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2025-10-10
New research shows how traditional industries can transition towards a circular economy
In the article “Towards High Circularity: Reconfiguring Firm-level Strategy”, researchers Andrey Abadzhiev and Alexandre Sukhov, both from Karlstad Business School and the Service Research Center, want to inspire hope among companies in conservative industries that are seeking to transition towards more circular and sustainable solutions.
What does circular economy actually mean – and how does it differ from a traditional linear economy?
– Economics is fundamentally about creating value through the redistribution of resources, says Alexandre Sukhov. In a linear economy, we tend to create value by extracting raw materials, producing and selling products, but we also lose value by considering consumed products as waste once they have been used and fulfilled their purpose. It’s from that perspective that the manufacturing industry has been streamlined.
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2025-10-10
Idea development – from idea to reality
In her doctoral thesis, Jana Huck, who recently completed her PhD in Business Administration, seeks to understand what idea development is really about by observing how people in various contexts work to improve an idea and pave the way to make it a reality.
Jana Huck got the impression that everyone talked about idea development as a phenomenon, yet without truly explaining or grasping what it actually involves – or even means. This is what inspired her doctoral thesis, Idea Development for Innovation: A Multi-Level Exploration of the Activities and Processes Propelling Ideas Towards Innovation.
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2025-10-06
Naturally Fast-Growing Spruce Trees Have Many Long Fibers
Rapid height growth may positively influence fiber length in Swedish spruce wood. A case study investigated wood samples from 38-year-old of Norway spruces (Picea abies) at one of Sweden’s most naturally fertile forests.
– Long fibers produce strong paper and cardboard products due to an increased number of bonds, says Björn Sjöstrand, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Karlstad University. The advantage of increased strength broadens the range of applications, and the same strength can be achieved with less material.
The hypothesis for the study was that trees with fast height growth may have longer fibers, and thus provide longer pulp fibers, compared to lengths previously reported in Sweden.
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2025-10-06
This Year’s Academic Celebration Is About Trust
Karlstad University lives by the motto Sapere Aude — dare to be wise. Daring requires a generous dose of curiosity and courage. And to be wise in academia means always being prepared for critical scrutiny. It is of utmost importance to be able to trust knowledge — this has never been more vital. That’s why the theme of the 2025 Academic Celebration is trust.
On October 17, we will honor those who have undergone the most rigorous trials, reached the highest positions, or received the most prestigious distinctions in academia. We will confer degrees upon new doctors and honorary doctors, and install our new professors. We will also recognize this year’s associate professors, adjunct professors, and distinguished teachers.
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2025-10-06
Autumn Meeting with AI Theme
The autumn meeting of the EXACT industrial graduate school offered two days filled with discussions and workshops. This time, the theme was AI — its possibilities, but also its ethical aspects.
– It’s always a pleasure when the industrial graduate school can bring together PhD students, supervisors, and company mentors to discuss project progress, says Jörgen Samuelsson, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Director of the graduate school. Our autumn and spring meetings are important opportunities to exchange experiences and discuss ongoing research. It’s also a chance to talk about shared challenges in doctoral work, and this time we focused on AI.
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2025-10-02
Welcome to This Year’s Docent Lectures at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
On 15 October, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Karlstad University invites you to this year’s open docent lectures. Staff, students and the interested public are warmly welcome.
Newly appointed docents will present their research in areas such as digitalisation, welfare services, gender, migration and much more. The lectures are popular-science in nature and open to all. No pre-registration is required.
“The docents appointed during autumn 2024 and spring 2025 are invited to present their research,” says Dean Martin Grimberg Löfgren. “In addition to being a fine tradition where we honour our new docents, it is also a way of offering insight into the diverse research being conducted here at the faculty, presented in a popular-scientific way.”
