Popular science description of research at the IT department
The Department of Information Technology (IT) conducts education and research in computer science and information technology in a broad sense. We cover a range of topics − from the design of computer systems, computer programming, data storage and management to information extraction and methods for using computers in different contexts. Here you will find a selection of our research areas.
The automated future
The Department of Information Technology is engaged on how technical systems can be efficiently and safely automated in different contexts, but also on what the role of humans should be and how we retain control over systems that are largely automated.
Read more about the future of automation
A pilot in an emergency situation at high altitude has at best several minutes to react and solve the problem, while a driver of a car or lorry has only a few seconds to avoid serious accidents on the road. Although autopilots have been used in aviation for a long time - they have not yet become as common in the automotive industry. Making automated cars a reality requires advanced technology, well-functioning automation systems and well-designed interaction between human and technology. If a critical situation arises that the automated system cannot handle, a human must be ready to take over control.
Our department develops technologies and knowledge that enable increased automation of, for example, lorries, industrial robots and train traffic. The research work includes the development and application of theories and methods both to ensure that automation works and to understand how humans can effectively and safely manage automated systems.
When automated and technical systems work properly, other questions arise. If the driver of the car of the future rarely drives him or herself, but simply keys in a destination and presses start, how can the driver act in an emergency and avoid an accident? How should the driving test of the future be designed if the driver only has a role in situations that the autopilot cannot handle? For professions such as pilots and nuclear operators, simulator training is essential to deal with critical situations. Perhaps similar requirements should apply to professional drivers, or even to anyone with a driving licence?
More about our research into the future of automation
- Automated systems that act within a certain time are called Embedded and Real-Time Systems.
- To understand how humans deal with automated systems, see Usability and IT-systems.
Big Data
Why is it that the chain store you usually shop at gives you offers on nappies before your baby is born? Or how come your favourite search engine often suggests what you're looking for when you've barely started typing? Information extraction in large data sets, popularly known as Big Data, makes this possible.
Read more about Big Data
What allows a computer to work out what's going on in your life or what you're interested in based on what you buy in a shop or start typing into a search bar - is the basic assumption that you are just like everyone else. By comparing you to others and using advanced analytics, we can take advantage of research and developments in data storage, algorithms and faster calculations
The Department of Information Technology is conducting research on the technical aspects of large-scale information extraction, but also on ethical issues arising from the fact that we can now carry out analyses that many people find intrusive or offensive. That a shop can "know" that someone in your family is pregnant because of changes in the goods you buy is just one such example.
However, there are plenty of applications where the benefits of being able to effectively analyse large amounts of data are clear. Our ability to monitor and analyse climate change, global public health and societal trends are a few examples. Developments are moving very fast and it is difficult to speculate what will be possible to do in just ten years' time.
More about our research
- Research on how to design and program the computers that perform the processing is carried out in the Centre's UPMARC
- Our DCA Research Group is an interdisciplinary arena for researchers interested in large-scale distributed and data-intensive computing.
- Uppsala University Information Laboratory (InfoLab) develops data mining methods to analyse large (and human-generated) online data. The group is responsible for advanced courses and postgraduate training in Data Mining and Network Analysis.
Sustainable development
Why is it that a fifteen-year-old mobile phone can go a week without charging while a modern smartphone can barely make it through a day? There are several reasons, such as the comparatively large and bright screen, but perhaps the main one is that a smartphone can do so much more than an old mobile phone, which means it consumes significantly more power.
How does our research contribute to sustainable development
But as mobile phones have become faster, their components have also become more power efficient. Performing a calculation today costs significantly less power than before, but instead we are doing many more calculations. Another way to tackle the problem of dwindling batteries is therefore to streamline the software in mobile phones so that fewer calculations are required to run all the apps and functions we have become accustomed to.
However, reducing the number of necessary calculations does not only lead to better battery life in our mobile phones. The large data centres responsible for delivering services over the internet such as our social media, TV and computer games, and streaming movies and music perform so many computations that the amount of heat generated by all the computers could be enough to heat the hot water of nearby cities, if it could be efficiently managed. Instead, even more energy needs to be consumed to cool down these centres. The Department of Information Technology is conducting research into how computer components can be designed to be more power efficient, as well as how software can be more efficient and require fewer calculations.
This type of research is important not only because it leads to more efficient computers, but also because, in a broader perspective, this means that our computers leave a smaller footprint on our environment and climate when less electricity needs to be produced to power us and our computers.
- How computer components can be constructed is studied by the research group Uppsala Architecture Research Team
Medical IT
In healthcare, as in many other areas of our society, the use of information technology has grown rapidly and shows no sign of slowing down. Patients can now read their medical records online, doctors can perform keyhole surgery from halfway around the world using robots, and millions of cells can be analysed in a short time using computational clusters in the search for effective cancer drugs.
Read more about medical IT
Today, surgeons can plan their operations by feeling and moving pieces of bone around themselves in a computer programme based on X-ray images of patients with complicated fractures, where pieces of bone have come loose or are even missing. This allows them to get a clearer picture of how the surgery needs to be done, in what order the different pieces should be put back, to reduce the risk of complications and the need for further surgery. In order to be able to squeeze and feel objects that really only exist in a computer, the so-called haptic information, which gives us the experience that an object has a weight, softness, surface, etc. needs to be transferred to the user. Technology and software to do this, as in the example above, is one of the areas of research and development at the Department of Information Technology.
In healthcare, a lot of information is created, used and stored in the form of images, ranging from pictures of individual cells under a microscope to X-rays of a whole person. However, interpreting the content of these images can be difficult, even for an experienced doctor. This may be because, for example, the image contains information that the human visual system cannot perceive but that a computer can identify and enhance for us, or because there are so many images that it would take a human being years to go through and analyse them manually. Research at the Department of Information Technology aims to use computers to automate the processing of images to make them easier for humans to interpret, or to simplify and drastically speed up analyses that previously had to be done by hand.
The increasing use of information technology in health and social care means that staff are rarely far from a technical system, and spend more and more of their time in front of a computer. For many doctors and nurses, this is a problem as it means they cannot spend as much time with their patients. The Department of Information Technology is conducting research in collaboration with healthcare organisations on how to make their IT systems more efficient and usable, so that healthcare professionals can perform their computer-bound tasks more smoothly and move on more quickly to tasks where they feel they are of greater benefit to the patient.
- We have summarised our research under the heading Medicine and healthcare.
- BiomedIT is a collaborative research group (known as a ‘research arena’) that runs a range of projects in the field of biomedical information technology.
Counting correctly
Typical mathematical modelling of physical processes requires the development of numerical methods. This is usually done by approximating a continuous resolution with a finite discrete level of detail and by replacing infinite computational processes with finite ones. These approximations can then be implemented on computers so that a useful result can finally be produced. Our research is concerned with how well the numerical method matches the original mathematical model and how it should be modified to be as efficient as possible.
Quick counting
Some computational problems, such as climate simulations, take a long time because they are so large in terms of the number of computational operations and the amount of data. Other problems, such as testing many different random mutations of DNA, take a long time because they are computed many times. In both cases, it is desirable to streamline the calculations. One way to calculate faster is to have several computers working together. Our research is to find the best ways of programming, so that each computer solves part of the problem and communicates with the others where necessary, to eventually get the whole answer.
Do the maths
Computer simulations are among the most useful tools for understanding the world around us and making technological improvements. From the atomic to the cosmic scale, physical processes can be described with mathematical models. By programming a computer to run these models, we can simulate reality and thus understand it better. Our work involves developing mathematical and computational tools to solve the most difficult and important problems in engineering, life sciences, finance, climate science and more.
Learning to count
To be able to calculate (correctly and quickly), our students learn about mathematical models, numerical methods and programming. We use student-activating teaching methods, where students are given practical experiences before the theoretical material is formally introduced. Our subject didactic research focuses on how students learn concepts and practical skills in the subject, and how education can influence how they relate to the subject.
Internet of things
You get a call from your primary care provider, they have noticed a change in your general condition and your doctor now wants to take you in for tests. Your wristwatch, clothes and mobile phone are equipped with sensors that continuously monitor your body temperature, breathing, heart rate and even your balance. These communicate with the healthcare system which, after analysing your data, has in turn alerted primary care. A few years ago this would have been science fiction, but not anymore.
Read more about Internet of things
The fact that more and more things in our environment are connected to the Internet, a trend called the Internet of Things, enables us to get more and more detailed information about what is happening around us, and with us, and at the same time share this information with the world. In the past, this has been practically impossible as the sensors that collect all the data have not been sufficiently small and low-power, nor have the components that manage the communication between the sensors and other technical systems.
Modern cell phones contain a growing array of sensors that collect information that can be used for a variety of purposes. At the Department of Information Technology, research is carried out on how these can be used to, for example, understand how winter fatigue is connected to our dark winters or how patients in need of rehabilitation can perform balance exercises at home. The technology in the sensors and how they communicate with each other is another current area of research where researchers at the department investigate and develop methods and knowledge to be able to effectively create sensor networks where several sensors work together to give us even better information together.
As new technology and knowledge develop, the possibilities grow, and sensors that we carry with us are only one of all areas of application. Sensors in our homes can enable more efficient heating and energy use, in our cars they can contribute information that helps us avoid traffic jams and thus also to reduced emissions and a lower risk of accidents. Through our various research projects, the Department of Information Technology contributes both to driving technology development forward and to finding and exploring these new areas of application.
- The Department of Information Technology is the programme office for Internet of Things.
- Sensors are studied within several projects of the group Communication Research.