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News

• 2025-06-19

  From gender research to neurodiversity – meet Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist

  How can we understand autism and ADHD in a way that is grounded in the experiences of individuals who live with these forms of neurodivergences? Finding answers to this question is what motivates Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, newly appointed professor of social work at Karlstad University. With a norm-critical and neuroaffirmative perspective, she wants to contribute to better support and greater understanding of neurodivergent individuals in society.

  Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist began her research career in sociology, focusing on gender and sexuality studies. Following her doctorate in sociology, she changed course and began researching autism and ADHD from a neurodiversity perspective – an approach that challenges norms and offers new ways of understanding these forms of neurodivergences. This, in turn, affects how support for these groups can be designed.

• 2025-06-18

  Journalism Rewired: How AI Is Reshaping News in China and Beyond

  What happens when AI meets journalism in one of the world’s most tightly controlled media environments? Joanne Kuai, newly graduated PhD in Media and Communication Studies at Karlstad University, dives into China’s AI-powered newsrooms - and what they reveal about the future of journalism everywhere.

  Joanne, why did you choose Chinese journalism for your research?

• 2025-06-16

  Words from our senior management: Where are we headed?

  We are now approaching the end of yet another semester and entering the summer period. It is a good time to slow down a little, perhaps even pause for a moment and reflect on both individual and collective achievements.

  Karlstad University has existed in its current form for a quarter of a century, but its roots go back much further. The direction we are heading is partly the result of strategic decisions that have been made and partly an organic development that has taken place along the way. The knowledge, plans, ambitions, efforts, successes and failures of many individuals come together in a shared journey of development and growth.

• 2025-06-12

  Honorary Doctor Thomas J. Scheff has passed

  Thomas J. Scheff, one of Karlstad University’s first honorary doctors, has passed away. The university is saddened by the news of his passing and honors his memory.

  Bengt Starrin, professor emeritus at Karlstad University, became acquainted with Thomas Scheff in the 1970s and remembers him fondly. He says that Scheff was not only a prominent researcher but a man with a great sense of humour, a skilled storyteller and an entertainer. 

  – I remember his amazing ability to captivate his audience. I will never forget his iconic dance moves during one of his many lectures, which were captured on film and replayed for weeks on the University of California’s TV channel.

• 2025-06-11

  Freshwater mussels are parasites that mind control their hosts

  A study done by researchers at Karlstad University shows that the parasitic larva of freshwater mussels can manipulate their host fish into swimming further upriver to habitats well-suited for when their adult selves.

  “The greater upstream movement of infested host fish, particularly at the time of excystment, is the clearest indication of an extended phenotype [host manipulation] expressed by glochidia [parasitic larvae of freshwater mussels]”, says Sebastian Rock at Karlstad University.

• 2025-06-10

  Research for Sustainable Paper Manufacturing

  A new research project has been launched to improve production efficiency and reduce resource consumption within the forestry industry.

  – Sustainability is a central focus of the project, which aims to decrease energy and resource usage in the forestry sector, says Björn Sjöstrand, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering. By developing user-friendly numerical models for optimizing dewatering and drying, the project promotes energy-efficient production and lower carbon emissions. The models enable simulations of various strategies without costly trials, accelerating the development of energy-saving processes.