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News
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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.
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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.
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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.
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2026-09-09
SOLVE Receives Continued Support to Develop Solar Energy Systems
Karlstad University has been awarded SEK 11.5 million from the Swedish Energy Agency and Region Värmland as the SOLVE research centre enters a new five-year phase. The investment will contribute to the development of future solar energy systems and support Sweden’s transition towards a more sustainable energy system.
SOLVE brings together universities, businesses and public-sector organisations in research aimed at enabling a faster expansion of solar energy in Sweden. The total budget for SOLVE’s upcoming five-year period amounts to SEK 139.4 million. At Karlstad University, the research focuses on areas including new solar cell technologies, energy communities where several households share locally generated solar electricity, and agrivoltaics, where agricultural production is combined with electricity generation from solar panels.
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2026-09-08
Joy of Music at a Camp in Nairobi
Two years ago, Annmari Wangin, a lecturer in methodology, supervision, brass education, brass studio, and wind orchestra methodology at the Ingesund School of Music, visited the Pendo Amani Youth Centre in the suburb of Juja on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. There, she taught and made music together with children and young people who were actively involved in music. This summer, she returned together with an Ingesund student. During their visit, they initiated a collaboration with the music education program at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. They also participated in a camp focused on arts activities at the Pendo Amani Youth Centre. The trip was made possible through several scholarships and in collaboration with the Kenya Association.
Pendo Amani provides activities for approximately 4,800 children and young people each year, offering leisure programs such as football, handball, dance, music production, music performance, and more. For the first time in the centre’s history, a summer camp was organized where 58 students participated in orchestra playing and dance. The young people were transported by bus to a school in Nairobi, where they lived, ate, rehearsed, and danced together, an experience that was significant and memorable for many of them.
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2026-09-08
Collaboration in Focus as the Knowledge Foundation Visits Karlstad University
On 7 September, representatives from the Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen) visited Karlstad University to gain deeper insight into how the university collaborates with industry in research and education. During the visit, several projects were presented in which the university and companies work together to develop new knowledge and strengthen Sweden’s competitiveness.
Throughout the day, the representatives from the Knowledge Foundation met researchers and academic staff from the Pro2Be research environment and the Department of Computer Science. The aim was to gain a better understanding of how the university works with research, education and skills development in partnership with companies and organisations.
