Decision on compensation for the freezer failure

During the Christmas holidays in 2023, a freezer failure occurred at Karolinska Institutet's freezer facility in the Neo building in Flemingsberg. The damage was extensive as 16 out of 19 cryogenic tanks thawed and research material stored there was destroyed. 

Two investigations into the incident were conducted, one internal and one external. In summary, the investigations showed that responsibility lies with different parts of the organisation. There were shortcomings in the chain of responsibility from the highest management level down to the individual organisation. 

Against this background, it has been decided that MedH will receive funds from the President to cover part of the costs incurred or to be incurred.

“The research material that has been lost is irreplaceable and it is a tragedy for the researchers who have been affected. The purpose of this SEK 30 million is to enable the organisation to recreate biobanks and collect research material, and to provide support primarily to the young researchers whose research careers have been affected," says KI's President Annika Östman Wernerson. 

Equal instalments over three years

According to the decision, it is the extent of the damage and the importance of the organisation for the whole of KI that motivates that MedH receives financial support, in addition to the financial efforts the organisation itself is making.

The funds will come from a pot at the President’s disposal and will be transferred in equal instalments over three years, starting in 2025, to Petter Höglund, head of department at MedH. He will then decide how to use the funds to best benefit the affected research groups, regardless of departmental affiliation. 

"I am very happy and grateful that the President and KI's management have recognised the need for this and are giving us this compensation. It helps us as a department and the researchers who have lost their material. Together with the financial investments that we ourselves are making at department level, we can now start this process," says Petter Höglund.

“Important that KI steps in”

For Eva Hellström Lindberg, professor at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, the decision also comes as a great relief:

"It is particularly important to provide career support to young researchers whose projects have been put on hold due to the losses, while we gather new research material," she says.

Eva Hellström Lindberg also thinks that the decision sends an important signal.

"Us senior researchers who have been well funded by external grant providers and who are also affected, think it is important that KI steps in and covers part of the loss of the work that has been going on for up to 30 years and where we are now gathering strength to rebuild resources within the shortest possible time. I am also very positive about the infrastructure work that has been initiated and am absolutely convinced that we will have a much better system in the future," she says. 

More stable operation of research infrastructure

The work of creating a uniform and more stable operation of important research infrastructure at KI is ongoing in KI's management and in various working groups. 

Clearer centralised control over the operation of freezer facilities and other critical facilities will ensure, among other things, that current safety regulations are followed. The aim is for this to be completed by the end of the year. 

"It is very positive that compensation has now been paid to those affected by the freezer failure, which means that we can now focus on the future and implement structures that ensure that this cannot happen again," says Matti Sällberg, dean of KI South.