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News

• 2026-02-26

  Words from senior management: Development work that tests new approaches

  Most of you have surely noticed that the university management and five departments have now moved into the refurbished space on the fourth floor of Building 1B. We believe that the new flexible way of working will lead to a higher degree of utilisation, a continued good working environment, and lower costs.

  The next piece of the puzzle will soon fall into place as the very reason for the refurbishment moves in. The Swedish Defence University will shortly begin using its part of the floor. While we do indeed have a directive from the board to reduce accommodation costs and make more efficient use of our spaces, it is of course genuinely exciting in many ways that the city’s two higher education institutions will now be co-located on our campus. I believe this will lead to new opportunities for collaboration between Karlstad University and the Swedish Defence University.

• 2026-02-26

  Karlstad University coordinates EU project on 6G

  The EU-funded project PIONEERS-6G – Platform and Device Innovations for Energy-Efficient, Resilient, and Secure 6G IoT Systems, coordinated by Karlstad University with partners from six countries, aims to develop the mobile networks of the future with a focus on Internet of Things (IoT) services and applications.

  6G is the sixth generation of mobile networks and the next step in the evolution of wireless communication. It is expected to be introduced in the 2030s and aims to offer higher speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connections than 5G. It will also be able to support a much larger number of connected devices simultaneously, ultimately fulfilling the requirements of several IoT scenarios.

• 2026-02-23

  Computer Science recognizes its first Excellent Teacher

  Muhammad Ovais Ahmad, Associate Professor of Computer Science, has been appointed the title of Excellent Teacher. He is the first at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science to receive the distinction and the fourth at Karlstad University.

  The title Excellent Teacher is appointed to educators who develop their teaching by integrating it with research and who help students understand and think in new ways. For several years, Muhammad Ovais Ahmad has worked to connect his technical research with innovative teaching methods:

  “This academic distinction shows how important it is to make complex and abstract systems accessible and inspiring for the next generation of innovators”, he says.

  In what ways do you develop your teaching?

• 2026-02-23

  VR supports training for crises that unfold across national borders

  Crises Lenses: Extending Cross-Border Crisis Training into VR is a part of INCREDILAB and make training for floods, wildfires and other large-scale events that demand coordination between regions, organisations and stakeholders possible.
  – Building that coordination before a real crisis occurs is both difficult and essential, says Ala Sarah Alaqra, docent in information systems at Karlstad Business School.

  Crisis Lenses is a virtual reality (VR) training game developed within INcreased Climate Resilience Education and DIgital transformation Lab project (INCREDILAB).

  – Crises Lenses is built on our joint work in the project of the board game Collaborate or Collapse, which was designed to support collaborative decision-making in cross-border crisis scenarios, says Ala Sarah Alaqra. While the board game encourages structured discussion around a table, Crisis Lenses explores how immersive digital environments can add new dimensions to learning and training.

• 2026-02-19

  New Study – Can Giftedness Mask Dyslexia?

  When we talk about dyslexia, many people think of difficulties with reading and writing. But what happens when students have both dyslexia and giftedness? These students may perform well on standardised reading comprehension tests when comprehension is assessed through multiple-choice questions. In this way, the decoding problems typical of dyslexia are not detected. This may mean that the difficulties remain invisible to teachers, students and parents.

  A new dissertation by Tove Ekelund, PhD of Educational work at Karlstad University, examines exactly this: how can we detect dyslexia in students withgiftedness? The research focuses on the concepts of stealth dyslexia and twice‑exceptionality – students who have both strengths and challenges that influence each other. The study is based on results from reading and writing tests, rating scales for giftedness, and interviews with 24 students aged 10 to 16. Several of them had previously undergone cognitive assessments showing IQ scores above 120 and had a dyslexia diagnosis.

• 2026-02-19

  Annual report and annual accounts for 2025 adopted by the University Board

  The University Board has adopted the annual report and annual accounts for 2025. A year initially characterised by an unexpected pensions forecast and financial restraint, but also by factors that influenced the finances in a positive direction.

  The annual report and annual accounts for 2025 were adopted by the University Board on 18 February. The operational outcome was –10 million SEK, which is better than both the forecast and the budget.

  Ahead of 2025, the University Board decided on a budget of –29 million SEK. This planned deficit is part of recent years’ strategic investments in assistant lecturers and additional doctoral students. These investments are financed through the university’s agency capital.