Reasoning and Learning Lab
Artificial Intelligence and Integrated Computer Systems (AIICS) · Department of Computer Science (IDA)
Linköping University, Sweden
We develop AI that learns from data, reasons with knowledge, and interacts with people, machines, and the world around it. Capable is not the same as dependable, and real-world AI needs both. Our methods expand what is possible and make it reliable: formal guarantees for systems that learn, reasoning over streaming data, and multi-agent coordination that holds up when conditions change. We work on AI at every level: from ethics and policy to methods, systems, field demonstrations, and national research and education programs. We make AI real.
About the Lab
The Reasoning and Learning Lab (REAL) is a research unit within the Division of Artificial Intelligence and Integrated Computer Systems (AIICS), Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University.
Our research combines learning, reasoning, and interaction: AI that learns from data, reasons with knowledge, and works with people and other machines. Core themes include trustworthy AI, AI fairness, foundation models and large-language models, physical AI, agentic AI, cyber-resilient AI, synthetic data, and drone swarms, with applications in healthcare, public safety, transport, and language technology. We demonstrate what we build in the real world, and what practice reveals as missing guides the fundamental research, toward dependable AI for a resilient society.
The lab is led by Professor Fredrik Heintz, who also serves as Head of the AIICS Division, Director of the AI4X Centre of Excellence, Co-director of WASP, Director of the SSF research centres RESIST and CHASS, Coordinator of the EU TrustLLM project, Vice President for AI Research at Adra, and member of the Swedish AI Commission and the EU AI Act Scientific Panel.
Research Areas
Trustworthy AI
Developing AI systems that are safe, fair, transparent, and robust, including methods for detecting reasoning failures and removing memorized secrets in large language models. Coordinator of the EU TAILOR network and the TrustLLM project for open European language models.
Physical AI
AI embodied in robots and drones: motion planning, 3D exploration, real-time behavior monitoring, drone swarms, and large-scale UAV traffic management. Home of the SSF CHASS center for heterogeneous swarm systems, with methods field-validated on real UAVs and ground robots.
Agentic AI
AI agents and multi-agent systems that plan, coordinate, and act: natural-language-commanded drone swarms (Vinnova Drone Swarm Challenge 2026), trustworthy multi-agent systems for industry (Vinnova MAS), and AI agents that build AI systems, using AI to accelerate AI research, development, and deployment.
Synthetic Data
Generating representative, fair, and privacy-preserving synthetic data, from tabular data to long time series, enabling trustworthy decision making when real data is scarce, biased, or sensitive.
AI for Science
Accelerating scientific discovery with AI, with a focus on materials science: foundation models for discovering new 2D materials (WASP-WISE 2DFound) and AI for the European materials data infrastructure Materials Commons.
Neuro-Symbolic AI
Bridging learning and reasoning: combining neural networks with symbolic knowledge representation for systems that generalize, explain, and verify their decisions.
Cyber-Resilient AI
Developing AI resilient to adversarial attacks and disruption. Hosting the national SSF RESIST center for cyber-resilient AI systems, launched together with Cybercampus Sverige.
Applied AI & Education
Deploying AI in healthcare, transportation, logistics, and public safety. Leading national AI education initiatives through WASP-ED and AI Academy.
Stream Reasoning
Real-time reasoning over continuous data streams for time-critical applications, combining formal methods with probabilistic approaches.
Selected Projects
National center for developing resilient AI systems, protected against cyberattacks. SEK 60 million. Directed by Fredrik Heintz.
National center for autonomous heterogeneous swarms across space, air, ground, and underwater platforms. SEK 60 million. Directed by Fredrik Heintz.
Developing a trustworthy, open, and sustainable large language model for European languages including Swedish.
European collaboration building open LLMs via the ALT EDIC consortium.
Multiple PhD and postdoc projects funded by the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program, including WARA, NEST Cybersecurity, and the WASP-WISE NEST 2DFound on AI-accelerated discovery of 2D materials.
Developing trustworthy multi-agent systems for industrial processes and value chains. With AI Sweden, Saab, AstraZeneca, Volvo, Chalmers, and Uppsala. Led by AI Sweden. May 2026 – April 2029.
Dynamic Multi-Drone Route Planning with Uncertainty and Constraints. AI techniques for robust, collaborative drone routing in dynamic and uncertain urban airspace. Coordinated by Saab. 2022–2026.
Advanced Digital Skills Policy Laboratory for Academic Transformation: a policy lab reforming how universities deliver lifelong learning and digital skills for industry. With KTH (coordinator), Chalmers, and Örebro University.
Federated European digital infrastructure for advanced materials research and development, coordinated by Fraunhofer IWM with 26 partners. The lab develops AI for knowledge extraction from materials data and text.
Wallenberg Transformative Technologies Education Development Program. Transforming university education with AI across Sweden.
The lab's projects are funded by WASP/KAW, EU Horizon, SSF, Vinnova, VR, ELLIIT, and LiU strategic initiatives.
People
Faculty
Postdocs
PhD Students
Staff
LiU IT (DigIT)
AI Academy Partnership Program
AI Academy
Alumni
News
- 2026-05 LiU team field-demonstrates a natural-language-commanded drone swarm with autonomous priority-based target tracking at the Vinnova Drone Swarm Challenge at Gränsö.
- 2026-05 Vinnova MAS project launched: Multi-agent systems for modern industrial processes, with AI Sweden, Saab, AstraZeneca, Volvo, Chalmers, and Uppsala.
- 2026-04 SSF CHASS center announced: SEK 60 million for autonomous drone swarm research. LiU hosts the center with Lund and Örebro universities.
- 2026-03 Delibasoglu, Chakraborty, Heintz & Tiger publish Intervention-Aware Time Series Modeling at AAAI 2026.
- 2026-03 Sow, Rodriguez, de Oliveira, Wzorek, de Leng, Tiger, Heintz & Rothenberg publish Multi UAVs Preflight Planning in a Shared and Dynamic Airspace at AAMAS 2026.
- 2026-02 SSF RESIST center announced: SEK 60 million to protect AI systems from cyberattacks, directed by Fredrik Heintz.
- 2026 Sanjay Chakraborty et al. publish A survey of AI-supported materials informatics in Computer Science Review.
- 2025-10 Emil Wiman & Mattias Tiger publish Safe Lattice Planning for Motion Planning with Dynamic Obstacles at IROS 2025.
- 2025-03 Md Fahim Sikder defends PhD thesis: Representative Synthetic Data for Fair Decision Making.
- 2023 TrustLLM launched: EU Horizon-funded project to develop a trustworthy, open large language model for European languages.
Open Positions
The lab regularly recruits PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and research engineers. As a Swedish public university, Linköping University is required to advertise all positions openly and select candidates through a competitive, merit-based process. We are unable to make individual hiring decisions at the lab level. All recruitment is handled centrally by the university.
Current openings in our group and across the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA) are listed on the university's vacancies page. To find positions relevant to us, filter by IDA and look for topics in AI, machine learning, autonomous systems, or cybersecurity.
Why Join Us
Linköping University (LiU) is ranked #43 globally in AI, #12 in Europe, and #1 in Sweden. LiU hosts WASP, Sweden's largest individual research programme (SEK 6.5 billion), and our faculty lead its graduate school. Three supercomputers and one of seven European AI Factories sit on our campus. PhD students and postdocs are salaried employees with full benefits and no tuition fees.
Sweden is the #2 most innovative country in the world (WIPO 2025), #1 in the EU (European Innovation Scoreboard 2025), and #2 globally for prosperity and quality of life (Legatum Prosperity Index 2025).
Research Environment
Linköping University was home to Sweden's first professor of Computer Science (1975) and has been at the centre of Swedish AI research for five decades. Our division, AIICS, holds Centre of Excellence status with dedicated strategic funding for recruitment and early-career researcher development. The lab leads the national SSF RESIST centre (SEK 60M) for cyber-resilient AI and coordinates TrustLLM, the EU project building open, trustworthy large language models for European languages.
LiU is the host university for WASP (the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program), by far Sweden's largest individual research programme (SEK 6.5 billion). Our lab director leads WASP's Graduate School and WASP-ED, and lab faculty serve on its management. WASP offers a graduate school, international summer schools, industry connections with 80+ companies, and a cross-university community of 600 PhD students across Sweden.
Compute Infrastructure
LiU hosts Sweden's National Supercomputer Centre (NSC) and the national compute infrastructure NAISS, serving 7,500 researchers at 30 universities. Three major systems sit on campus, all within walking distance of the lab:
- Berzelius, Sweden's fastest AI supercomputer (NVIDIA GPU cluster, Wallenberg Foundation)
- Arrhenius, EuroHPC supercomputer, top-5 in Europe (~40 petaflops)
- Mimer, one of seven European AI Factories (EU, announced 2024)
Industry and Innovation
Linköping is a defence, aerospace, and tech hub. Saab is headquartered here, Ericsson has a major site, and Linköping Science Park (adjacent to campus, with 45+ nationalities) provides immediate industry collaboration and career opportunities. The city won the EU's iCapital innovation award. LiU research has produced 70+ spin-off companies including Sectra, Tobii, and Neo4j.
Working in Sweden
PhD students and postdocs at Swedish universities are salaried employees with full benefits. There are no tuition fees for doctoral studies. Employment includes pension contributions, 28+ days of paid vacation, and government-funded universal healthcare (co-pays are nominal, capped at ~SEK 1,550/year). Sweden offers among the most generous parental leave globally (480 days shared between parents), with affordable, high-quality childcare. Spouses of employees receive work permits. Only 1% of Swedish employees work very long hours, compared to 10% across the OECD.
Linköping is a mid-sized city (~165,000) with significantly lower living costs than Stockholm or Gothenburg, short commutes, and direct trains to Stockholm in under 2 hours.
Sweden at a Glance
| #2 globally | Most innovative country (WIPO GII 2025) |
| #1 in the EU | Innovation leader (European Innovation Scoreboard 2025) |
| #2 globally | Prosperity and quality of life (Legatum Prosperity Index 2025) |
| #1 globally | Researchers per capita (WIPO GII 2025) |
| 99/100 | Freedom score (Freedom House 2025) |
| #6 globally | Gender equality (WEF Global Gender Gap 2025) |
Contact
REAL AI LAB · Reasoning and Learning
Artificial Intelligence and Integrated Computer Systems (AIICS)
Department of Computer and Information Science (IDA)
Linköping University
SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
Lab Director
Prof. Fredrik Heintz
fredrik.heintz@liu.se
Deputy Head of Lab
Dr. Mattias Tiger
mattias.tiger@liu.se