Sidor

Traditionally, the academia provides education based on science and tested practice. But more is required today: Being a good team member, to communicate well, resolve conflicts, plan a career. At Karlstad Business School we call it Professional Skills®. It involves transferring knowledge from head to hand.

Professional Skills is both a course and a mind set. We value the cooperation with industry, organisations and public services highly. Partnerships are reciprocally beneficial. Students and future employers met – education, research and professional life are equally enriched. The students meet guest lecturers, employers at breakfast meetings, go for study visits and learn the dynamics of team work, communications skills, leadership and management from both professionals and their academic leaders.

"POSTER EXHIBITION AS PART OF THE EXAMINATION"

It was almost like a research conference at Karlstad Business School, when students from the course Advanced Service Management showed their work in a poster exhibition. The students showed their posters to teachers, researhcers and doctoral students, who were asked to give points on theoretical relevance, design and creativity among other things. The course covers 15 ECTS cr at second cycle level. The students discuss and analyze theoretical concepts in the field of service innovation and how these are used in research and business. Service, customer, value creation, product- and service logic and service innovation are discussed. The students learn models on how to describe, categorize and analyze value creation through services and how the customers and stakeholders themselves create value.

And the experience of producing and showing posters was new and exciting to the students. Evelina Erlandsson and Linus Haaja were positive to the challenge:

- This was a new and exciting way to show our work. Theory and method is one think, but the real challenge was to design the model for a real business. Truly exciting!

Course coordinator was Carolina Camén, senior lecturer in Business Administration and researcher at CTF, Service Research Center

This article was first published at the Swedish website for Karlstad Business School 2017-04-03

Traditionally, the academia provides education based on science and tested practice. But more is required today: Being a good team member, to communicate well, resolve conflicts, plan a career. At Karlstad Business School we call it Professional Skills®. It involves transferring knowledge from head to hand.

Professional Skills is both a course and a mind set. We value the cooperation with industry, organisations and public services highly. Partnerships are reciprocally beneficial. Students and future employers met – education, research and professional life are equally enriched. The students meet guest lecturers, employers at breakfast meetings, go for study visits and learn the dynamics of team work, communications skills, leadership and management from both professionals and their academic leaders.

"Poster exhibition as part of the examination"

It was almost like a research conference at Karlstad Business School, when students from the course Advanced Service Management showed their work in a poster exhibition. The students showed their posters to teachers, researhcers and doctoral students, who were asked to give points on theoretical relevance, design and creativity among other things. The course covers 15 ECTS cr at second cycle level. The students discuss and analyze theoretical concepts in the field of service innovation and how these are used in research and business. Service, customer, value creation, product- and service logic and service innovation are discussed. The students learn models on how to describe, categorize and analyze value creation through services and how the customers and stakeholders themselves create value.

And the experience of producing and showing posters was new and exciting to the students. Evelina Erlandsson and Linus Haaja were positive to the challenge:

- This was a new and exciting way to show our work. Theory and method is one think, but the real challenge was to design the model for a real business. Truly exciting!

Course coordinator was Carolina Camén, senior lecturer in Business Administration and researcher at CTF, Service Research Center

This article was first published at the Swedish website for Karlstad Business School 2017-04-03

This European research project began in January 2018 and aims to study the consequences of prolonging the working lives of men and women.

Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors in Employment, DAISE, is a three year project financed by among others the Norface network (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe).  Five countries are engaged in the study: Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

In most European countries, the increase in life expectancy and the difficulties in funding pensions provide incentives, to a greater or lesser degree, for older workers to extend their working lives. Knowing under what conditions it is possible or desirable to prolong the working life of individuals is therefore a burning issue, since the employment of older people has consequences which can cascade down into other areas of life, including health. Apart from the issues relating to employment, retirement funding and human resources management, this topic shows the importance of inter-generational interactions for senior citizens, whether with their own adult children and their grandchildren or with their own elderly parents.

One of the hypotheses of the DAISIE project is that the impetus to prolong the working life affects almost all the members of the “sandwich generation” aged 50 years and over in Europe today. However, the consequences of this incentive appear to differ among senior citizens, and in particular represent a potential source of vulnerability for those people whose career paths have been the least continuous and the least well paid, including a significant proportion of poorly qualified women also involved in care activities.

In Sweden, Clary Krekula, professor of Sociology, is coordinating the study.

Read more about the DAISE-project at NCCR - Swiss National Centres of Competence in Research

This page provides brief information to new and old employees on the employment terms, rights and duties that apply to employees at Karlstad University. There are some clickable links in the text to further information on Inslaget, which is the university's intranet. You will have access to it as soon as you join us. All employees are also welcome to contact Human Resources Office for any question or more information on terms of employment or other related areas.

Working Hours

Teaching staff and administrative/technical staff have different working hours agreements, see overall information for the respective category below. 

• All agreements and more details

Teachers, researchers doctoral students and teaching assistants

The working time of teaching staff is not regulated as above. The following positions belong to the teaching staff category: professor, senior lecturer, associate senior lecturer, postdoctoral research fellow, adjunct professor and teachers, lecturer, teaching assistant, postdoctoral researcher, visiting researcher and, and visiting professor. Doctoral students are also included in this agreement. Development engineers and other categories can be covered by the teaching staff agreement if an individual contract has been signed to this effect. 

A full-time teacher has an annual workload of 1700-1756 hours (depending on age) for duties such as:

• Education (i.e. teaching, preparation and examination, evaluation etc.)
• Research
• Administrative duties
• Professional development

The annual number of working hours for a teacher is based on age and vacation entitlement:

• 1 756 hours for employees entitled to 28 vacation days/until age 29.
• 1 732 hours for employees entitled to 31 vacation days/from age 30.
• 1 700 hours for employees entitled to 35 vacation days /from age 40.

There is a local agreement on teaching evenings or weekends. The agreement stipulates that the employee gets paid extra for every teaching hour of which at least 30 minutes take place after 18.00 on Monday–Thursday. Teaching taking place between Friday at 17.00 and Sunday at 24.00 is paid somewhat more. The teachers’ agreement and current evening and weekend reimbursement rates are available on Inslaget under the headings Documents and Agreements.

Normally, the directors of study allocate working hours for all teaching staff involved in education at their departments.

• Karlstad University uses a digital software for allocation of hours, which all teachers have access to.

Administrative and technical staff

Working hours for administrative and technical staff are regulated in a local agreement at Karlstad University.  Regular working time is 39 hours and 45 minutes per week, usually taking place from 8.00-16.27 with a 30-minute lunch break.  For employees in cleaning services the work hours are usually from 5.30-13.57.

Midsummer Eve, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are holidays. When the national holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, staff are given a day off which can be taken during any time of the year in agreement with their supervisor.

Working time is reduced on certain days by the number of hours stated below:

• • 4 hours. Twelfth Night
  • 2 hours. Maundy Thursday
  • 4 hours. The day before All Saints Day
  • 4 hours. 23 December

Administrative and technical staff may exercise flex-time, which means that employees can choose when to set up their working hours based on the demands of their work in the period of 6.00-20.00. The core hours are from 9.00-15.00. A departure from the time period can be agreed upon with your supervisor.

Your flex hour account cannot be more than 50 hours on the plus side and 20 hours on the minus side.

Part-time overtime

Part-time overtime (mertid) is the extra time worked exceeding the terms of part-time employment up till full-time. For administrative and technical part-time staff this means that the right to overtime compensation rates only applies once the daily working hours exceed the normal full- time working hours. Compensation for part-time overtime is in the form of pay for teachers and in the form of time off or payment for administrative and technical staff. The time off period should correspond to the time of the extra time worked. The pay is in the form of cash reimbursement of 1/142 of full-time salary. The employee is free to choose the form of reimbursement unless the employer has special reasons to decide otherwise. For more information, see Overtime.

Overtime

For administrative and technical staff, overtime is defined as work beyond the normal working hours a day. Part-time staff may only be paid overtime rates once the normal full-time working hours have been exceeded. Overtime is either simple or qualified. Only work requested by the supervisor may count as overtime. As far as possible, overtime should be restricted. The need for and duration of overtime must be possible to check and control.

Qualified overtime is overtime hours worked between

• 19.00 Friday and 07.00 Monday
• 19.00 the day before Twelfth Night, First of May, Ascension Day or 6 June and 07.00 the day of the earliest following working-day
• 19.00 MaundyThursday and 07.00 the day after Easter Monday
• 19.00 the day before Midsummer Eve, Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve and 07.00 the day of the earliest following working-day
• and all other times between 22.00 and 06.00.

Other overtime is simple overtime.

Reimbursement is in the form of payment (compensatory pay) or time off (compensatory leave). Compensatory leave shall be given provided that the employee so wishes and the employer finds that circumstances permit leave.

Salary Payment

The salary is paid monthly to a private account. The money is available on the 25th of every month at the earliest with some exceptions connected to holidays.  Advance payment of salary is not practised. Salary specification is available in the self-reporting system a day or two before the day of payment. When you begin your employment you must register your bank account online, the same if you change bank account during your employment. Read more here when you can access our intranet:

• Information about salary payments and how to register bank account

KauID

At Karlstad University we use a personal identification system called KauID. KauID and Single Sign On (SSO) are used for logging in to most of our digital systems. In lay terms, that means that the same login information applies to most of our systems. 

Your personal KauID is also to be used as reference for invoice orders.

Kau access card

The Kau access card (sw: Kau-kortet) is a personal card that you use to access the buildings, using the printers and borrowing books at the university. The card contains your name, photo and birth data. More information on how to apply for a Kau access card is available on the intranet Inslaget A-Ö.

Picking up keys and access card

Keys and access cards are issued by Campus Services at their reception in 1A 352. Their staff can be reached at the e-mail address ts@kau.se. Please note that to place an order for an access card you need to take a photo of yourself in the photo booth in the main entrance area. 

IT Office

For obvious reasons, new employees must contact the IT Office fairly soon as they begin their employment for collecting your KauID and your computer. Easiest way to reach them is at the e-mail address 2525@kau.se or dial the extension 2525. Please book a time before picking up your computer, pick-up is at the IT Office house 5D, floor 4.

Employee self-reporting system

Employees at Karlstad University update a number of personal data via the payroll system Primula. This is called self-reporting. Log in with your Kau-ID to update the following:

• Change of address (N.B. this is not reported automatically)
• Requests for leave of absence
• Request for vacation (administrative/technical staff)
• Sick-listing till day seven
• Business travel (domestic and abroad)
• Expenses
• Side-line occupation
• Next of kin (in case of emergency)

For more information on self-reporting, contact your payroll officer at the HR Office.

• Access the payroll system Primula here

Work Environment

The work environment at Karlstad University is characterised by trust, transparency and reciprocity. The goal is that employees and students are comfortable, committed and experience meaningfulness, which are fundamental health factors. The work environment should generate job satisfaction, a sense of community and personal development.

The University's systematic work environment management involves investigating and surveying  the environment in various ways that comprise all physical, psychological and social conditions of importance for the work environment, and  both the psychosocial and the physical, and taking measures when deficiencies and risks are identified.

The vice Chancellor has the overriding responsibility for the work environment, but it has been delegated to the respective heads of the faculties, the university administration and library. There is also a work environment committee at the university, which initiates, develops and monitors the work environment efforts.

• For more information, visit work environment management on Inslaget.

Occupational injury and incidents 

If you are injured at the workplace, or on the way to or from, it is important to report this to your nearest supervisor. Together, you fill in a form about the incident. Also incidents that do not result in an accident, illness or occupational injury should be reported in the same way.

• The required form is available here, under work environment, where there is also information on reimbursement in case of occupational injury.

Compensation for such injuries is granted  under the occupational injury insurance via the Swedish Social Insurance Office and AFA Insurance. Note that this also has to be processed via your supervisor.

Leave of absence and vacation

In addition to vacation and parental leave, employees may request unpaid leave of absence for other reasons such as leave for study,  for employee union representation, for care of dependant, and for attending Swedish language course.  

During work hours, employees are also granted permission to visit a physician, the University health care services,  an out-patient clinic, a physiotherapist/psychiatrist/psychologist/psycho therapist, maternity clinic, to get a medical check-up, e.g. receive mammography, and to donate blood.  Parental training, however, is not equivalent to a doctor's appointment or a visit to a maternity clinic, but unpaid leave has to be requested for such activities. The leave of absence for parental training applies to the time needed but 4 hours at the most per day and occasion (except for referrals to a place other than Karlstad but not for health care under private insurance).

It is also possible to be granted leave of absence for other reasons.

• For more information, see leave of absence and vacation on Inslaget.

Vacation

Employees at Karlstad University are entitled to a certain number of vacation days depending on age, as follows:

Up to and including the year in which the employee turns 29 

28 days

From the year in which the employee turns 30

31 days

From the year in which the employee turns 40

35 days

The calendar year is the basis for accrued vacation and vacation leave must be taken in that year.

• More information about vacation

Insurance

Staff at Karlstad University is covered by the following insurance policies: Occupational Accident Insurance, Occupational Injury Insurance,  Business Travel Accident Insurance, and Collective Life Insurance. For employees stationed abroad the university takes out an URA insurance policy (Agreement on Overseas Contracts and Guidelines for Employment Conditions for Service Abroad).

We also have insurance for non-Swedish citizens from countries with no agreement with Sweden on health care coverage.

• More information on our insurance policies

Health maintenance benefits

Through our health promotion policy, Karlstad University aims to encourage all its staff to participate in healthy activities. We do this by offering free lunchbreak exercise sessions and gym training at Nordic Wellness Karlstad Campus facility, a 3 000 SEK annual wellness allowance, one hour of wellness activities per week 

• Go to the health promotion homepage on Inslaget for more information on activities and rebates offered to employees.

Employees are free to choose where to do their physical activities and the University will subsidise 50% of the cost of a training card at an optional facility, in accordance with the Tax Agency guidelines. The wellness allowance maximum amount is 3 000 SEK per calendar year. Use the wellness allowance through Epassi according to the instruction available on our intranet Inslaget and Epassi webpage or app.

• The Tax Agency guidelines

Many sport facilities have decided to offer university staff reduced fees. Actic, Friskis&Svettis, KMTI and Nordic Wellness are some of them. In order to receive a price reduction, bring a form signed by the HR office to the gym to verify that you are employed. This form is available here.

Employment Benefits

All information on employment benefits at Karlstad University

Sick-listing

Employees are obligated to report sick leave immediately to the appropriate person in the department. The contact person notifies HR, the switchboard and the immediate supervisor. Sick-listing not exceeding 7 days should be reported in Primula (the employee self-reporting system) on return to work. Sick-listing exceeding 7 days requires a Doctor’s certificate (i.e. from day 8), which is handed in to the HR salary officer.

• More information on sick leave and sick leave deduction

Employees are reimbursed for medical care, physiotherapy, hospital care and pharmaceutical products.

• See sickness benefits

Health Care Services

Karlstad University has a health care partnership agreement with Clarahälsan in Karlstad, and with Avonova Hälsa AB i Arvika for staff at Ingesund.  They offer the services of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, behavioural scientists and safety engineers.  Clarahälsan has a focus on rehabilitation, preventive efforts relating to risks in the work environment,  and in some cases  work-related illness and injuries. Normally, staff is referred to public health care institutions for treatment of non-work related illnesses. Every employee is free to contact Clarahälsan to book three appointments with a behavioural scientist without reporting to a supervisor. Additional appointments need to be approved by the supervisor, who also has to approve of other health care services. Requests to Clarahälsan for major efforts or working environment surveys must be made by a head of department or the HR director.

• Read more about health care services

Policies, guidelines and local agreements

At Karlstad University, there is an amount of policies, guidelines and Kau collective agreements you as an employee need to be aware of. Some examples are: Alcohol and Drug Policy, Official Documents, Secrecy and Registration, Working Hours Agreement for Teaching Staff, Working Hours Agreement for Administrative and Technical Staff and Policy to Develop Equal Treatment of Leaders and Co-Workers.

• Find all policies, guidelines and collective agreements here

Academic dictionary

• Academic dictionary for new employees

Travel

Business travel should be booked via our procured Travel Agency and preferably by train. 

Employees are reimbursed for costs incurred on official business travelling. Salary supplements and parts of the expense allowance are taxable. Travelling expenses should be claimed and account-coded via the employee self-reporting system; any receipts. should be scanned in Primula and sent directly to your salary officer. If only electronic receipts are available, these count as original receipts. The travel expense report is then sent electronically  to your supervisor for authorisation.

• Read more about guidelines for travelling

Sideline Occupation

Sideline occupation refers to professional activities pursued in addition to employment at Karlstad University. The additional work can be other employments, a commission, or private business. Karlstad University takes a positive attitude to sideline occupations relating to research and development projects or appointments that for some reason cannot be incorporated into its organisation, on the condition that the sideline activity is pursued in accordance with current regulations and the university.

• Policy on sideline occupation.
• The employees must, on their own initiative, report sideline occupations to the employer in the self-reporting system.

Sideline occupations are not permitted in three cases:

• the sideline activity obstructs work (work-obstructing sideline)
• the sideline activity competes with the university’s activities (competitive sideline)
• the sideline activity can affect public trust in the university (trust-undermining sideline)

Submit your tax sheet

New employees shall hand in a preliminary tax sheet to the HR Office. Persons employed by the university prior to 1 November of the previous year are not required to hand in a tax sheet since this information is then available via a central register. Special notification of tax reduction received during the year must be handed in to the HR Office. Contact a Salary officer at the HR Office for more information.

Useful information on safety

Fire safety: Karlstad University, Akademiska Hus (Karlstad) and Arvika Fastigheter AB (Ingesund) are jointly responsible for systematic fire safety management.  On campus there is an automatic evacuation alarm system in case of fire, as well as in case of other incidents such as bomb threat. Every employee must know what to do when the alarm sounds.

• Leave the building via the nearest emergency exit route. Follow the green exit signs.
• Go to the nearest assembly point dig.
• Stay there until further notice.

It is also useful to know where the nearest evacuation plan and fire extinguisher are placed, and which is the nearest evacuation route for you.

Theft/break-in: Report theft or break-in at the University, or on business travel, to the nearest supervisor and the university safety office for help to file a report with the police and other practical measures. 

To avoid theft, keep the following three simple rules:

1. Do not leave any valuables unguarded.
2. Lock your office door when you are not there.
3. Be observant of unknown persons on the premises who do not seem to have a reason to be there. 

Threat/violence: If you are threatened or perceive a situation as unpleasant in connection with your work at the university – on the phone, via e-mail, social media or physically – notify your supervisor and the university safety office without delay.  They can help you handle the situation. In emergency, dial 112 for the police.

Protection: If you need help or feel threatened at the university after work, or in daytime during weekends, contact the guards stationed at the university. 

• Phone number under the tab In case of emercency

Defibrillator: There are four defibrillators at the university: at the reception in the main entrance building 1E; in the gym hall building 7B;  to the right in the main entrance to building 12; and at Ingesund, building C near the administrative office. 

• More information on safety in the workplace.

Organisation map

To ease the understanding of the university's organisation structure several organisation maps has been created..

• Karlstad University Organisation maps

Parking

Parking areas are located south and east of building 21, outside and north of building 11 towards Frödingshöjd. Note that most parking areas are subject to charge. Monthly and weekly parking cards can be purchased in the parking meter for the parking lot east of building 21 or through the parking company's mobile applications. 

Equity and Equality

The vice-chancellor has the overall responsibility for policies and efforts concerning equality and equity with delegation to the faculty deans, the university administration and central services and the library director.

The deans and the administrative management are responsible for pursuing goal-oriented and systematic activities to promote equality and equity in their domains. All efforts take place in conjunction with the employee unions and the student union. Relevant policy documents are available here.

Every employee, student and external contact of Karlstad University should, irrespective of gender, have the same rights, obligations and opportunities to shape society and their own lives. Through commitment to gender mainstreaming we also contribute to achieving the political gender equality goal, which means that women and men are equally empowered socially and personally.

• See further at the Governments webpage 
• Read more about the university's strategies

Pay Policy

The university practices individual pay-setting for most employees. Doctoral students are covered by a local collective agreement that sets their pay. Guidelines for pay setting at Karlstad University is included in Karlstad University pay policy, which also comprises pay-setting criteria and performance appraisal.

• More information about your salary, pay setting guidelines, etc,
• Salary setting in Doctoral student employment.

Rehabilitation

Karlstad University carries the main responsibility for occupational rehabilitation aiming at reinstating the employee. This applies irrespective of whether the cause of the illness or injury is due to work or not. In accordance with work environment legislation and the National Board of Occupational Health and Safety, the employer must offer organised adjustment and rehabilitation activities at the workplace. Karlstad University has an obligation to invest in early and active rehabilitation.

• More information about Karlstad University’s rehabilitation policy

Retirement

The normal age of retirement is 65, but employees also have the right to stay on till they are 68, from 2023 the new age for right to stay will be 69. The pension consists of three parts: retirement pension, occupational pension and private pension. The retirement pension is guaranteed by law and paid through the Pensions Agency. In addition, your employment at Karlstad University provides occupational pension through the National Government Employee Pensions Board (SPV).  You can also increase your pension by exchanging parts of your salary or vacation days for further pension installments.

At 61, you can get partial retirement pension in certain circumstances and on the approval of the employer. Request for partial retirement is processed once a year and an application must be made no later than last September every year. The application is made in Primula.

• Read more about pensions or
• www.spv.se and
• www.pensionsmyndigheten.se.

Glasses for screen reading and protection

Employees who suffer from eyesight problems when working at the computer are provided with special glasses on request. Protective glasses for laboratory work are also provided. Contact HR for requisition and information.

• More information and the current contact person in the HR Office

Societies

• Karlstad University has an Arts Society open to all employees

Notice of termination

Notice of termination of employment must be written. The following minimum periods of notice apply to employees with permanent appointments:

Employee notice period

Length of employment minimum notice period

Up until 1 year

1 month

More than 1 year

2 months

Employer notice period

The period of notice depends on the length of employment, for instance, 1 month if the employment period is less than 1 year. The period of notice can be extended up to 12 months if the notice was given due to shortage of work.

The Calm room

You can go to the Calm room (SW: Stilla rummet) at 3C320 to look for peace and quiet, focus and to regain power. The door is always open. The room is religiously unbound and open for both staff and students.

Career support & Competence development

As an employee at Karlstad University there is a variety of competence development and career support resources to take part of. Much of what is available is gathered at our Career support page. 

• Career support and competence development at Karlstad University

Induction videos

Once you have access to our intranet we recommend you watching our induction videos to get a more in-depth knowledge of the University.

• Induction at Karlstad University

Each semester, we organise an employee induction programme, called “Welcome Day” for new employees, providing information related to your position at the university as well as information on university operations. Lunch and fika are included.

The programme includes a number of areas of interest, such as staffing policies, work environment, co-workership and organisation. Parts of the university management usually participate to inform about vision and strategy etc. We hope you take the opportunity to participate. The day is a great way of gaining insight into Karlstad University as an organisation and knowledge about staff benefits, your rights and obligations as an employee. It's also a nice opportunity to meet some of your new colleagues!

You can already watch short introductory videos from parts of the organization: 
Introduction for new employees – short videos

REGISTRATION

By email to newstaff@kau.se, no later than 20 April.

INFORMATION

Emelie Hessel and Cecilia Bladh, HR Office.
newstaff@kau.se

Each semester, Welcome Day is arranged for new employees, providing information related to your position as well as information about Karlstad University as an organization. The day is a great opportunity to learn more about the University and to meet some of your new colleagues!

You can already watch short introductory videos from parts of the organization: 

• Introduction for new employees – short videos

REGISTRATION
By email to newstaff@kau.se, no later than 2 November.

INFORMATION
Emelie Hessel and Cecilia Bladh, HR Office
newstaff@kau.se

Each semester, we organise an employee induction programme, called “Welcome Day” for new employees, providing information related to your position at the university as well as information on university operations.

The programme includes a number of areas of interest, such as staffing policies, work environment, co-workership, and organisation. Parts of the university management participate to inform about vision and strategy and support functions within the university that might be useful in your position. The Welcome day is a great way of gaining insight into Karlstad University as an organisation and knowledge about staff benefits, your rights and obligations as an employee. It's also a nice opportunity to have a tour around the premises and last but not least; to meet some of your new colleagues.

We really hope you take the opportunity to participate!

Date: 2025-04-03

Time: 08.30-15.30

Registration: To be sent to newstaff@kau.se. Please indicate in your registration if you have any food allergies.

Contact persons: 
Emelie Hessel, HR Strategist and Cecilia Bladh, HR Specialist
newstaff@kau.se 

PEER SUPERVISION

New Karlstad University employees have the opportunity to receive support from a colleague during the first period of employment to get a good start in the new workplace. Talk to your immediate supervisor to find out more.

CURIOUS ABOUT LEADERSHIP?

The aim of this course is to give employees an introduction to what leadership and management at the University may involve.An announcement will be posted in the University channels of information when a course is going to be arranged.

• The Human Resources Office

LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

Every four years, the Human Resources Office organises a programme for all managers to make them more comfortable in their role, both as managers and as leaders. An announcement will be posted in the University channels of information when a programme is going to be arranged.

• The Human Resources Office

WORKSHOPS AND COURSES FOR DIRECTORS OF STUDIES

The Human Resources Office arranges regular workshops and courses to support directors of studies through new knowledge and shared experiences. An announcement will be posted in the University channels of information when such workshops and courses are going to be arranged.

• The Human Resources Office

MENTORING PROGRAMME

Are you interested in getting a mentor or becoming a mentor? Every year with start in November the Grants and Innovation Office together with the HR Office facilitates a mentoring programme that is open to all employees.

• More information about the programme

SWEDISH LANGUAGE COURSE FOR INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEES

The aim of the course is to give non-Swedish-speaking employees at Karlstad University the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge and skills in the Swedish language. The course comprises approximately 70 tuition hoursscheduled twice a week during the autumn term and once a week during the spring term. See Inslaget, the University intranet available to all employees, for more information about the Swedish language course.

WELCOME DAY FOR NEW EMPLOYEES

Every semester, we organise an employee introduction programme, a “Welcome Day” for the newly employed, which provides a general presentation of the University and an opportunity to meet new colleagues. Information about the Welcome Day can be found on Inslaget, the University intranet available to all employees.

KARLSTAD UNIVERSITY – A EURAXESS SERVICE CENTRE

Euraxess is an EU Commission initiative which provides researchers with information and support, regardless of career stage. Euraxess operates to encourage and facilitate researcher mobility and career development, while at the same time promoting research exchanges in and outside of Europe. Through our Euraxess membership, we are part of a network which connects 500 universities in the EU. On the Euraxess homepage, researchers can create a profile, seek information and collaborations, access career development tools, and so on.

• Euraxess

LINKEDIN – AN INTRODUCTION

Karlstad University employees are offered support and advice from staff at the Human Resources Office in relation to getting started with LinkedIn, creating a professional profile,andimproving an existing LinkedIn profile.

• Contact linkedin@kau.se for more information

Karlstad City tour - learn a little bit about Karlstad’s history, and where some of the public facilities are located.

Not only a good opportunity to see and learn more about Karlstad, but also a perfect opportunity to meet new colleagues and make new contacts. Family members are welcome to participate.

Register at newstaff@kau.se

Final Day to register: August 31st

Cost: No fee

The University Library invites new employees to a presentation of the resources and services that the library can offer to employees at KAU. A Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Afternoon fika will be served ☕ 🍩

Date: Tuesday 21 November (in Swedish) or Wednesday 22 November (in English).
Time: 3-4 pm, Q&A 4-4.30 pm.
Place: We meet up at the library entrance on floor 2 (by the Welcome Center)

Registration: Send a mail to Lina.Sandstrom@kau.se no later than Thursday 16 November and please specify on which date you would like to participate.

Information:

• Lina Sandström, bibliotekarie
  Telefon: 054-700 1895
  E-post: lina.sandstrom@kau.se
   
• Inga-Lill Nilsson, bibliotekarie
  Telefon: 054-700 1079
  E-post: inga-lill.nilsson@kau.se 

Each semester, Welcome Day is arranged for new employees, providing information related to your position as well as information about Karlstad University as an organisation. The day is a great opportunity to get a tour around the premises and last but not least; to meet some of your new colleagues. 

We hope you take the opportunity to participate!

Date: 2024-10-03

Time: 08.30-16.00

Registration: To be sent to newstaff@kau.se. Please indicate in your registration if you have any dietary restrictions.

The specified times are preliminary and may be subject to change. More information to come.

Contact persons: 
Emelie Hessel, HR Strategist and Cecilia Bladh, HR Specialist
newstaff@kau.se 

On this page, we have gathered all information related to employment and internship at Karlstad University, if you are from Ukraine.

Are you a researcher?

If you have worked as a researcher in any of the research subjects present at Karlstad University, employment is a possibility. Several of the large research funders in Sweden and the EU have set up dedicated research grants directed at researchers who have fled Ukraine.

Contact the relevant department to investigate the possibilities of employment.

• The departments at Karlstad University

Contact the department directly, or send an e-mail to ukraina@kau.se and you will be directed to the right person.

• information@kau.se

If a department at the university, following consultation with the discipline in question, has the capacity for an appointment, you and the department can explore the possibilities of applying for funding for the employment together. If the funding is granted, the employment is handled in accordance with established procedures and rules for recruitment. This is coordinated by the HR Office and the head in charge.

It is, of course, also possible to apply for any vacancies the university has announced.

• Vacancies

Web page for research grants directed at ukrainian researchers

On the Swedish Research Council’s web page, you can find information about the dedicated funds, research grants and the possibilities of conducting research in Sweden, for researchers who have fled Ukraine.

• The Swedish Research Council’s information about dedicated funds and research grants

Other employment opportunities

For those who are not researchers but are interested in employment at Karlstad University, you need to apply for employment in competition with other people. This is because the university is a public authority. All our vacancies are announced online, where you can also apply for the job, at https://www.kau.se/en/work-with-us

• Work with us

The most relevant form of employment in most cases would, however, be internships or other kinds of labour market measures. You can read more about this below.

How to apply for internships

There are several ways of applying for an internship at Karlstad University. The most common method is to use one of the organisations that arrange internships. They will also provide assistance regarding insurance and compensation. We primarily recommend the Swedish Public Employment Service, which is our main partner regarding internships.

• The Swedish Public Employment Service

You can also contact the university directly to inquire about an internship.

• information@kau.se

Work-related stress is a serious problem for employee wellbeing and employer efficiency.
– We use cutting-edge deep tech solutions which provide objective and immediate insights, says Poja Shams, senior lecturer in Business Administration at Karlstad Business School and the Service Research Center (CTF).

IVA’s annual 100 List puts the spotlight on current research projects that are considered to have great potential to create value through commercialisation, business and method development or societal impact. The list contains carefully selected research projects from Swedish higher education institutions where the participants have an interest in creating more contacts with the business sector for application and further development of their projects.

This year’s list includes the project Deep Tech Meets Workplace Wellness: Pioneering Real-time Stress Solutions with Poja Shams as project leader. The project aims to monitor and reduce work-related stress. By using real-time data and AI models, stress triggers in the workplace are identified, enabling employers to enhance employee well-being

– The project addresses a significant work environment problem – work-related stress – using advanced technology. We use physiological data, such as the body’s sweat reactions, to track stress levels in real time. This offers an objective view of how various work elements impact stress, allowing employers to swiftly implement appropriate measures.

The theme of the IVA List this year is innovation through interdisciplinary research and covers topics such as society and welfare, infrastructure, deep tech, smart industry, circular economy, resource and energy efficiency, green and blue industries, and new business models. Poja Shams’s research relates to the theme by combining technology and the work environment to create sustainable workplaces.

– By preventing and managing work-related stress, employers can create healthier working conditions and strengthen their competitiveness, says Poja Shams. As an example, a study including healthcare professionals has clearly shown that our technology can identify specific stress elements during the working day, which creates opportunities to optimise work routines.

What does it mean to be included in the list?

– It’s a great acknowledgment of the social benefits and relevance of our research. It also opens up opportunities to broaden our outreach, establish contacts with industrial partners and receive support to apply our research in practice.

You can strengthen your employer brand by visiting the University, giving lectures and inviting students to your organisation.

Just as students benefit from early contacts with employers, employers stand to gain from being seen and noticed at the University. We cooperate with several organisations and companies on a regular basis in degree programmes in the form of guest lectures and visits.

Guest lectures

We regularly receive representatives of different organisations and companies for guest lectures in degree programmes. Students are introduced to reality and employers have the opportunity to influence and recruit future employees and give them and the university new perspectives and input, thus contributing to progress in education.

Visits

You can strengthen your employer brand by opening your business and showing how it works in practice. Some students may never have been in the kind of workplace for which their studies are designed to prepare them. From experience, we know that this also gives students expectations that match reality better. If you are interested in improving your employer brand and our degree programmes, let us know and tell us how!

Before arriving at Karlstad University and your new employment, there are some things you need to do and to consider. For example, If you are a non-EU citizen, the first thing you need to do is to apply for a residence permit. We also recommend that you start looking for a place to stay here in Karlstad as soon as you receive the decision of employment.

More information on this subject can be found on the following pages, or via the menu.

If you are from outside of EU/EES we recommend you to use this guide as well, which is the result of a cooperation between different state agencies.

As employer you can choose to train your staff through Karlstad university. Risk- and environmental studies are active in a number of professional training programmes through Karlstad university Uppdrags AB. As an employer there is also always the option to contact Uppdrags AB directly to commission fully tailor-made education for your organisations specific needs.

Karlstad Business School has approximately 130 employees. What brings us together is a deep interest in economics and business.

Around 2 500 students every year choose to study programmes or courses at Karlstad Business School, either first or second cycle. Most of the academics also conduct research in one of the multidisciplinary research centres or in their subject area.

Robert MacKenzie comes from Leeds in Great Britain. He lived in various places around Britain in his twenties but ended up spending the majority of his academic career in the Work and Employment Relations Division of Leeds University Business School. After being a visiting professor for a year Robert MacKenzie became a full-time employee of Karlstad University in November 2015.

Robert MacKenzie’s research is concerned with the regulation of the employment relationship and industrial restructuring at the macro, meso and micro level.

“My work has sought to link research on the social and economic experiences of workers with broader patterns of socio-economic restructuring and changes in the regulation of the employment relationship. This has led to research on the role played by trade unions, contract form and occupational identity in mediating the experience of restructuring. My work comprises a mixture of theoretical pieces on the changing nature of regulation and industry based case studies."

Work, or the lack of, is a central feature of life in advanced capitalist societies. In many ways work is central to our every day existence, our experience of life and to our very identities. Understanding the regulation of the employment relationship, the processes and influences that shape the ways in which work is organised, beyond the reductionist, statutory-legal frameworks, is therefore important. The shifting boundaries of jurisdiction and roles of regulatory actors, such as the state, employers and trade unions, impacts our lives on a daily basis, whether we are conscious of this or not.

“In addition to contributing to the academy, I have worked with various ‘end-users’ over the course of my research career, notably trade unions, local authorities (Communes) and migrant support agencies. It is a source of satisfaction that my work has had direct, tangible impact on the support provided to migrants and for the pension rights of workers who have been made redundant. “

Having lived exclusively in heavily urbanised environments until now, Robert MacKenzie and his family are enjoying the pleasures of life in Sweden and Värmland in particular. But there are some things he misses from the UK.

“I have tried filling the gap left by Leeds United by going to watch Färjestad or Degerfors play but sadly this just feels like a mixture of adultery and idolatry.“    

Labor market intermediary platforms and mediatization in the Swedish gig economy.

The SWEGIG project combines working life science with media studies in order to examine the consequences of this mediatization through a case study of producers and users of these digital media platforms. The focus is on how new demands created by mediatization are placed on workers and employers, and on how the employment relationship is affected by these new labor market
intermediary platforms.

In the past few years, Sweden has seen the rapid growth of a type of company using web and mobile app
platforms to match workers with casual jobs (e.g. Bonsai, Gigstr, Taskrunner, Yepstr). These companies position
themselves as part of the “gig economy” (i.e. an economy based on payment for individual “gigs” rather than
permanent employment contracts), promoting an ostensibly peer-to-peer model for organizing working life.

They crucially also function as media platforms: they create web pages, apps, and online content; they encourage users to create their own media content (e.g. ”video CVs”); and they utilize social media features (e.g. userprofiles, ”likes”). They are thus different from other labor market intermediary companies (e.g. Manpower), which do not have these media platform characteristics in Sweden; and they are different from other gigeconomy companies (e.g. Uber) because they act across many different categories of service work rather than just one. Furthermore, these companies are Swedish (i.e. founded and active here) rather than foreign entrants like Uber.

Because of their media platforms, these companies are both an instance and a driver of the increasing mediatization of working life, where elements like digital CVs including video clips and self-promotion through social media become part of the everyday working lives of young “giggers”. Working life science has long studied trends like individualization, casualization, and increased flexibility/precarity, but paid less attention to how these processes interact with mediatization and platform logics.

Funded by: FORTE (Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare).
www.forte.se

Today's society must be prepared to manage a complex threat scenario. In order to attain good emergency management, it is essential to practice organization and its employees.

Traditional crisis exercise methods, with physical meetings, is costly and time consuming to plan and conduct causing many organizations practice too little and with too few people. Together with colleagues at the university and external actors, we develop therefore a concept for IT-based crisis training, where employees can practice through a web interface at a time and place that suits the individual participant.

In 2014 we conducted a study to identify which needs for change that exist within the area. The study shows that there is great interest in developing new digital tools which enable both joint exercises such as individual training that can be performed more frequently, in a short time and in "daily life". The aim of the research is in close interaction with the needs of owners, companies and other researchers designing digital, mobile tools and training methods for future crisis exercises.

In 2015 time was spent on two application for grants for (a) prototype, (b) an Interreg project together with Norwegian actors. Both were successful. (a) had the County Administrative Board as project owner. (b) was led by Monika Magnusson at the Information Systems department. And later on we secured funding for a second Interreg project.

From 2016 several Interreg projects are running (2024-2026 INCREDILAB INcreased Climate Resilience Education and DIgital transformation Lab)

Web site https://www.criseit.org/

Karlstad University (project owner), Innland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and regional and municipal governance bodies, and some companies.

Our vision is to develop a cost-efficient, and flexible crisis exercise concept which creates safety in Inner Scandinavia – now and in the future.The CriseIT group aims to develop tools, methods, and educational material enabling this. The envisioned new forms of training support are meant to supplement traditional exercises by adding virtual tools that make it possible to practice crisis management “anywhere and anytime” via computers, tablets, and smartphones. This will provide the conditions needed to practice more often, with more persons involved, and in shorter sessions.
Primarily, the deliverables are directed to civil servants and politicians having responsibility for the crisis management and readiness in an area. It should also be possible to include other groups – professionals and public – in some of the exercises. The results of the will support joint (but asynchronous) exercising across organisational and national borders, but also individuals’ training of their own roles will be supported. The research have been financed by the involved partners with additional funding from “Interreg Sweden-Norway".
The goals of the projects are to provide:

• a ‘needs map’ for asynchronous IT-based joint exercises and individual training
• software to support the entire process from the definition of exercises to evaluating how they were conducted
• a web service offering tools for joint exercises and individual training
• a method that supports an effective application of the IT tools for planning, conducting, and evaluating exercises
• a parallel method that supports collaborative learning processes to adapt to changing threats, such as climate change
• educational material that facilitates the use of methods and tools

Alumnus is Latin and stands for student protection. For a long time, it has been a well-known expression to speak of former students, or former employees, at the university.

Alumni is a network for all current and former students at Karlstad Business School. As an alumnus, you are important to us. Your experiences from your time as a student as well as from your working life will help us in our future development and quality improvement.The network makes it possible for you to keep in touch with your course colleagues. The alumni network enables us to improve recruitment, quality and external relations and to keep you informed about our business school. Most importantly, it gives you the opportunity to keep in touch with your former fellow students and build your own network. The Alumni network is your tool in keeping up to date about the most recent research and educational developments, and get invited to events at Karlstad Business School. Take the opportunity to keep in touch with your former teachers, our researchers and current students.    

Register now and become a member of our alumni network

The alumni network is available on LinkedIn. To become a member of the network you need to:

• Register an account with LinkedIn
• Create a profile with your information or Add profile section if you are already registered on LinkedIn
• Under "Add Education" add Handelshögskolan vid Karlstads universitet and click on the logo Handelshögskolan vid Karlstads universitet
• Add your degree / field of study (programme) and year

Once you are registered, you will be seen as alumni of the Business School at Karlstad University on our LinkedIn page. You can access it by clicking on the logo or via: https://www.linkedin.com/school/handelshogskolan-vid-karlstads-universitet/

If you want to know more about Karlstad University's personal data processing, read more on the webpage at kau.se

You can contact the Grants and Innovation Office via the e-mail address gio@kau.se or by contacting one of the employees directly below.

Håkan Spjuth, Head of Grants and Innovation Office

Håkan Spjuth is the Head of Grants and Innovation Office (GIO). Håkan is also the CEO of KaU Holding AB and KaU Innovation AB.

Håkan is the Chairman of the Board for Sting Bioeconomy, an incubator and accelerator with focus on startups and innovation in the bioeconomy field. Håkan is also in the board of DigitalWell Ventures AB, an incubator and accelerator with focus on scale-up of companies in the field of digital health solutions.

As being the Head of Grants and Innovation Office, Håkan is coordinating several of the University’s external activities and initiatives, for instance

• Part of the management team for the Innovation Office Fyrklövern.
• Coordinator of the strategic partnership with Region Värmland regarding research and innovation, the Academy for smart specialization.
• Part of the steering group for Digital Well Arena, the Vinnväxt program regarding digitalization of health care services in Värmland led by Compare.

Håkan Spjuth joined Karlstad University in 2006 before that he worked for more than 20 years in the IT-business sector, in various management positions in both large companies and startups.

+46 (0)70 683 10 40
hakan.spjuth@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Sofia Andersson, Research Advisor

Sofia works primarily with research administrative processes, research quality assurance and open data. She is the coordinator for the development of infrastructure and support for research data management and open data at the university. Sofia is responsible for the development of the Research Handbook and contributes to the quality assurance of research administrative processes. Sofia is also part of the Quality Council at Karlstad University and coordinates the evaluations of research at the University. She is also the organisation supervisor for Prisma.

+46 (0)73 460 65 46
sofia.andersson@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Cindy Bråtenfeldt, Innovation Advisor

Cindy provides support to researchers, students and university staff regarding their innovative ideas. She assists in verification of the ideas as regards uniqueness, utilization, market relevance, prototyping and testing. Cindy is part of the team at Innovation Office Fyrklövern, where she coordinates the PhD-course ”Impact and the Utilisation of Research”. She is in charge of the innovation competition CRE8® which is arranged regionally, nationally and internationally. Cindy is a member of the board of Drivhuset Värmland and a member of SNITS 'competence network SIG Student. Cindy is involved in the following projects: ARIES4 (Erasmus +).

+46 (0)73 089 64 32
cindy.bratenfeldt@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Patrik Bångerius, Innovation Advisor

Patrik provides support to researchers, students and university staff regarding their innovative ideas. He assists in verification of the ideas as regards uniqueness, utilization, market relevance, prototyping and testing. Patrik is part of the team at Innovation Office Fyrklövern and in charge of the Verification Council. Patrik is a member of the board of Paper Province, Kau Holding Company, Kau Innovation AB. He participates in the project ARIES4 (Erasmus+), and has previously participated in the projects Social Impact Innovation Support (Vinnova), CRE8® Europe (Erasmus+) och DigiTerri (Horizon 2020). 

+46 (0)73 068 43 00
patrik.bangerius@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Anna Eriksson, Financial Advisor

Working as a financial advisor regarding external research funding, mainly EU-funding and its financial legal framework. The work includes both the pre- and post-award stages. Also developing internal routines and processes within the field. She also works with applications regarding EU-funding where Karlstad University acts as the coordinator. Anna participates in the working group of Academy for Smart Specialisation, where the tasks mainly consist of planning, coordinating and follow-up of the university’s funding.

+46 (0)70 355 81 93
anna.eriksson@kau.se

Weronika Ingman, Communication Officer

Weronika supports the Grants and Innovation Office with its communication. This includes establishing and implementing communication strategies, communicating about events research dissemination, updating websites, and providing communications advice.

Weronika is part of the working group for the Academy for Smart Specialisation, the strategic partnership with Region Värmland on regional development through research and innovation. Weronika is Karlstad University's communicator within Digital Well Arena, the Vinnväxt programme on digitisation of health and welfare services led by Compare. Weronika is also part of Karlstads University's research data group.

+46 (0)73 301 98 48
weronika.ingman@kau.se
Linkedin profile

James Lees, Research Advisor

James supports researchers with advice on funding calls and the application process, and also organises and delivers competence development training. He has a focus on European funding and wider (non-academic) research impact, and works particularly with KAU’s PhD students and early career researchers. James is a lecturer and examiner for the Innovation Office Fyrklövern PhD course 'Impact and the Utilisation of Research', and has also been the project manager for several Erasmus+ KA2 projects connected to skills-development and employability. In addition, he has acted as an advisor for two projects (SKÖN and UtvInd) commissioned by Vinnova to investigate options for evaluating wider impact in Swedish HE research.

+46 (0)70 211 82 51
james.lees@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Mariano Leone, Innovation Advisor

Mariano provides support to researchers, students and university staff regarding their innovative ideas. He assists in verification of the ideas as regards uniqueness, utilization, market relevance, prototyping and testing. Mariano is part of the team at Innovation Office Fyrklövern,

+46 (0) 70-567 9855
mariano.leone@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Éamonn McCallion, Research Advisor

As a research advisor, Éamonn engages with researchers, research groups and research centres and supports them with a wide range of tasks such as funding applications, proposal reviewing, professional development and networking opportunities. As part of his role as a Research Advisor he works with the EU funding landscape with a focus on the Research and Innovation Framework programme, Horizon Europe as well as the national and other research funding sources. Éamonn works with the development and delivery of the CTRIVE® programme with his colleagues.  CTRIVE® is a professional competence development programme for researchers. He has also been directly involved in EU projects (Horizon, Interreg and Erasmus+) over the years both as a beneficiary and as a coordinator. Facilitation of specific workshops around leadership and group development within the wider research and researcher development context is also an area Éamonn supports. He is engaged with the implementation and impact of the “HR Strategy for Researchers” (HRS4R). HRS4R is a tool for research institutions to implementation a Charter & Code in their policies and practices. Karlstad University received the awarded “HR Excellence in Research Award” in 2021.

+46 (0)76 316 61 30
eamonn.mccallion@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Linda Ryan Bengtsson, Research Advisor

As a research advisor, Linda focuses on the strategic aspects of building research environments and developing external relations. Her role is to strengthen funding opportunities for individual researchers and research environments and to identify national and international collaborations. Linda has many years of experience in the strategic and executive work of building an internationally recognized research environment and in writing successful funding applications. Linda holds a Ph.D. in Media and Communication Studies and has an extended experience in the strategic work of building an internationally recognized research environment and in writing successful funding applications. She is on the board of the foundation for Baltic and Eastern European Studies and Visit Värmland, as well as a member of the management group for the YH Experience Designer degree program.

+46 (0)70-480 71 47
linda.ryan-bengtsson@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Lovisa Stedt, Research Advisor

As a research advisor, Lovisa provides support to researchers and university management, with a main focus on national funding. She works with strategic support and quality issues, such as the internal process for applications to the Knowledge Foundation and the regular reviews of research at the university. Lovisa is responsible for a program where research groups and individual researchers receive support in formulating a long-term strategy for their research based on their own scientific goals. She participates in the working group for collaboration on clinical research between Karlstad University and Region Värmland. Development of individuals and teams is a specialization area for Lovisa and she has been a certified coach ICF since 2021 and a certified Group development Questionaire (GDQ) consultant since 2022. Lovisa has a research background in microbiology but has worked as a research advisor since 2016.

+46 (0)73-060 32 55
lovisa.stedt@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Lotta Utterberg, Research Officer

Lotta works with research administrative processes. This includes development and updating of the Research Handbook. She handles tasks in Prisma and The Funding and Tenders Portal. She also administers matters handled by the Research Ethics Committee. Lotta guides nominations through internal prioritization process for, e.g., the Wallenberg foundations. Lotta is part of the working group of The Academy for Smart Specialisation.

+46 (0)70-372 73 93
lotta.utterberg@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Erica Åkerberg, Research Advisor

Erica is a research advisor supporting university management and researchers, with a focus on collaborations and specific agreements, such as The Academy for Smart Specialisation and its implementation. She is supporting with opportunities for external funding, initiatives for collaboration and application processes within ERDF-funding. Erica is also involved in supporting new research- and innovation projects within the Vinnväxt- initiative Digital Well Arena and part of the “Arena project”. Project leader for Karlstad University in its role as Advisory partner within the project DEBUTING (Developing Business Through Inclusiveness and Gender Awareness – New Cluster Competences), a project with 10 regional partners in Europe, funded by the Interreg Europe program. She is also a member of the ARIES4-project (Innovation Alliances Erasmus +), focusing the process of transforming a regional research and innovation strategy into a sustainable one by a collaborative effort and by the involvement of Karlstad university.

+46 (0)73 270 28 53
erica.akerberg@kau.se
Linkedin profile

Fredrik Östlin, Innovation Advisor

Fredrik supports Karlstad University's researchers, students and employees with innovative ideas. He helps them to get the ideas verified in areas such as uniqueness, application, possible market, prototype development and testing. He is part of the daily work in the Innovation Office Fyrklövern, and is a stand-in as Karlstad University's part of the Verification Council for verification funding.

In the Digital Well Arena, the Vinnväxt program on digitization of health and welfare services led by Compare, he is an active part in innovation support, commercialization and scale-up. Within the hospitality industry's innovation arenas coordinated by Visit Värmland, Fredrik is an active part of their innovation council. Fredrik also coordinates Karlstad University's participation in the reference group for the Project "Sustainable Värmland" which Region Värmland runs.

+46 (0)70 180 70 15
fredrik.ostlin@kau.se
Linkedin profile

The university's external relations officers are here to facilitate collaborations between students and the working life. Our aim is to shorten the time between studies and employment.

If you are interested in working with us and/or with our students, there are plenty of opportunities for it – for instance internships, degree theses, mentorships and job fairs. Contact us, and we'll tell you more! 

Hotspot

Erica Jansson
External relations officer
+ 46 70-556 69 36
erica.jansson@kau.se

Faculty of Health, Science and Technology

Jan Håkanson
External relations officer
+ 46 70-582 61 08
jan.hakanson@kau.se

Fakulteten of Arts and Social Sciences

Carina Bäccman
External relations officer
+46 (0)54-700 1272
carina.baccman@kau.se

Emilia Westberg
External relations officer
+46 73-432 60 91
emilia.westberg@kau.se

Näktergalen, Korta vägen

Petra Johansson
External relations officer
+46 (0) 54 700 14 74
petra.johansson@kau.se

Director of External Relations

Susanna Lundborg
+46 54 700 23 51
+46 76 107 4165
susanna.lundborg@kau.se

Karlstad University offers employees many opportunities for skills training and support related to career development. The links below present different types of career support

• Career support for researchers

• Career support: teaching and supervision

• Career support for all employees

• Exchanges and collaboration

• Research communication: The Communications Office offers support to reach audiences outside the research community through a variety of channels, such as press releases, articles, social media posts, videos and popular science events. Additionally, the we assist in planning and organizing research conferences. Our communications officers are also available to help researchers with communication strategies in connection with research funding applications.  https://www.kau.se/om-universitetet/organisation/var-verksamhet/centrala-stodfunktioner/kommunikationsavdelningen)