News archive

Would you like to expand your research network and gain new experience at another top institution in Europe?

On Wednesday 8 October, The Swedish Armed Forces and Karolinska Institutet signed a declaration of intent to strengthen and broaden their collaboration in research and education in the field of defence-related medicine. The two organisations have a long history of collaboration in commissioned medical research, and in light of a changing global security situation and the expanding concept of total defence, they are now taking the next step.

KI–Brazil Collaborative Grants. Application period is open!

On 1 October, researchers, decision-makers and representatives from industry and international organisations gathered at KI for the high-level meeting Vaccines for All: Health. Security. Growth. Benjamin Dousa, Sweden's Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, participated in the important meeting, organised by Karolinska Institutet and the Stockholm School of Economics in collabotation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University (SU) are launching a new investment fund through their respective holding companies for early-stage deep tech ventures. The fund, Trio Impact Invest, is co-financed by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket), the European Regional Development Fund and private investors, and will address a critical financing gap for research-intensive ventures based in Sweden.

Knut Steffensen heads up the newly opened Karolinska ATMP Centre, which has been established to convert research on cell and gene therapy into actual treatments. Equipped with experience from both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, he wants to combine the best of both worlds.

On 26 September, around 2500 high school students from the Stockholm area visited the science festival Researchers' Night (Forskarfredag) at Albanova. Many researchers from KI participated in the programme, including the Science fair and the Researchers' Grand Prix. The event is a collaboration between KI, KTH, Stockholm University, the City of Stockholm and Vetenskapens hus. The initiative is part of the EU's Researchers' Night celebrating science across Europe.

Are you studying medicine, biomedicine, or life sciences at KI and interested in the ethical, legal, and social dimensions of AI and big data?

The first revolution in quantum technology paved the way for mobile telephony and GPS navigation. With its extreme computational capacity, the technique is now of interest to the field of life science and could prove the key to such advances as smarter drug development and optimised therapies to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. By virtue of its involvement in the Swedish Quantum Life Science Centre, KI is a driver of the country’s research in the field.

KI, together with Stockholm University and KTH, offers two awards of 30,000 SEK each for lab visits or joint projects to strengthen research collaboration with the University of Tokyo in Japan.

Apply for KI collaboration awards for doctoral students in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London or King’s College London, 2025/2026.

Dr M. Madan Babu, this year's Ulf von Euler lecturer, wants to understand how cells control and regulate their various functions. Through his research, he aims to reveal why certain diseases arise when the regulation in cells does not function as it should. Dr Babu works at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, USA.

Social Affairs and Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed recently visited Karolinska Institutet to attend an international seminar arranged to mark the launch of “A call to action for adolescents mental health and wellbeing”, the second report from the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing.

Thirty Nordic ageing and health researchers will gather in Stockholm on 11–12 September 2025 for the SIA joint senior and junior workshop. Hosted by the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet, this event brings together established and early-career experts to foster discussion and collaboration on social inequalities in ageing.

Once again, the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet (KI) will host the course titled "Societal and Life-course Perspectives on Inequalities in Aging" this fall semester. The course is arranged in partnership with the Swedish National Graduate School on Ageing and Health (SWEAH, Lund University) and brings together students from various universities throughout Sweden.

The Nordic Health Crises University Network (HealthCrisNet) gathered for its first-ever meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland, from 27–29 August 2025. Established earlier this year with funding from NordForsk, the network brings together universities from across the Nordic region to strengthen preparedness and resilience in the face of health crises.

On 26 September, the Science festival Researchers' Night (ForskarFredag) and the competition Researchers' Grand Prix, will be organised by Vetenskapens hus, KI, Stockholm University and KTH. The audience at Albanova consists mainly of upper secondary school students from Stockholm schools, but the event is open to anyone interested in research.

Researchers from across the Asia-Pacific region met in Jinan, China, on 7–8 June 2025 at the World-Wide FINGERS Network meeting, to share new ideas on how to help prevent dementia and memory loss. Over 50 researchers and students from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Sweden, and China took part in the event.

The Karolinska ATMP Center — a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Karolinska University Hospital — and St. Erik Eye Hospital have signed a letter of intent to strengthen their partnership in research, development, and clinical trials of cell- and gene-based medicines, known as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). The goal is to accelerate the transition from research to clinical application, particularly for retinal diseases that currently lack effective treatments.

When older people have more than one chronic disease at the same time, this is called multimorbidity – a rapidly growing challenge for the healthcare sector as the population ages. In spite of this, multimorbidity has long been ignored in global public health research. A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) now turns the spotlight on the problem.

Are you interested in conducting research in Canada? Is your research area within Developmental Health? Are you a postdoctoral researcher or a PhD student soon to defend your thesis?  If so, this might be of interest to you.

This autumn, Karolinska Institutet presents a series of webinars and workshops aimed at deepening researchers and staff members’ understanding of risk management in international collaborations. All sessions are held in English and led by experts in the field.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the 2nd Mats Sundin Postdoctoral Fellowship in Human Developmental Health.

Akademiska Hus and KI have long cooperated on issues concerning sustainability on campus, a partnership that has now been deepened by the signing of a new sustainability agreement. The agreement contains a cooperation model with regular follow-ups and opportunities for staff and students to become involved, creating more favourable conditions for lasting, systematic sustainability efforts.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the 2nd Mats Sundin Postdoctoral Fellowship in Human Developmental Health.

On Thursday afternoon, paediatrician and professor of global paediatric health Tobias Alfvén was asked if Karolinska Institutet could receive a visit from Vietnam's prime minister less than a day later. The answer was yes and the meeting resulted in concrete actions for the future.

Dr. Marcos Rojas, a former exchange student and now a research manager at Stanford Chariot Lab, recently revisited Karolinska Institutet and met with Anna Svenningson at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health. We took the opportunity to ask him how his exchange year almost a decade ago influenced his career and personal development.

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 Lancet has announced a new commission aimed at reorienting frailty in clinical practice, public health, and policy. Davide Liborio Vetrano is one of two experts from Karolinska Institutet, who are involved in this important initiative.

The rapid transformation we are now seeing in the healthcare sector brings a growing need for municipally provided health promoting and preventative activities, and, consequently, for research and education. On 3 June, KI signed collaboration agreements with Solna City and Upplands-Bro municipality, marking an important step towards reinforcing such strategic partnerships between the university and local government.

Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Center (Karolinska CCC) will be the first center in Sweden to receive renewed accreditation. This milestone marks an important step in further strengthening the collaboration between Karolinska University Hospital and KI. Childhood cancer is now also part of Karolinska CCC.

Biomedicum was transformed into a colourful studio on May 26th when children rolled up their sleeves for a Science Clay Workshop that turned cell biology into art.

Mayo Clinic and Karolinska Institutet are marking 30 years of collaboration by rescheduling their next joint research meeting to Fall 2026, aiming to focus on cutting-edge themes like RNA therapeutics, precision health, and decentralized care. The event will be held at Mayo Clinic’s Jacksonville campus and is designed to reflect the evolving strengths of both institutions.

After cycling 90 kilometres through sunshine, hail and beech forests, Pernilla Alencar Siljehag arrived in Tomelilla with tired legs and a heart full of impressions. Together with the initiator Oskar Jonsson, she has cycled a leg of the tandem tour that takes researchers around southern Sweden to give lectures on ageing and health. She shares her reflections on the conversations along the way, the audience at the library, and why research journeys are sometimes at their best when on two wheels.

Karolinska Institutet (KI) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) have continued their tradition of academic collaboration by organizing a joint course for doctoral students once again this year. Held at the UTokyo Hongo Campus in Japan, the course titled "Bioinformatics Analysis and Visualization of Medical Genomics Data (H7F5633)", led by Dr. Carsten Daub, brought together 11 students from KI and 16 from UTokyo.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet (KI), in collaboration with Umecrine Cognition AB, have been awarded a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation to explore a promising new treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

The partnership between Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (J&J) and Karolinska Institutet (KI) marks this year a decade of joint initiatives for promoting the development of tomorrow’s therapies. This long-standing collaboration between industry and academy has given rise to significant scientific advances in several fields of medicine.

The tandem tour is a popular science initiative where researchers cycle through southern Sweden, giving lectures on ageing and health at libraries and community centres. The aim is to reach a broader audience, foster dialogue, and spark interest in the role of research in society. The tour, organised in collaboration with the graduate school SWEAH, runs from 4–27 May 2025 and is made possible thanks to support from the Sten K Johnson Foundation.

At the end of March, part of the GPH administration visited Makerere University’s School of Public Health (MakSPH) and College of Health Sciences (MakCHS), in Kampala Uganda. The visit aimed to strengthen collaboration, share administrative experiences, and explore opportunities for strengthening academic partnerships and administrative efficiency. The visit covered grants management, procurement, financial systems and processes, HR, and joint application strategies.

Researchers from Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with National Family Care Competence Center (Nka), sent out a survey to 31,000 older adults to learn more about those that take care of a loved one, in or outside their homes. Turns out 2,157 people older than 65 years provide such care on a regular basis.

UCL and Stockholm Trio have a joint call to support collaborations activities.

KI's 148 safety representatives play a crucial role in ensuring a safe and secure work and study environment. The International Health and Safety Day is a great opportunity to pay extra attention to this important group.

On April 10–11, 2025, representatives from all medical faculties at Swedish universities gathered at Karolinska Institutet (KI) for the spring NIMUS meeting – a forum for national collaboration on international mobility in medical education. NIMUS stands for the Network for the Internationalisation of Medical Education in Sweden.

The report 'Antalet demenssjuka och kostnader för demenssjukdomar i Sverige 2023', commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs last autumn, was recently presented to Anna Tenje, Minister for Older People and Social Security. KI researchers Anders Wimo and Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga have been primarily responsible for the report, which shows a forecast with a great increase for the number of people with dementia by 2050 and for the heavy financial responsibility of municipalities.

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 Workshop on Genome Editing Tool Developments and Clinical Applications (#HKCRISPR25) was successfully held at the Hong Kong Science Park in April 2025.

The Swedish Research Council has published its report "Quality and impact of research in basic medicine in Sweden", which evaluates the scientific quality and societal impact of medical research at seven universities. Karolinska Institutet is a leader among Swedish higher education institutions.

A groundbreaking national initiative, Precision Omics Initiative Sweden (PROMISE), aims to connect research with healthcare and establish Sweden as a world leader in data-driven precision medicine. The vision was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.

This call aims to facilitate new and existing contacts as well as increase research collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The strategic partnership agreement, signed between Karolinska Institutet and University of Tokyo aims to increase mobility, joint research projects and faculty development. Up to three KI collaboration awards will be awarded 2025 for collaboration with the University of Tokyo for doctoral students and post docs.