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News

• 2025-01-20

  Circular Bioeconomy is an Innovation Ecosystem

  At the BioEco Valley Summit, hosted by Karlstad University, Pro2BE, in collaboration with Paper Province, Region Värmland, and Sting BioEconomy, researchers and industry representatives gathered to discuss the future of the bioeconomy. The event focused on how stakeholders can jointly continue to drive the development of a circular bio-based economy and contribute to the green transition.

  – The circular bio-based economy needs to grow, and for that, we also need a workforce, said Magnus Lestelius, Professor of Graphic Technology at Karlstad University, who opened the conference. - By showcasing the diversity of careers within the forest industry, we can highlight the many opportunities available to students.

• 2025-01-14

  Ingesund Student Celebrated New Year as Wells' Concertmaster

  Master's student Ida Wadenbrandt worked during the holidays, touring with Robert Wells and Rhapsody in Rock from December 27 to January 6 in China. Intense days that have sparked a desire for more projects abroad and more work in China.

  You have done several concerts with Robert Wells with Ingesund's string ensemble before, and as I understand it, you were also the concertmaster then. What makes you get along so well?

• 2025-01-07

  Professor with a focus on Selma

  On 1 November 2024, Karlstad University welcomed a new professor as Sofia Wijkmark was appointed professor of comparative literature.

  "It feels very exciting! I’m mostly looking forward to having more time for research," she says.

  "There are a number of projects that I would like to dedicate more time to, and now I finally have the opportunity to do so," says Sofia. "I hope to support other people’s research in various ways and contribute to further developing the research environment at the department."

• 2025-01-07

  Organisational development through personal experiences

  Over the next two years, a new research project at Karlstad University is going to develop concrete resources to increase user influence in mental health services.

  "It’s exciting to be part of making the knowledge we’ve gained through research concrete and useful for organisations and services across the country," says Katarina Grim, doctor in health sciences and docent/senior lecturer in social work at Karlstad University, who is leading the project.

  User audits allow users to have influence over mental health services. It means that people with personal experiences of mental health issues or harmful use and addiction review and assess services related to these issues, so the they can be improved from a user perspective. As part of the project “Accessible user influence in the field of mental health”, concrete methodological support material will now be created, clarifying forms of collaboration and working methods for user audits. 

• 2024-12-19

  Rocket science for real

  The sounding rocket SubOrbital Express-4 which was launched from the Esrange Space Center outside Kiruna contained an experiment module from Karlstad University. The module is about studying how the active layer of organic solar cells forms in microgravity.

  – In this project, we were able to conduct experiments in an unmanned rocket, says Jan van Stam, professor of physical chemistry at Karlstad University. It allowed us access to microgravity for several minutes instead of about half a minute, as in previous experiments in aeroplanes. We were able to perform more advanced experiments, which will hopefully give us clearer answers to questions about the structural formation, says Jan van Stam.

• 2024-12-18

  Researcher’s best tips for reducing food waste and saving money this Christmas

  Over Christmas and New Year, as well as during other big holidays, food takes centre stage and Swedish households tend to buy and prepare large quantities of food. Despite the fact that large sums are spent on food this time of year, a large part ends up being thrown away.

  "Reflect, plan and buy smart! This will help you reduce waste," says researcher Helén Williams at Karlstad University.

  Over-buying, buffets with food being left out for long periods and not stored properly, as well as the tradition of having many different dishes are some of the reasons why too much food ends up in the rubbish at Christmas. However, with simple measures, it is possible to reduce waste and save money.