Nominate 2027 year’s doctors honoris causa in medicine and odontology at Karolinska Institutet
The closing date for nominations is November 3, 2026.
Who may nominate?
Eligible to nominate are all employees of Karolinska Institutet (KI), as well as visiting scientists affiliated to KI.
When and how?
The signed proposals should be sent as a single PDF document to priser@ki.se by Tuesday, November 3, 2026
The proposals should contain a detailed motivation. Candidates may be nominated for:
- outstanding scientific achievements, particularly those linked to Karolinska Institutet
- significant contributions to Karolinska Institutet and its activities
- significant contributions to society, nationally or internationally, within areas of relevance to KI
Who already is a doctor in medicine at a Swedish university, or has been awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine at a Swedish university cannot be appointed honorary doctor in medicine at another Swedish university. Please also note that previous years’ nominations must be renewed.
Only a small number of the nominees will receive honorary doctorates and therefore the proponents should not contact the nominees before the decision is made.
Nominations are treated in strict confidence and are reviewed by a working group appointed by the Faculty Board and chaired by the Dean of Research. The working group’s assessments and recommendations are discussed by the Faculty Board at the beginning of the following year. The Faculty Board’s recommendations for appointment are then submitted to the President for decision. Before a decision is finalized, the proposed honorary doctorate recipient(s) are asked whether they are willing to accept the appointment. Once the decision has been made, the nominations become public records.
Honorary doctors at Karolinska Institutet
The first honorary doctors in Medicine and Odontology at Karolinska Institutet were appointed in 1910 and 1949. Over the years, a total of 329 honorary doctors have been appointed.
What is an honorary doctor?
An honorary doctor is a person appointed by a faculty to have doctoral honor and dignity, i.e. has the right to use this title without having to formally meet the qualifications usually required by the rules of the university. An honorary doctor of medicine is entitled MDhc, medical doctor honoris causa, and an honorary doctor of odontology, has the title ODhc.
The practice of appointing honorary doctors in Sweden by order of the faculty was born on May 15, 1839 at Uppsala University when the poet and professor, P. D. A. Atterbom brought a proposal for appointing a Swedish cultural personality, who had not obtained a degree. The proposal was approved by the Faculty of Philosophy.
Ancient theological doctorate dignities, which until 1927 were presented by the Archbishop, by decision of the state church's main representative, i. e. the king, were also a kind of honorary doctorates. Characteristic for the two categories of honorary doctorates is that the title is obtained by various kinds of merit and not by examination. (Source: Torgny Nevéus, Honoris causa, 2000; Torgny Nevéus, Lagerkransar och logotyper, 1999).