Six years have passed since Thomas Schön arrived in Uppsala with two doctoral students and a professorship of automatic control. Now he is a leading force in bringing artificial intelligence into our everyday lives, though we aren’t likely to meet a Terminator outside of Hollywood.

Sometimes all it takes is a simple question from a Swedish postdoctoral researcher in exile in the U.S. Twenty years later Kerstin Lindblad-Toh has directed the mapping of the genetic makeup of 230 mammal. Now she is preparing to bring perhaps the greatest scientific revolution of our time – understanding the human genome – all the way into health care.

“I’m driven by curiosity about how things are interconnected,” reflects Anders Backlund, professor of pharmacognosy. When he is not navigating through the eight dimensions of chemical space, Backlund is trying to define the emphasis of Uppsala University’s role in global society.

The vehicles of the future are fossil-free and run on batteries – but there are many challenges left to solve. Kristina Edström, Professor at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory, is playing a key role now that the European Commission is investing big in battery development.

Peak season will soon begin for bird researcher Per Alström, who has discovered seven new bird species. He spends much of his time in nature in countries such as China, India and Vietnam, where he looks for well-known and unknown birds, and spends as a lot of time listening to their songs.

In “Swedish Music History”, a radio programme with 106 episodes, Professor of Musicology Mattias Lundberg has brought to life Swedish music history, from the first recordings until 2018, for a general audience.

Tomas Edvinsson makes measurements of, among others, vibration energies in materials to understand and improve processes in new generations of solar cells and photocatalytic materials.

If Swedish care services are to provide the correct treatment for Muslim women, we must accept them as rational individuals and listen to their own problem descriptions rather than educate them in our gender-equality ideals, says Birgitta Essén, Professor of International Maternal & Reproductive Health.

How is a large multinational corporation, with subsidiaries, customers and suppliers all over the world, managed? How can the headquarters have knowledge of all important business relationships around the world? These questions are a focus for Ulf Holm, Professor of International Business. At Uppsala University’s Department of Business Studies, he heads the International Business research group.

Håkan Engqvist, Professor of Applied Materials Science, has been involved in starting several companies and has more than 50 patents. His special area of interest is ceramic materials, which can be used for many applications in the human body.

Paulina Nowicka is a new Professor of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, especially Communication of Dietetics, at the Department of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics. Her research focuses primarily on how to find treatments that work for children with obesity.

What is the best way to introduce digital technology in society and in our lives? According to Åsa Cajander, we need to devote more time and money in the development and introduction phases of digitising so that it doesn’t lead to new problems. “I want to make sure that the work people do continues to be good for them even when it is digitised, and I want to lend a hand with methods to ensure that this occurs.”

When it comes to growth and flexibility, the plant kingdom exceeds us humans by far. Annelie Carlsbecker keeps finding new signs of the intricate interplay and adaptability of plants. “The fascinating part is that not only do plant cells have the ability to exchange information, they also know what information they need to share in order to develop properly. And how do they know that?”

It did not take Christer Betsholtz long to stun the research community the first time. Almost four decades later, his work is still moving the boundaries of vascular biology. But a reputation as a leading figure can have its drawbacks.

Li Bennich-Björkman, Skyttean Professor of Eloquence and Government, is an untiring defender of academic freedom and long-term research projects. In her own research, she likes to make space for existential dimensions, most recently in a book about what it means to live a life in exile.

Dag Blanck has been interviewed by journalists thousands of times to comment on what is happening in the United States. As an historian, he began studying the migration from Sweden to America. He is now Director of the Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS) at Uppsala University.

From the outskirts of Ulleråker to the entry of Uppsala University Hospital: psychiatry in Uppsala has taken a fascinating journey, and in October, Professor Lisa Ekselius received the 2017 Rudbeck Award for her significant contributions along the way.