News archive

Deadline 5 April 2024

On January 23, President Annika Östman Wernerson decided to name a lecture hall on Campus Solna after Christina Larsdotter. The decision was made after preparation by KI's advisory board for naming matters.

In autumn 2022, KI students had the opportunity to answer a survey about their experiences of and risks of discrimination and harassment. The results point to the need for more knowledge and active measures linked to lack of accessibility, discrimination and harassment in the study environment. This applies in particular to ethnicity and gender in connection with On-site training (VFU/VIL). KI is now working to strengthen its work with equal opportunities for all students.

Karolinska Institutet's students, staff and alumni participated under the Academic Pride flag on Saturday, August 5, when the Pride parade marched through Stockholm.

KI is working on developing a university wide language policy and we are looking for people who want to be part of a reference group.

Karolinska Institutet has been awarded a new EU prize for its long-term commitment to gender equality in higher education. The prize of 100,000 euro is the result of nearly 40 years of sustained activity to advance equal opportunities. The efforts have paid off and now KI is recognized as a role model for equality, a “Gender Equality Champion.”

Several KI researchers are part of an international project that has been awarded nearly $15 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with $1 million co-funding from the Swedish government. The project involves a multi-country study to better understand the burden of Human papillomavirus (HPV) among girls and women in low and lower middle-income countries.

During the beginning of the autumn semester, KI-students will receive an important survey in their inbox. It is a survey on equal opportunities for students that is sent out with the aim to further develop KI's preventive work against discrimination.

During Pride Week in Stockholm in early August, Karolinska Institutet raised the rainbow flag over campus and participated in the parade together with several other universities under the Academic Pride flag.

As in previous years, several of Stockholm's academic institutions are joining together with a united theme during Pride week to draw attention to LGBTQI issues. Academic Pride 2022 is organising a seminar on LGBTQI-inclusive work and study environments and joint participation in the Pride Parade. The Pride flag will also be flown at all participating universities throughout the week of this festive week.

For the first time, Swedish higher education institutions have conducted a joint national survey on the prevalence of gender-based and sexual harassment in the academic sector. The responses from a total of almost 39,000 employees and students show that young people, women and students (including doctoral students) are particularly at risk.

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.

Sexual and gender-based harassment in the workplace can contribute to the development of mental ill-health requiring treatment with antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication, a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports.

You are the same person inside, although your body is ageing and your memory failing. Professor Maria Eriksdotter hopes to add to our knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease. But she also wants to fight ageism. “The status of the elderly needs to be raised,” she says.

New investments are now being implemented to strengthen Karolinska Institutet’s position as a pioneering research university. Many of these investments are aimed at more junior researchers and include the KI Research Incubator (KIRI), a virtual forum for multidisciplinary collaboration. Two other initiatives are also in the pipeline – a mentor and coaching programme and a new network to enhance the qualification prospects for female researchers and teachers.

Anna Kågesten and Karin Båge, Assistant Professor and PhD-student respectively, at the Department of Global Public Health, have co-authored a newly published report for the Expert Group on Aid Studies. The report aims to improve the understanding of norms and values that undermine vs. support sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and to identify gaps and possibilities for Swedish development cooperation to find ways to relate to these norms and values.

As in previous years, several of Stockholm’s higher education institutions are participating under the joint Academic Pride banner to draw attention to LGBTQI-related issues. Academic Pride 2021 arranges a seminar on breaking binary gender norms with language as well as social events for students. The Pride flag will be hoisted at all participating schools throughout the festival program, including KI’s campuses in Flemingsberg and Solna.

Karolinska Institutet is proposing, in partnership with Karolinska University Hospital, a national preventative drive aimed at people at risk of committing acts of sexual violence. One initiative is to set up a national knowledge hub.

The Covid-19 pandemic does not stop the fight for LGBTQ rights. This year’s Stockholm Pride will instead be broadcast live digitally under the name Stockholm Pride Summer Stream. As usual, several of Stockholm’s higher education institutions are participating under the joint Academic Pride banner, which this year brings together both students and employees from seven higher education institutions.

Associate Professor Annika Vänje is the newly appointed research leader for a research and collaboration programme aimed at combating sexual harassment within academia which was started this past spring. She is now starting her work, aimed at creating a better work and study environment and, by extension, higher quality in the university’s research and education.

Last week Stockholm Pride took place. The festival is part of a global movement to improve the life situation and rights of LGBTQ individuals. Karolinska Institutet participated again in this year’s colourful manifestation.