan building on Campus Norrköping.
Spetsen building on Campus Norrköping.
View from the elevated footbridge connecting Kåkenhus (right), Täppan (left) and Spetsen (left/middle) on Campus Norrköping.
Campus Lidingö
Campus Lidingö houses the Carl Malmsten School of Furniture (Malmstens Linköping University), which has been part of Linköping University since 2000. After almost 60 years at the city centre, in 2009 the school moved into new premises in Lidingö, on the outskirts of Stockholm.
Carl Malmsten building on Campus Lidingö, main entrance.
Carl Malmsten building on Campus Lidingö.
Organization and administration
Faculties
Linköping University is organized into four faculties:
Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Swedish: Filosofiska fakulteten)
Faculty of Science and Engineering (also referred to as the Institute of Technology) (Swedish: Tekniska fakulteten (Tekniska högskolan))
Faculty of Educational Sciences (Swedish: Utbildningsvetenskap)
Departments
There are 12 large departments — in turn organized in divisions (not listed below) — intersecting several disciplines and often belonging under more than one faculty:
Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning
Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Computer and Information Science
Department of Culture and Society
Department of Electrical Engineering
Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences
Department of Management and Engineering
Department of Mathematics
Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology
Department of Science and Technology
Department of Thematic Studies
Studies Units, Institutes, Centres
Thematic units cover broad, multidisciplinary fields. Institutes focus on narrower research areas.[11]
Several student unions and nations exist at the university. Membership in a union or nation is voluntary.[14]
Unions
Students are organized into different unions (and union sections) based on their field of study. There are three student unions charged with monitoring education at Linköping University:
Consensus: Student union for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, organized into 9 sections
LinTek: Student union for the Faculty of Science and Engineering, organized into 15 sections
StuFF: Student union for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Faculty of Educational Sciences, organized into 19 sections
Nations
There are three active student nations at the university:
Linköping University offers education at the basic and advanced levels via 120 study programmes, 550 single-subject courses and specialised as well as interdisciplinary postgraduate studies.
A large number of the degree programmes lead to qualified professional degrees in fields such as medicine, business and economics, teacher education and engineering. Many of the programmes are interdisciplinary, combining for example industrial management and engineering, medicine and engineering, or integrating economics, law and languages.[15]
In 1986 the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences became the first faculty in Sweden to put problem-based learning into practice within medical training and health-care programmes.
In 2007, the Medical Programme and the Department of Electrical Engineering, Control systems were recognized as Centres of Excellence in Higher Education by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. Linköping University was awarded two out of eight Centres of Excellence recognized at Swedish universities, with the recognition based on a thorough quality assessment by a panel of experts.[18]
Linköping University receives research grants from the Swedish government within five strategic research areas: IT and mobile communication, materials science, security and emergency management, e-Science and transport research.[20]
Research centres
Control, Autonomy, and Decision-making in Complex Systems (Linnaeus Centre CADICS)
Gender Excellence (GEXcel), The Swedish Research Council Centre of
Hearing and Deafness (Linnaeus Centre HEAD), Research on
Novel Functional Materials (Linnécentrum LiLI-NFM), Linköping Linnaeus Initiative for
Organic Bioelektronics (OBOE), Strategic Research Centre for
Norrköping Visualization Center C, in cooperation with the City of Norrköping and Norrköping Science Park and Interactive Institute. The Dome Theatre, constructed in 2009, is the most technically advanced dome in northern Europe.[21]
The Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology (KMC). A National Research Center for Traumatology assigned by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.
Ångströmhuset on Campus Valla is a laboratory housing Arwen, one of the world's sharpest transmission electron microscopes.
Sweden's fastest supercomputer Berzelius — specialized for AI — at Linköping University's National Supercomputer Centre (NSC) on Campus Valla.
Autonomous aerial and surface drone rescue exercise using AI within WASP, Sweden's largest research program ever, hosted by Linköping University.[22][23]
The Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology (KMC) on Campus Valla.
Research school seminar at the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV) on Campus US.
The Dome Theatre in Visualiseringscenter C on Campus Norrköping, as of 2019 the world's best dome for 3D image quality.[24]
The Iron Bird on Campus Valla, used for aeronautical engineering research, such as fighter jets. Donated by Linköping University's strategic partner SAAB.
Linköping University has an emphasis on engineering and technology, and in the 2022 ARWU ranking it places in the top 100 in the following engineering subjects:
Telecommunication Engineering 51–75,
Electrical & Electronic Engineering 76–100,
Materials Science & Engineering 76–100,
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology 76–100 and
Energy Science & Engineering 76–100.[30]
In the 2022 THE ranking, Linköping University places in the top 125 in the following broad categories:
Engineering & Technology 101–125,
Business & Economics 101–125 and
Psychology 101–125.
In addition, it places in the top 200 in:
Computer Science 151–175 and
Social Sciences 176–200.[31]
In the TOP500 ranking of the world's supercomputers, as of June 2022, Sweden's two fastest supercomputers are at Linköping University's National Supercomputer Centre:[33]
Berzelius in place 102 (specialized for machine learning and artificial intelligence)
Tetralith in place 183
Science parks and business incubator
Two science parks — Linköping Science Park and Norrköping Science Park — are closely connected to Linköping University. The university's business incubator LEAD is also housed in these parks.
LEAD - business incubator
LEAD (acronym for LiU Entrepreneurship and Development) is Linköping University's business incubator.[34] In 2023, LEAD was selected as a Sweden's incubator in NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).[35] The CEO of LEAD (currently Catharina Sandberg) was selected as a member of the Council for Defence Innovation (Swedish: Försvarsinnovationsrådet), launched by the Swedish Ministry of Defence in 2024, with the Minister for Defence serving as its chairman (currently Pål Jonson).[36]
Linköping Science Park
Linköping Science Park is a multi-site science park, with four sites throughout Linköping and the surrounding region. As of 2023, Linköping Science Park hosts approximately 600 companies, from start-ups to multinationals, with a total of 14,000 employees. The largest residents are Ericsson, IFS, Infor, Sectra, Combitech, Releasy and CGI Group. Major multinationals such as ARRIS Group, Flextronics, Autoliv, Toyota Industries and Beyond Gravity are also represented.[37] Linköping Science Park's four sites are:
Mjärdevi is the first and main site, located next to Campus Valla (Linköping University's main campus), Linköping Golf Club and Malmen Airbase. Mjärdevi is the main site for Linköping University's business incubator LEAD.
Ebbepark, with game development, medtech and visualization among represented industries.
Cavok District is a new and developing site, focusing on aviation, space and advanced materials. Cavok District adjoins Linköping City Airport and Linköping University's strategic partner SAAB's main office, as well as its main site for development and manufacturing, including the development and manufacturing of fighter jets such as the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. SAAB's Generic Future Fighter is ongoing project in collaboration with Linköping University, led by the Swedish Air Force to develop a fifth-generation low-observable fighter jet.
Vreta Kluster focuses on the green industry. Located in Ljungsbro, 8 kilometers outside Linköping.
Aerial view of Mjärdevi — the first and main site of Linköping Science Park — located next to Campus Valla.
Collegium — the main building in Mjärdevi — houses the university business incubator LEAD.
Mjärdevi Center, the tallest building in Mjärdevi.
The main buildings of the Ebbepark site of Linköping Science Park.
IMA One building in the new Cavok District of Linköping Science Park.
Main buildings of Vreta Kluster of Linköping Science Park.