| Linköping University | |
| Native Name: | Linköpings universitet |
| Native Name Lang: | Swedish |
| Image Alt: | Aereal photo of Studenthuset Building on Campus Valla |
| Latin Name: | Universitas Lincopensis |
| Type: | Public research university |
| Established: | University status since 1975 |
| Affiliations: | EUA, ECIU, CDIO, SEFI, NORDTEK |
| Budget: | 4.9 bn SEK (2023) |
| Chairperson: | Deputy Director General Susanne Thedén, PhD |
| Vice Chancellor: | Prof. Jan-Ingvar Jönsson, PhD[1] |
| Dean: | Arts & Sciences: Prof. Ulf Melin, PhD Educational Sciences: Senior Assoc. Prof. Håkan Löfgren, PhD Medicine & Health Sciences: Prof. Lena Jonasson, PhD, MD Science & Engineering: Prof. Johan Ölvander, PhD |
| Head: | Anna Thörn[2] |
| Head Label: | University Director |
| Total Staff: | 4,462 (3,674 FTE, 2023) |
| Enrollment: | 40,400 (19,445 FTE, 2023)[3] |
| Doctoral: | 1,261 (644 FTE, 2023) |
| City: | Linköping, Norrköping, and Lidingö |
| Country: | Sweden |
| Campus: | Campus Valla Campus US Campus Norrköping Campus Lidingö |
| Colors: | Blue, Turquoise and Green [4] |
Linköping University (LiU;) is a public research 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, Educational Sciences, and Science and Engineering (also referred to as the Institute of Technology). 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]
It is a founding member of the Conceive Design Implement Operate (CDIO) Initiative, as well as a member of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU), the European University Association (EUA), the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) and NORDTEK.
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]
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]
Campus Valla, three kilometers from the city centre of Linköping, is the university's largest campus and where the majority of students and researchers study and work. Campus Valla is sandwiched between Linköping Science Park and Linköping Golf Course to the west, and Valla Wood — a 200 acres large nature reserve — to the east. Campus Valla also houses several government research institutes, such as the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI).
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,), and only a few hundred meters from the city centre.
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.
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.
Linköping University is organized into four faculties:
There are 12 large departments — in turn organized in divisions (not listed below) — intersecting several disciplines and often belonging under more than one faculty:
Several student unions and nations exist at the university. Membership in a union or nation is voluntary.[11]
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:
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.[12]
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 2000, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in collaboration with three Swedish universities — Linköping University, Chalmers University of Technology and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology — formally founded the Conceive Design Implement Operate (CDIO) Initiative, a framework for engineering education.[13] CDIO developed into an international collaboration, with universities around the world adopting the same framework.[14]
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 2 out of the 8 Centres of Excellence recognized at Swedish universities, with the recognition based on a thorough quality assessment by a panel of experts.[15]
Linköping University pursues research and postgraduate studies within the fields of technology, medicine, and humanities, natural, educational, social and behavioural sciences. It is particularly noted for its openness to multidisciplinary research and, in 1980, was the first Swedish university to introduce interdisciplinary thematic research at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and a cross-subject, interdisciplinary perspective in graduate schools for PhD students.[16]
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.[17]
For a complete list of centres, see Organisation
| Arwu W: | 301–400 |
| Arwu W Year: | 2023 |
| Arwu W Ref: | [19] |
| Qs W: | 268 |
| Qs W Year: | 2024 |
| Qs W Ref: | [20] |
| The W: | 251–300 |
| The W Year: | 2024 |
| The W Ref: | [21] |
| Arwu W Eng: | 76–100 |
| Arwu W Eng Year: | 2022 |
| Arwu W Eng Ref: | [22] |
| The W Eng: | 101–125 |
| The W Eng Year: | 2022 |
| The W Eng Ref: | [23] |
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 andEnergy Science & Engineering 76–100.[24]
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 andSocial Sciences 176–200.[25]
Linköping University Hospital places 176 in Newsweek's 2023 World's Best Hospitals ranking (5th in Sweden).[26]
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:[27]
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 (acronym for LiU Entrepreneurship and Development) is Linköping University's business incubator.[28] In 2023, LEAD was selected as a Sweden's incubator in NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).[29] 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).[30]
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.[31] Linköping Science Park's four sites are:
Norrköping Science Park in Norrköping hosts approximately 130 companies. Main areas for research and development are printed electronics, interactivity and visualisation.[32]