Student and doctoral student ombudspersons - available for students at KI
Regardless of what you study at Karolinska Institutet, you can turn to the student and the doctoral student ombudspersons Nazira Hammoud Shahwan and Ninna Oom on various issues concerning your student rights and study environment.
- It is very exciting to meet many different students and learn about their life stories. It is impressive what some students achieve and get through during their studies, says Nazira Hammoud Shahwan.
The student and doctoral student ombudspersons is an independent body, employed by the student union Medicinska Föreningen, that all students at KI can turn to in various matters. They are available for students at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral level.
What can the ombudsperson assist with?
As a student, you can turn to the ombudspersons if you want help to understand your rights and obligations as a student, need help to handle a conflict between you and KI, handle complaints or investigate whether KI follows the rules in the handling of your cases.
- The issues we work with can be disciplinary matters such as plagiarism, questions about the handling of re-examination or if the communication between student and supervisor or teacher does not work as it should. We work with many kinds of issues and the idea is that the students should be able to turn to us in really any matter. If necessary, we can refer them to another point of contact, says Nazira Hammoud Shahwan.
However, Nazira Hammoud Shahwan is careful to point out that the ombudspersons cannot take sides or instruct KI to decide in a certain way in a case. Their job is to be there to support the students.
The student and doctoral student ombudspersons have a duty of confidentiality and do not pass on any information without permission from the student.
New way of working
Previously, Nazira Hammoud Shahwan has worked with student issues and Ninna Oom with doctoral student issues. But from this semester, they will work together towards students and doctoral students.
Nazira Hammoud Shahwan has solid experience of study rights issues and she hopes that the new way of working will increase their availability for KI-students.
- I hope the students feel secure in that I have long experience working with similar matters. When I handle a new case, it is rarely the first or the last one of its kind, says Nazira Hammoud Shahwan.
How to contact them
Usually, Nazira Hammoud Shahwan and Ninna Oom work on campus (both Solna and Flemingsberg), but due to the pandemic they are working from home. The best way is to contact them via their contact form online or via email.
The pandemic has also affected the cases that the student and doctoral student ombudspersons had to handle during the last year.
- This spring, there were many disciplinary matters concerning digital examinations and many students contacted us and were worried about not being able to complete their practical training. I hope to be able to come back soon and meet students on campus again, says Nazira Hammoud Shahwan
Responsibility for your own studies
As a student, you must take responsibility for your studies. It is important that you familiarize yourself with your obligations and rights to know what you are expected to do.
- Among other things, it is important to read up on your syllabus and find out what applies during an examination. This is important to be able to see the bigger picture if an issue arise, says Nazira Hammoud Shahwan.