Eight research projects have been awarded funding by Digital Futures within the Swedish Strategic Research Area (SRA) of IT and Mobile Communications. The projects bring together researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden to explore new approaches to challenges in areas including healthcare, artificial intelligence, wireless communications, digital twins and critical infrastructure.
The funding comprises five Research Pairs projects and three Research Pairs Consolidator projects, each receiving SEK 2 million over two years. The projects will run from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028, with SEK 1 million allocated per project each year.
The funding decision was made by the President of KTH on 15 October 2026, following a recommendation from the Digital Futures Steering Group.
The funded projects
Research Pairs projects
- AI-Guided Electromagnetic Focusing for Safe Non-Invasive Deep Brain Stimulation
Researchers: Mariana Dalarsson (KTH EECS) and Gonzalo Uribarri (Stockholm University).
- A multi-agent virtual scientist for spatial transcriptomics of gastrointestinal diseases
Researchers: Simon Koplev (KTH CBH) and Wei Ouyang (KTH SCI).
- Bayesian Inference Wasserstein Gradient Flows on Probabilistic Circuits
Researchers: Martin Trapp (KTH EECS) and Jia-Jie Zhu (KTH SCI).
- Collaborative Privacy Defences Against Traffic Fingerprinting Attacks in Future Wireless Networks
Researchers: Apostolos Pyrgelis (RISE) and Hongyu Jin (KTH EECS).
- Intelligent Multiscale X-Ray Imaging: Uniting Laboratory Accessibility with Synchrotron Performance Through Deep Learning
Researchers: Alexander Groetsch (KTH SCI) and Francisco Peña (KTH CBH).
Research Pairs Consolidator projects
- RECOPS 2.0: Extension, Release, and Standardization of a Decision-Support Tool for Open-Source Software in Critical Power Infrastructures
Researchers: Jagruti Thakur (KTH ITM) and Ilka Jahn (KTH EECS).
- SHAPE-DT: From Framework to System — Connecting Ship Design and Production through Digital Twins
Researchers: Abbas Dashtimanesh (KTH SCI) and Yongkuk Jeong (KTH ITM).
- Societal Hypernetworked Autonomy in Populations via Evolutionary Game Dynamics (SHAPE)
Researchers: Angela Fontan (KTH EECS) and Silun Zhang (KTH SCI).
Through these projects, Digital Futures supports collaborative research across disciplines and institutions in strategically important areas of digitalisation. The funding provides researchers with a two-year framework to advance their joint research and develop new knowledge and approaches within the strategic research area of IT and Mobile Communications.
