Knowledge Exchange: Algorithm Watch
2026-01-12 16:30 - 17:30 (Europe/Stockholm)
We welcome all WASP-HS researhers to exchange knowledge about political aspects of algorithms together with Oliver Marsh from Algorithm Watch, Berlin. The goal of the one hour workshop is to explore strategies to manage the increasingly algorithm-driven society.
Speaker
Oliver Marsh, Head of Tech Research at Algorithm Watch
About Algoritm Watch
Algorithm Watch is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Berlin and Zurich. We fight for a world where algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) do not weaken justice, human rights, democracy, and sustainability but strengthen them.
Read more.
Registration
Do you want to join the webinar? Send an email to graduate.school@wasp-hs.org for the link!

PhD Defense: Life and AI at NASA: An Ethnography of How Scientists and Engineers Make Tools to Explore Other Worlds
2026-01-30 13:15 - 17:00 | Chalmers University of Technology
Alicja Ostrowska defends her PhD thesis, “Life and AI at NASA: An Ethnography of How Scientists and Engineers Make Tools to Explore Other Worlds” on 30 January at Chalmers University of Technology.
See event page.
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly introduced into scientific practices, including NASA’s missions that explore conditions for life and habitability on other planets and moons. How does the development of new AI tools within these missions transform scientific knowledge production?
Drawing on theories from Science and Technology Studies (STS), this dissertation analyzes science as a cultural practice. It is based on ethnographic research conducted at NASA and within the wider community of planetary scientists and astrobiologists, including interviews and documentary materials.
The dissertation demonstrates how efforts to realize visions of autonomous science beyond Earth already reshape the everyday work of scientists on the ground. It shows how AI is shaped by organizational structures, knowledge infrastructures, and scientific cultures at NASA, while simultaneously feeding back into these dimensions. Boundary work to sustain the legitimacy of planetary missions influences the purposes for which AI can be developed – to identify organic molecules, to explore habitability and potential biosignatures.
The study further shows how field sites, laboratories, and national databases together constitute a knowledge infrastructure that shapes AI by determining which data are available for training. Choices of field sites are influenced by accessibility and symbolic value, rendering some places more popular than others, which skews knowledge production. Digital databases and AI training datasets serve as libraries of knowns against which the unknown is identified. Decisions about anomalies, artifacts, and novelty in data are central to both AI design and scientific discovery. The study highlights the limits of performance metrics and the importance of negotiations with domain experts, particularly in the emerging use of synthetic data.
Although AI remains at an early stage of development in the cases studied, it already reshapes power relations in scientific knowledge production by introducing new ideals of epistemic order and altering who determines the value and usability of data.
By providing an empirical account of AI development in one of the most impactful scientific institutions, this dissertation contributes to discussions about data-driven solutions in science, and the epistemic consequences of using AI in science on Earth and beyond.
See full thesis.
Supervisor
Francis Lee, main supervisor
Shai Mulinari, co-supervisor
Opponent
Marisa Cohn, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Winter Conference 2026
2026-02-04 09:00 - 2026-02-06 12:00
About

Exchange

Posters

Workshops

Program

Registration

The WASP-HS Winter Conference 2026 will be in LUX, the Joint Faculties for Humanities and Theology, at Lund University 4-6 February. It will be filled with workshops, poster presentations, and interactive discussions, with ample opportunity for networking.
Please join us and contribute to the conversation!

WASP-HS Annual Exchange
Encountering DigitalizationWhat happens when interactions are automated and digital agents intervene? Welcome to this year’s WASP-HS Annual Exchange — a dynamic conversation on human-centred digitalization with Prof. Brit Ross Winthereik, Dr. Kash Haresamudram, Dr. Charlotte Högberg and Dr. Malin Heintz.

Speakers

Brit Ross Wintereik

Professor, Dept of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark

Kashyap Haresamudram

PhD in Technology and Society, Lund University

Charlotte Högberg

PhD in Technology and Society, Lund University

Malin Heintz

PhD in Economics, Arbetsförmedlingen

Poster sessions for all
Come and see the most recent PhD project results and give your feedback and contribute with your insights.
Please download and use the poster template for the poster session.Download poster template (.pptx)

Workshops
Open for WASP-HS PhD students:
Bias and Prejudices in AI Training DataModerator: Sarah de Heer
Smashing the Cloud with a Hammer: Exploring AI Through RejectionModerator: Martin Lindstam
History a la ChatGPTModerator: Johannes Widegren, Nasrin Mostofian and Mo von Bychelberg
AI experts meet AI narratives on BlueskyModerator: Igor Ryazanov
Open for all WASP-HS researchers:
AI in Higher Education – limitations and risks

Program

Wednesday, February 4
09:00—11:30Workshop: AI in Higher EducationC214, and breakout rooms:C213C212 (the Staff canteen)
Workshop: Smashing the Cloud with a HammerB352
11:30—13:00Lunch and Poster PresentationsOutside of Lux Auditorium
13:00—15:00WASP-HS Annual ExchangeLUX Auditorium
15:00—15:20CoffeeOutside Lux Auditorium
15:20—18:00How to Write a PostDoc ApplicationC214
15:20—18:00Posters that Don’t Suck: From Awkward to Awesome!B336
18:00—18:30PhD student council meetingB336
19:00Conference dinner PhD certificate ceremonyForum Medicum, Sölvegatan 19

Thursday, February 5
10:00—12:00Poster sessions by WASP-HS PhD students
12:00—13:00Lunch
13:00—15:00Supervisor meetingLUX C214
13:00—16:00Workshop: Bias and Prejudices in AI Training DataB240
Workshop: History a la ChatGPTB352
Workshop: AI Experts Meet AI Narratives on BlueskyB339 CANCELLED
18:00Pool for PhD studentsParadis Biljard

Friday, February 6
9:30—12:30Oral presentations by PhD studentsLUX Auditorium
Click here for abstracts
09.30: Welcome and introduction by Ericka Johnson, WASP-HS Graduate School Director
09.35 Johannes Widegren: Archives +Sapmi = AI?
10.05 Nicolas A. de Pieuchon: Countering Bias in AI Methods for Text Data
10.35 Coffee
11.00 Ziming Wang: A Meat-Summer Night’s Dream: A Tangible Design Fiction Exploration of Eating Biohybrid Flying Robots
11.30 Laetitia Tanqueray: Reframing Robots for Care: Situating Informal Caregivers in the Development of Social Robots
12.00 Sarah de Heer: When Algorithms Shape Care: AI-Driven Medical Device, Precision Medicine and Quality under the Right to Health

Registration
Registration is closed

Research Opportunities at the Intersection of Society, Life Sciences, and Technology
2026-05-07 09:00 - 2026-05-08 17:00
A Joint Conference between DDLS, WASP and WASP-HS
Uniting Sweden’s life science, machine learning and artificial intelligence communities, we welcome researchers from all disciplines to explore new research opportunities in a changing world.
Participants will have the opportunity to network, be inspired by excellent international keynote speakers, and take part in the latest research in Sweden. In addition to plenary keynotes, the program will offer a panel discussion, a poster session and ample time to mingle.
Practical Details
DatesMay 7-8, 2026
VenueUppsala Konsert & Kongress

Preliminary Conference Program

Thursday, May 7
09.00 Registration opens (coffee) + poster hanging
10.00 Opening Remarks:Program Directors from the three Research Programs
Keynote Maja Fjaestad
Parallel Workshops, Session 1
Lunch
Keynote Olli Kallioniemi
Panel: Initiatives in the Nordics
Parallel Workshops, Session 2
Mingle food and Poster Session

Friday, May 8
08:30 Parallel Workshops, Sessions 3
Keynote “”Perception, Action, Intercation in Physical AI systems””Danica Kragic, Professor at the School of Computer Science and Communication at the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH
Coffee
Flash Talks: Funded Projects NEST & RIG
Closing remarks, lunch to go

Registration
Registration opens March 16.

Keynotes

Maja Fjaestad

Strategic Advisor to the Executive Leadership at Karolinska Institutet,Adjunct Professor at Luleå University of Technology

Olli Kallioniemi

Danica Kragic

Professor at the School of Computer Science and Communication at the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH

Background
Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), the SciLifeLab and Wallenberg National Program for Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS), and Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society (WASP-HS) are collaborating through joint research projects and events with the ultimate goal of solving ground-breaking research questions across disciplines.

Summer School 2026 on AI, Power and Politics
2026-08-17 13:00 - 2026-08-21 12:00
Photo: Mattias Pettersson

About the Event
Join us for the WASP-HS Summer School, 17–21 August, at Umeå University. This year’s theme is AI, Power and Politics.
The Summer School brings together PhD students for an inspiring week in Umeå. The programme will be published soon and will include further details on lectures, workshops and other sessions, alongside practical information and registration.
We look forward to welcoming you to Umeå!

AI for Humanity and Society 2026
2026-11-10 12:00 - 2026-11-11 12:15 | Stångs Mjärdevi, Linköping Science Park, Teknikringen 7, Linköping, Sweden
About

Keynotes

Program

Registration

More

Robots and Autonomous Systems in Everyday Life

How can we live amidst and with robots? How do they impact human work and our understanding of social relationships and societal values? Complex organizational work is needed to make robot fleets run smoothly and bring forward societal concerns about care, safety and responsibility. Join the WASP-HS conference AI for Humanity and Society 2026 themed “Robots and Autonomous Systems in Everyday Life”.

Robots and autonomous systems have left the laboratories and are now entering homes, schools, hospitals and public spaces. They are becoming part of everyday life. Being a material and mobile manifestation of artificial intelligence, robots raise new questions about autonomy and agency in relationships with individuals.
This year’s conference, Robots and Autonomous Systems in Everyday Life, will explore how individuals, organizations, and societies are impacted when robots enter our daily life, shedding light on how humans work to make autonomous systems at home in the world. WASP-HS welcomes researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and civil society to come together to make sense of emerging developments and to discuss agendas for humane futures with autonomous systems and AI. Through panels, keynotes and an interactive reception, we will engage with topics such as coordination and interaction with robots as a form of embodied AI, robots in education, regulatory and policy issues related to autonomous systems, as well as the roles robots and autonomous systems may play in care and crisis.
The WASP-HS AI for Humanity and Society 2026 conference fosters human-centered perspectives on robots and autonomous systems, offering a space to examine emerging challenges and to jointly imagine possible futures — where robots and autonomous systems can foster human relationships, contribute to inclusive public spaces, and stimulate meaningful work. We warmly welcome you to join us in Linköping-Mjärdevi at Linköping Science Park (Teknikringen 7) on November 10–11, 2026.

Keynotes

Steve Benford

Dunford Professor of Computer Science, University of Nottingham And UKRI Turing AI World Leading Research Fellow

Janet Vertesi

Associate Professor, Princeton University and Associate Director of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education

Preliminary Conference Program
Conference program may be subject to change.

Tuesday, November 10
12:00 Registration opens
13:00–13:15 Welcome and introduction
13:15–14:00 Panel 1: Coordinating human and robot bodies
14:15–15:00 Panel 2: Educational robots and AI
15:00–15:30 Coffee Break
15:30–16:15 Opening keynote: Steve Benford
16:30–18:30 Interactive Reception

Wednesday, November 11
08:30 Registration opens
09:00–9:15 Welcome and opening
09:15–10:00 Panel 3: Policy and regulation of robots

10:00–10:15 Coffee Break
10:30–11.15 Panel 4: Robots and AI in care and crisis

11:15-12:00 Closing keynote: Janet Vertesi
12:00-12:15 Closing and announcement of 2027 conference

Registration
Registration opens in spring 2026

Conference Chairs

Hannah Pelikan

Assistant Professor at Linköping University and a Pro Futura Scientia Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study

Airi Lampinen

Associate Professor in Human–Computer Interaction at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University, Sweden
