Charlotte Bäccman and Alexandre Sukhov have been appointed associate professors at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Karlstad University. Here, they share insights into their research, what drives them, and thoughts about the future.
Charlotte Bäccman, associate professor of Psychology at CTF – what is your research about?
“My research focuses on how we can create the conditions for a good life, enabling people to live independently and with quality of life, regardless of their available resources. My work centres on two main areas. The first explores how digital services can support people of different ages. The second focuses particularly on children and young people, and the types of support they and their parents need to lead fulfilling lives. In both cases, the aim is to develop services – both digital and non-digital – that make a real difference in everyday life.”
What led you to this research field?
“My interest in digitalisation began with a study conducted in collaboration with Karlstad Municipality, where we examined how users experienced a robotic shower. The results were surprising and sparked my curiosity about how digital solutions are perceived and how they can enhance users’ independence or redefine their sense of value. I’ve always had a strong interest in children and young people, which is a major reason I was drawn to psychology. It feels meaningful to bring that perspective into my research today.”
How do you view the future?
“I hope my research will contribute to a greater understanding of the importance of involving users and addressing their needs when developing new digital solutions. Digitalisation is today an integral part of society, which opens up many avenues for research. At Karlstad University, we have a well-established network for collaboration, both within academia and with private and public sector actors in the region. This creates strong conditions for cooperation, which is essential for this type of applied research. At the same time, there are challenges. It is difficult to measure the effects of preventive efforts, especially without clear comparison groups.”
Alexandre Sukhov, associate professor in Business Administration at CTF and Karlstad Business School – what is your research about?
"My research focuses on value creation, particularly within innovation management and design research, and in advancing analytical methods. I investigate how organisations can foster individual creativity to solve complex problems. For instance, I’ve studied how ideas for innovations get developed, identifying various improvement activities and processes. I also develop approaches for combining different data analytical techniques to gain deeper insights into research phenomena in social science. One example is a study on the causes of so-called ‘quiet quitting’, where employees disengage and do only the bare minimum at work. In another study, we developed an analytical process that provided new insights into how public transport can be made more accessible for elderly passengers.”
What led you to this research field?
“I’m driven by curiosity about how we create ideas and how we can develop more robust ways of understanding our reality. Contributing to knowledge and being useful to society is a central part of research and teaching – and learning new things along the way is both enjoyable and rewarding.”
How do you view the future?
“The future is shaped, to some extent, by our own actions. As researchers, we face challenges such as funding, collaboration, and maintaining personal engagement, but by facing these, we can build resilience and learn along the way. Opportunities are everywhere – the key is to act. I hope my research can contribute to new insights and models that help practitioners make decisions based on scientific evidence. In an age of information overload and deception, it is more important than ever that we, as universities and researchers, contribute to reliable and quality-assured knowledge.”
