News archive

Modern research often uses high-tech methods and tools that require particular expertise. Despite this, there has been no career paths in Sweden for individuals interested in the technical and methodological development needed to operate and develop the research infrastructures of the future. Starting April 1, 2023, such a career path will be available at KI, possibly the first of its kind in the country.

Core facilities with funding from the Infrastructure Council will be easier to find for users. This is the purpose behind the project Digital profiling of KI’s core facilities, which began in spring 2022. Implementation of new, uniform templates for the facilities’ web pages on ki.se and in the booking system iLab is now underway.

A new network at Karolinska Institutet will support researchers who are using – or want to use – xrays and neutrons in medical research. This initiative is connected to the MAX IV and ESS facilities in Lund and is supported by the Infrastructure Council at KI.

For two days in the first week of October, Karolinska Institutet for the first time invited members of the public to partake in guided tours of the Nordic region’s largest zebrafish facility. More than 40 people took the opportunity, offered as part of Nobel Calling 2022, to visit more than 20,000 tropical freshwater fish that are helping to solve medical mysteries.

EU-OPENSCREEN is a European network that provides infrastructure for high-capacity screening in chemical biology and early identification of drug candidates. As of July 2022, Sweden is represented in the network, through the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) at Karolinska Institutet, one of two selected Swedish nodes.

Karolinska Institutet has signed a collaboration agreement with the European research infrastructure EBRAINS, which offers digital tools and services for research into the brain. The purpose of this agreement is to give KI's researchers access to new digital technology and state-of-the-art resources, as well as the opportunity to contribute to the further development of the area of neuroscience within the EU.

The procurement process for a Research Information Management System (RIMS) has now been completed and KI has chosen a supplier.

During the spring of 2022 the Infrastructure Council rolled out two projects with the aim of increasing the number of users of KI's core facilities. One of the projects focuses on making research infrastructure available to business and industry, while the other focuses on improving web pages and searchability on the Internet.

Karolinska Institutet's core facilities are generally highly rated by the users. This can be seen from the results of the open survey conducted in November and December 2021 on behalf of the Infrastructure Council. But there is still potential for improvement in areas such as websites and support given to clinical researchers, according to the working group behind the survey.

Several substantial appropriations have been awarded to KI through the Swedish Research Council’s national research infrastructure initiative.
The Swedish Twin Registry (STR), Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) and the National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) were all awarded funding through the Research Council.

To succeed in the international competition, researchers at Karolinska Institutet need secure access to cutting-edge technology as well as a wide range of basic core-facilities. The Research Committee has therefore adopted a strategy for activities related to core-facilities and research infrastructure until 2024.

Do you have difficulty finding detailed information about Karolinska Institutet’s research and researchers on the website? If so, you are probably not alone. A project is now underway to improve search possibilities and presentation of research information within the framework of KI’s Information Management Programme and Strategy 2030.   

The corona pandemic put a stop to the planned inauguration-reception this autumn, but now Karolinska Institutet's new 3D-EM core facility is fully operational after all. In the basement of Wargentin House on Solna campus there are several cryogenic electron microscopes of the latest models, that can be used by both KI researchers and external customers. Martin Hällberg, PI at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and director of the 3D-EM facility, is enthusiastic.

Twin Research and Human Genetics has just published an overview article of the Swedish Twin Registry (STR). The registry has developed into an infrastructure of broad utility, aiming to provide a resource for epidemiological and molecular studies of twins.

With the start of 2019, the Karolinska Genome Engineering facility (KGE) has opened its doors as a core facility for researchers from both within and outside of Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. The facility, led by Bernhard Schmierer, is located in Biomedicum 9B at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, and provides various gene editing services in cells.

Karolinska Microscopic Imaging in Thrombosis & Hemostasis, KARMITH, Core Facility.