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• 2026-09-17

  Psychological flexibility correlates with performance and wellbeing in athletes

  Psychological flexibility plays an important role in both performance and wellbeing. This is the conclusion of a doctoral thesis by Lis Johles, which examined the relationship between psychological flexibility, mindfulness, mental health and performance among competitive athletes.

  “Psychological flexibility is about the ability to handle distressing thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations while continuing to act in accordance with one’s goals and values,” says Lis Johles, who recently completed her PhD in Psychology at Karlstad University.

  The findings show that athletes with higher levels of psychological flexibility report both better performance and a higher quality of life. The study included elite athletes, both senior athletes  and high school athletes from football, ice hockey, handball, floorball, basketball and cross-country skiing.

• 2026-09-16

  Only When We Understand Unsustainability Can We Create Sustainability

  Many companies want to contribute to sustainable development, but their efforts often have limited impact.
  – Many of the companies I studied focused, for example, on putting ‘recycled material’ on a package, says Kristin Caravelli-Svärd. Such an initiative is often very small in relation to the company’s actual impact.

  In her dissertation, Un/sustainability: Why Business Sustainability Efforts Are Systemically Insufficient, Kristin Caravelli-Svärd, who recently earned her PhD in Business Administration at the School of Business and conducted research at the Service Research Center (CTF), demonstrates that many companies today actively address sustainability issues while environmental and social problems continue to worsen globally.

• 2026-09-16

  Welcome to This Year's Associate Professor Lectures at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

  On 15 October, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Karlstad University invites staff, students, and members of the public to attend this year’s open associate professor lectures. Everyone is warmly welcome.

  Throughout the day, newly appointed associate professors will present their research on topics including responsible digitalisation, reading promotion in primary education, fall risk management, new methods for increasing physical activity among inactive children, and much more. The lectures are designed for a general audience and are open to all. No registration is required.

• 2026-09-14

  Resilience in a Time of Crises: From Words to Action at A Sustainable Tomorrow

  In an era marked by so-called polycrises, where climate change, energy challenges, economic uncertainty, and global conflicts influence and reinforce one another, societal resilience is becoming increasingly important. During A Sustainable Tomorrow, it was emphasized that resilience is not only about technology, stockpiles, and contingency plans.

  Equally important is the ability of people and organizations to collaborate, share resources, and adapt their ways of working as circumstances change. The foundation of a resilient society is built in everyday life.

• 2026-09-14

  Words from senior management: A Warm Welcome

  A new autumn semester has just begun. In my view, this is one of the most exciting times of the academic year at the university. There is a palpable sense of anticipation in the air. Our campuses become more vibrant with early activities, welcome events, student gatherings and, of course, many reunions following the summer break.

  In many respects, the start of this academic year may resemble previous autumn terms. However, there are also several features that give autumn 2026 its own distinctive character. Our welcome activities continue to develop year by year. Much of this takes place in collaboration with Karlstad Municipality, which is important because new students are not only being welcomed to the university, but also to the city as a whole.

• 2026-09-10

  Research Reveals Where the Internet Really Slows Down

  When a video call stutters, an online game lags, or a webpage feels slow, internet speed is not always the problem. More often, the issue is network delays, known as latency. In his doctoral thesis, Simon Sundberg investigates how such delays arise and develops new methods for measuring them.

  Most people associate network performance with bandwidth, that is, the amount of data that can be transferred per second. However, for many of today’s digital services, latency is just as important.

  “If you are downloading a large film, bandwidth is usually the main factor determining how long it takes. But for interactive services such as video calls, online gaming and virtual reality, latency has a much greater impact on the user experience,” says Simon Sundberg.