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This spring, University Alliance Stockholm Trio is organising a webinar on research ethics and AI, with the title "What Counts as Responsible Research in the Age of Generative AI? Norms, Limits, and Governance".

An international study presented in Science Magazine questions the reproducibility of much of the published findings in psychology journals. Researchers tried to replicate 100 studies from three prominent journals, and found that regardless of the analytic method or criteria used fewer than half of their replications produced the same findings as the original study.

As of 1 January 2026, Karolinska Institutet will establish the Committee for Ethics and Good Research Practice. The new committee will have a consolidated and wide-ranging mandate to strengthen and further develop KI’s work in human research ethics, animal research ethics, and good research practice. Professor Catarina Almqvist Malmros has been appointed chair of the committee, and three new scientific ombudsmen are responsible for the institutional groups KI North, KI Solna and KI South.

There is now an updated guide for choosing the applicant entity for the research for the ethical application for a research project where Karolinska Institutet collaborates with health care providers in Region Stockholm.

The overview page "Ethics at KI" is now available in a new, updated version. Ethics is an important strategic area for Karolinska Institutet and is relevant in both education and research. Here you can read more about what we do, ask for advice and find links to useful sources on ethical issues, rules and guidelines, literature and education.

Several high-profile cases of intimidation, harassment and imprisoned researchers demonstrate that academic freedom is under considerable pressure. In May 2022, KI highlighted the situation during the seminar "Academic freedom and international collaboration in a turbulent world."

In May, KI held a seminar on academic freedom and international collaborations. The event explored the question of how research is impacted by a world that is characterized by war, conflict and democratic decline. It is not enough to develop new guidelines; actions need to be based on personal responsibility, says KI President Ole Petter Ottersen.

Collections of human remains were once a common feature of medical universities, where they were used for both education and research. Karolinska Institutet itself was home to some 800 skulls and other bones, which were kept in boxes stored in specially designated places – where they have remained untouched for decades. This – and more besides – was the subject of a seminar arranged by KI’s Ethics Council on Tuesday.

The KI Ethics Council has issued a statement condemning the increasingly hostile tone of debate, especially in connection with COVID-19.

The global shutdown during the pandemic is particularly harmful to children and teenagers in the poorer parts of the world, said Professor Anna Mia Ekström during an ethics seminar held at KI in November. Also participating at the seminar was state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.

Karolinska Institutet’s president Ole Petter Ottersen has set up a resource team for research ethics in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team comprises four experts from KI, one of whom is Niklas Juth, senior lecturer and docent of medical ethics and group convenor.

Professor Claes Frostell has been named scientific representative at KI for a period of two years starting September 1, 2019.

[This article has been revised] On 21 March 2017 the paper “Experimental orthotopic transplantation of a tissue-engineered oesophagus in rats”, published in Nature Communications, was retracted by the authors due to technical flaws in the article that was discovered in an investigation.

2016 saw a dramatic increase in the number of cases of misconduct in research, says Jörgen Svidén, Administrative Director at the Central Ethical Review Board (CEPN). Many cases concerned Karolinska Institutet and Paolo Macchiarini’s research.