On Monday, representatives from Rifo — an association for researchers and members of parliament — visited Karlstad University.
– We have seen both the wider picture as well as the cutting edge expertise, and we have learned more about the challenges in acquiring research funding, says Gunilla Svantorp.
She is a member of parliament from Värmland, representing Socialdemokraterna. She is also the head of Rifo, a forum for knowledge exchange, dialogue and networking between primarily researchers and members of parliament.
Approximately ten researchers and members of parliament from Rifo visited Karlstad University, where they received a basic presentation of the University and its strong research and education environments, as well as information about research funding and skills supply from acting Vice-Chancellor Margareta Friman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Patrik Larsson and University Director Anne-Christine Larsson Ljung.
– We received an overview and found out more about the challenges of research funding, says Gunilla Svantorp, who is the chair of Rifo’s board since the election last autumn.
– Rifo was founded 59 years ago, and we primarily arrange seminars in the Riksdag, on subjects relevant to our mission statement. Recently, we have held seminars on clean water, the climate crisis, contact management and nuclear power. Once every year we visit higher education institutions and this year I wanted to bring the team to Karlstad University. Most of the researchers in Rifo are from the biggest universities, so it’s rewarding to learn more about a younger university.
They received a more in-depth look at Karlstad University during the afternoon, which started with a visit to Service Research Center, where Per Kristensson, Professor and Director of CTF, talked about their activities.
– It’s a unique and well-established organisation that I requested to visit, says Gunilla Svantorp. We wanted to see Karlstad University’s cutting edge expertise, and CTF is an example of that.
After that, Professor Christina Olin-Scheller, Professor Martin Stolare and Associate Professor Yvonne Liljekvist gave presentations on the teacher education, school development and collaborative subject-specific research.
– It’s also very interesting to learn more about new ways of teaching, says Gunilla Svantorp.
The visit ended with a guided tour at the disciplines Environmental and Energy Engineering, Building and Construction Engineering and Chemical Engineering. Led by Gunilla Carlsson Kvarnlöf, Head of the Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences and Stefan Frodesson, Associate Professor in Energy and Environmental Systems, the Rifo representatives were presented with examples of research connected to forest-based bioeconomy. One of the things shown were biocoal pellets made from waste from the forest industry. All participants were offered a bag of coal to bring home.
– The forest-based bioeconomy was one of the specific reasons I wanted to bring Rifo to Karlstad University, says Gunilla Svantorp. This was a very successful visit!
