WASP – Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program

Danica Kragic in Swedish news On November 13, Danica Kragic, Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and member of the WASP board, appeared on Aktuellt to discuss humanoid robots and her vision for their future. Are you interested in this topic? Check out the documentary Homo Roboticus at SVT (Swedish)    Interview with Danica: https://lnkd.in/e9g4qNZv

🎉Congratulations to WASP PhD student, Gustav Hanning who won the Best Student Paper at the Large Scale Cross Device Localization workshop which was organized at the International Conference on Computer Vision 2025 in Honolulu, Hawaii.    “My research is focused on room layout estimation, where the goal is to predict the 3D spatial structure of a room from images. At the workshop I presented a novel method for estimating the layout of cuboid-shaped rooms using multiple views. I’m very happy for the award and would like to thank my supervisors Viktor and Kalle for their support," says Gustav Hanning.   📷From left: Kalle Åström, professor at Lunds universitet, Viktor Larsson, Associate senior lecturer at Lunds universitet and Gustav Hanning, PhD student at Lunds universitet. Read more about the workshop: https://lnkd.in/duagyv_z

We welcome researchers from all disciplines to submit proposals for workshops to be held at the annual joint conference between WASP, WASP-HS Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society-HS, and SciLifeLab/DDLS. The conference will take place 7-8 May 2026, in Uppsala. The workshops are intended to foster discussion and exchange of ideas among researchers working across the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, and technology. They should provide a space for attendees with shared interests to meet, engage in focused discussions, and connect with others who share similar research agendas and aim to address common questions and challenges. Read more and submit your proposal! Deadline December 1. https://lnkd.in/euiGQK8A 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝟳-𝟴 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗽𝗽𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮. 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲.

Podcast tips! 🎧   This week’s episode of the Digitala Influencer-podden features WASP Program Director Amy Loutfi.    Amy shares unique insights into how researchers reflect on technology that is reshaping society, from her own journey into AI to the big questions: Who will truly hold power over AI? How does it affect justice, innovation, and society, and what happens when the technology becomes so powerful that it can change our lives without us even noticing?   👉A thought‑provoking conversation for anyone curious about the future of AI and its role in our lives.   You can find the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or the podcast platform of your choice🎧

🎉 Congratulations to WASP Chair of the Board, Anders Ynnerman, on receiving the Sven Berggren Prize 2025 from the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund (Kungliga Fysiografiska Sällskapet i Lund) – the society for Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Technology!   Read more about the society: https://lnkd.in/dK5xSNf5

“𝗠𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.” Marco Iannotta, WASP PhD student at Örebro University, is defending the doctoral thesis “Holding Form in a Shifting World: Flexible and Reliable Robot Manipulation through Behavior Trees” on December 9, 2025, at 09:00 in Hörsal L2, Långhuset, Örebro University. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀? “My work shows that robots can be both structured and adaptive at the same time. Traditional systems are easy to control and understand but tend to be rigid, while learning-based ones are flexible yet often behave like black boxes. I brought these two worlds together, making robots transparent and predictable for engineers, yet flexible enough to handle real-world variations — such as a slippery surface or a misplaced object.” 𝗜𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲? “My research helps bring robots closer to the real world — not just in perfectly controlled factory settings, but in environments where conditions change and uncertainty is part of the job. By making robots more flexible and reliable, we can automate tasks that are too unpredictable for traditional systems and let robots take over more repetitive or physically demanding work from people.” 📍 Public defense: December 9, 2025, 09:00, Hörsal L2, Långhuset, Örebro University 👨🏫 Supervisor: Todor Stoyanov Read the thesis: https://lnkd.in/e7hsqjdD #wasp #waspgraduateschool #phd

WASP-WISE team receives prestigious EU grant for neuromorphic sensor project!   Fredrik Sandin, professor in the WASP-affiliated Machine Learning at Lulea University of Technology, is main PI behind the EIC Pathfinder Open grant for the project PHINDER. Out of a record-breaking 2,087 proposals submitted this year, Fredrik and his co-PIs achieved an outstanding evaluation score of 4.9 out of 5.   PHINDER aims to develop new types of neuromorphic photonic sensor systems capable of analysing light from complex processes at the picosecond level (trillionths of a second), while consuming extremely low amounts of energy.   The goal is to create an ultra-fast event camera with embedded intelligence for applications where conventional electronics fall short. Potential use cases include 5D imaging particle detectors in high-energy physics, proton computed tomography (CT) for radiation therapy, and adaptive control of chemical processes.   The project is a joint effort between:  🤝 Luleå tekniska universitet (coordinator) – Fredrik Sandin, lama alkhaled  🤝 Lunds universitet – Anders Mikkelsen  🤝 Eindhoven University of Technology – Patty Stabile  🤝 Universidad de Oviedo – Pietro Vischia  🤝INFN- Tommaso Dorigo  🤝Universidad de Cantabria- Pablo Martinez Ruiz del Arbol  🤝 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Belgium- Wolfger Peelaers; Thomas Van Vaerenbergh Congratulations to Fredrik and his team! Read more: https://lnkd.in/dMKJexaQ #EICpathfinder #WASP #WISE WISE – Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability

📣 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸, 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀! 📣   The latest opportunities from WASP:   𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗱𝗼𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 KTH https://lnkd.in/e9aG3d7X 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 KTH https://lnkd.in/eZjm5ARN 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 – 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 Uppsala University https://lnkd.in/eiA-w55B 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗣 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 All WASP instutituions https://lnkd.in/dzvNrNCb   𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lnkd.in/dQG6V9n3 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lnkd.in/dqzUrY6h   

"𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆." William Ljungbergh, WASP industrial PhD student at Linköping University and Zenseact, is defending the doctoral thesis “On the Road to Safe Autonomous Driving via Data, Learning, and Validation” on November 28, 2025, at 09:15 in Zero, Hus Zenit, Campus Valla, Linköping. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀? “My research explores how autonomous driving systems can learn from large-scale real-world data and be safely validated before deployment. It introduces new methods for self-supervised learning, neural simulation, and diffusion modeling that help vehicles better understand and predict their surroundings, while also providing scalable tools for testing safety-critical scenarios in realistic simulation.” 𝗜𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲? “By improving how autonomous systems learn and are tested, my work contributes to making future vehicles safer, more reliable, and easier to validate. This helps accelerate the responsible deployment of autonomous driving technologies that can reduce accidents and increase accessibility.” 📍 Public defense: November 28, 2025, 09:15, Zero, Hus Zenit, Campus Valla, Linköping 👨🏫 Supervisor: Michael Felsberg #wasp #waspgraduateschool

𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗣 𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗺 WASP is on stage and at the partner fair at today's event Digitalize in Stockholm, organized by Digital Futures. The theme is AI Everywhere - Exploring the Challenges, Risks, and Opportunities of Autonomous Systems. Pictured on stage are Emma Strinning Stavrou of Xylem, WASP Program Director Amy Loutfi, CEO Karim Nouira of SICS.AI and moderator Robert Luciani, founder and CEO of Nerv Dynamics. The booth was organized and manned by PhD students from KTH Royal Institute of Technology as part of KTH's WASP Lighthouse. The WASP Lighthouses create spaces for local WASP-related activities at each participating university including events, seminars, defenses and more. #DigitalizeStockholm #WASP