News archive

Emma R Andersson, senior researcher and associate professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, and Joanna Rorbach, senior researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, have been awarded the Göran Gustafsson Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

New funding from Region Stockholm in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet will support advanced research into cluster headache at the university. By combining genetic studies with sleep and circadian rhythm research, the project seeks to improve care for a patient group with a high disease burden and risk of misdiagnosis.

Eight young researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded postdoctoral grants within the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). This means strengthened opportunities to conduct research that can contribute to future medical breakthroughs – from the role of mitochondria in disease to the brain's body experience and new strategies for allergy treatment. The competition has been particularly intense in this year's call.

The Strategic Research Area Neuroscience – StratNeuro - announces a call for applications to support postdoctoral researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Using a combination of strategic recruitment and an internal nomination process, KI hopes to be able to nominate particularly promising young researchers for the Swedish Research Council’s new call. Jesper Lagergren, chairman of KI’s recruitment committee, considers the initiative both right and promising.

Karolinska Institutet (KI) and the University of Toronto (U of T) have announced the second cohort of Mats Sundin Fellows in Human Developmental Health for postdoctoral researchers. The two-year exchange programme offers promising young researchers the opportunity to grow and test their wings in other research environments. Behind the initiative is ice hockey legend Mats Sundin, whose engagement lays the groundwork for the next generation of leading researchers.

Among the 102 recipients at Karolinska Institutet who received research grants in medicine and health from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), five researchers from the Department of Neuroscience were included.

Eligible applicants are researchers with a doctoral degree who are affiliated to Karolinska Institutet, who conduct research within the area described above.

Four innovation projects at KI in the field of life science receive funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and SciLifeLab's Proof-of-Concept program. The grants aim to strengthen the path from academic research to innovation and commercial application in life science.

The 2025 Karolinska Institutet (KI) Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine (MWLC) has been estabished for Postdoctoral positions in the field of Reparative Medicine, including stem cell regenerative medicine, bioengineering, reprogramming and biomanufacturing toward translation.

The Cancer Research Funds of Radiumhemmet is to donate SEK 102 million kronor to point-of-care cancer research at KI. The grant is the largest in the history of the Funds and will finance diagnosis-specific research, infrastructure and research positions.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has awarded 102 grants in medicine and health in five categories to 101 researchers at Karolinska Institutet. In total, KI will be allocated just over SEK 526,6 million for the period 2025-2031.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has decided on four calls and awarded funding to 39 researchers at Karolinska Institutet (KI) in the areas of clinical therapy research, international post docs within medicine and health, research into viruses and pandemics, and career grants within primary care.

The Committee for Research at Karolinska Institutet has decided on recipients from the Jonas Söderquist scholarship foundation for basic research in virology and immunology. The awarded are Annika Niehrs and Thomas R. Müller at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, and Andrea Fossati at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology.

The Swedish Cancer and Allergy Foundation has allocated SEK 3.3 million to support 19 innovative projects in the fields of cancer and allergy research. Among the recipients are three researchers from the Department of Laboratory Medicine, who will receive grants to advance studies focused on some of the most challenging and hard-to-treat cancer types.

The Epilepsy Foundation (Stiftelsen Epilepsifonden) is awarding a grant of SEK 400,000 to the research project “MAP-KETO,” which is investigating the effects of a ketogenic diet on children with drug-resistant epilepsy.

At the same time as more and more young people are affected by mental illness, the need for research in psychology and psychiatry aimed at children, young people and young adults is becoming ever greater. Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation have now decided to award grants to ten research projects in the area. Seven of these are run by researchers at KI.

The government has initiated an investment in new excellence clusters totalling SEK 2.5 billion. With five planning grants awarded by the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova, Karolinska Institutet (KI) is one of the institutions taking the next step towards strengthening Sweden’s position in medical research and innovation.

Professor Sten Linnarsson, Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded a distinguished professor grant by the Swedish Research Council totalling just over SEK 30 million for the period 2026–2033.

In October 2025, the Faculty Board decided to allocate funding to NVS in a university-wide initiative to promote collaboration between environments with either a strong research profile or a strong education profile. Three of the department’s study programmes have been granted funding under this initiative.

Forte's annual call for project grants will contribute to increased knowledge in Forte's areas of health, working life and welfare. Of the 74 approved projects in 2025, 19 are run by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, who will receive just over SEK 86.3 million.

Forte is investing in future research through annual starting grants for young researchers. In this year's decision, Karolinska Institutet is awarded approximately SEK 39 million for 11 projects characterised by high quality and societal benefit. This year's call for proposals is larger than previous years and has a clear focus on career development and international mobility.

Forte has decided on two calls and awarded grants to eight researchers at KI. In the call for Research on person-centred and integrated care 2025, five KI researchers will receive a total of approximately SEK 33.5 million for studies linked to the transition in primary care. In the call for Research centre grants 2025, three KI initiatives are granted SEK 158 million for long-term research in dementia, psychiatry and return to work.

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) is investing SEK 120 million in the development of instruments, technology and methods that will enable scientific breakthroughs. Four researchers at Karolinska Institutet have received a total of almost SEK 35 million for projects that improve diagnostics, develop new therapies and provide researchers with advanced analytical tools.

The Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) has announced its research grants for 2025. Around 73 million has been awarded to researchers at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet.

Karolinska Institutet awards grants from a large number of foundations and from donations. The foundations & donations award research and travel grants.

The Swedish Research Council has decided on a number of calls for proposals in medicine and health for 2025. A total of just over SEK 1.2 billion will be awarded for the years 2025–2031. KI will receive just over SEK 526 million for 102 grants. KI is also being awarded four grants in natural and engineering sciences, and humanities and social sciences, totalling approximately SEK 18.7 million.

Two research infrastructures, one that Karolinska Institutet coordinates and one it participates in, have been awarded a grant in the Swedish Research Council’s call for research infrastructure of national interest: the Chemical Biological Consortium and Protein Production Sweden 2.0. Seventeen other infrastructures have also been granted financing.

Businessman Fredrik Lundberg is donating SEK 30 million to Karolinska Institutet and a research project looking into how the immune system can combat colorectal cancer and prevent it spreading.

KI is investing SEK 50 million in research into osteoporosis for better diagnostics, treatment and prevention. The large investment is made possible by a generous donation from Ebbe and Lena Krook. Part of the donation will finance a new endowment professorship at KI in the subject.

Shireen Sindi at NVS and her team have been awarded this major award. It is the first time an applicant from Karolinska Institutet (KI) has received such a large award from Wellcome Leap, with whom KI has had an agreement since 2021.

Professor Gonçalo Castelo-Branco at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, KI, has been awarded the ERC Proof of Concept grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This grant will support the MeTLAND project, which could lead to a fundamental change in the field of epigenomics and personalised treatments for diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. This is the third time Gonçalo Castelo-Branco has been awarded an ERC grant.

We congratulate researchers at MedH who have been awarded CIMED project grants for the period 2026-2028.

Prach Techameena, PhD student at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded a research fellowship from the IBSA Foundation for scientific research. The project, in the category of pain medicine/ orthopaedics/ rheumatology, was one of six selected globally in the 12th edition of the IBSA Foundation Fellowships.

Multidisciplinary researchers will come together in a new consortium, led by Professor Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg, Karolinska Institute, to develop biomarkers to predict late effects and infertility in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients, and to develop clinical care guidelines. Predict AYA will receive nearly EUR 7 million in funding from the European Union’s Horizon programme Mission Cancer.

Two researchers at the Centre for Cluster Headache at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded two stipends and one grant to support their innovative research on cluster headache. The awards, granted by the International Headache Society, the Swedish Headache Society, H. Lundbeck AB, and Pfizer, aim to advance the understanding and treatment of headache conditions.

NordForsk has recently granted funding to five new research projects aimed at developing sustainable health and care systems for older people in the Nordic region.

The Kamprad Family Foundation awards SEK 5 million to Elisabet Rydwik, researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, for her research project on home rehabiltation for the elderly.

A donation of SEK 10 million from the Promobilia Foundation is to provide crucial funding for a project designed to help children, adolescents and adults with motor impairments identify more as physically active and included in sport. The project is led by Ferdinand von Walden, researcher at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, and Jessica Norrbom, researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet.

A new project, supported by the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, aims to test hundreds of drugs simultaneously using advanced 3D cell models, despite limited sample material. The goal is to identify more treatment options for children with cancer, building on existing resources from GMS Childhood Cancer and the Swedish Childhood Tumor Biobank.

The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund (Barncancerfonden) has decided to grant funding for paediatric oncology research over the next one to six years. Diagnoses in focus include brain tumours and leukaemia, the most common childhood cancer diagnoses. Together, 29 researchers will share SEK 64 million. Seven of these researchers work at KI.

The government is funding Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS) with SEK 80 million in 2025. The special support will be used, among other things, for continued investments in the sustainable development and implementation of precision medicine in cancer care. Richard Rosenquist Brandell, professor at KI and director of GMS, describes the initiative as an important investment in the future of healthcare.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has decided to allocate 4.9 million SEK to the innovation project BrAInChild, as part of the larger initiative within Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS). BrAInChild aims to develop and implement advanced precision diagnostics for children with cancer, potentially leading to more individualized and effective treatments.

To produce reports on project balances and research projects, you can use VIS or UBW, which have the same functions as in ‘Forskarwebben’, which was closed in January.

A four-year grant from the Bergling Foundation will provide support to Karolinska Institutet’s digital training initiative to help medical students be better at identifying and responding to suicidal children and young adults. The aim of the project is to give prospective doctors the tools they need to deal with young people in the risk zone.

In 2025, five Wallenberg Clinical Scholars have been granted an extended grant for another five years. Among these is KI researcher Olle Kämpe, who will thus receive support for a total of ten years for his research into the causes of autoimmune diseases.

This year, the Swedish Rheumatism Association (Reumatikerförbundet) is awarding almost SEK 14 million to research into rheumatic diseases. What unites many research projects is a clear focus on personalised diagnostics and treatment. Of the total of 87 research projects in this year's allocation, 32 are conducted at KI.

This year's awarded research grant from the Swedish Kidney Foundation (Njurfonden) was a record amount, seven and a half million SEK for kidney research. About half, SEK 3,450,000, goes to projects at Karolinska Institutet.

Researchers who are awarded a Göran Gustafsson Prize are among Sweden's foremost under 45 years of age in their field. One of this year's five Göran Gustafsson Prize winners is KI researcher Laura Baranello, who is being recognized for “groundbreaking studies on the regulation of topoisomerases and their role in tumor biology”. The aim of the research is a new strategy for less intrusive cancer treatments.

KI Innovations – the company that helps researchers at Karolinska Institutet commercialise their discoveries – is to receive SEK 29 million from Vinnova (the Swedish governmental agency for innovation systems) for 2025 to 2029. “It’s proof of the quality of our business and the startups that we work with,” says Johan Weigelt, CEO of KI Innovations and KI Holding AB.