The Faculty of Health, Science and Technology
News
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2026-06-17
Bioeconomy and innovation
On 16–17 June, researchers, companies and clusters gathered for the BioEco Valley Summit 2026. This year’s theme, lignin, fibres and optimised circular processes, highlighted how the bioeconomy can contribute to the green transition.
The conference was opened by County Governor George Andrén, who emphasised the strong position of Värmland within the forest-based bioeconomy and underlined the importance of collaboration between academia, industry and the public sector in addressing challenges such as climate change.
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2026-06-15
Meet Nina Christenson – New Head of Department at the Department of Environmental and Life Sciences
On 1 July, Nina Christenson will assume the role of Head of Department at the Department of Environmental and Life Sciences at Karlstad University. With extensive experience in research, education and academic leadership, she looks forward to continuing the department’s development together with colleagues.
“It feels both exciting and inspiring, and I am very much looking forward to contributing to the continued development of the department,” says Nina Christenson.
Nina Christenson is a Senior Lecturer in Biology with a specialisation in science education and an Associate Professor (Docent) in Science Education. Her research focuses on areas including climate change, societal risks, and education for action competence. Throughout her years at Karlstad University, she has also held several positions related to education, research and leadership.
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2026-06-11
New thesis on how AI can make apps more user-friendly
How can apps and digital health services become easier to use for older adults and people with motor impairments? In his doctoral thesis, Bilal Maqbool in Computer Science has developed an AI-based method that can imitate user interactions and has investigated why usability testing is often a challenge.
”To create user-friendly systems, developers need to test their products with real users. This can be difficult, especially when the target group includes people with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, reduced motor function, or other health challenges. Recruiting participants, obtaining ethical approvals, and conducting repeated tests require both time and resources”, he says.
AI that learns from people
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2026-06-09
Karlstad University part of Electrified Flexible Industry
Three units at Karlstad University – Electrical Engineering, DAMI and Computer Science – are part of the large-scale project Electrified Flexible Industry. The aim of the project is to develop solutions for a more flexible, resilient, digital and resource-efficient energy system.
Karlstad University’s role in the project is to develop AI-based solutions to enable companies to anticipate energy demand, prices and flexibility opportunities. This, in turn, will help companies reduce costs while contributing to a more sustainable energy system.
“We will combine AI with energy data to enable smarter decision-making around energy utilization,” says Andreas Theocharis, Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and project leader for Karlstad University’s contribution to Electrified Flexible Industry.
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2026-06-04
New funding for cybersecurity graduate school
Karlstad University has been awarded continued funding to further develop and expand the Swedish Graduate School for Cybersecurity (SIGS-CyberSec).
The initiative is one of three industrial graduate schools receiving support from the Knowledge Foundation (KK Foundation).
– The new funding will enable the graduate school to recruit seven additional industrial doctoral students. The aim is to strengthen both research capacity and skills provision in cybersecurity for Swedish companies, a field where the demand for highly qualified expertise is growing rapidly, says Simone Fischer-Hübner, professor at Computer Science and Project Manager for SIGS-CyberSec.
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2026-06-02
Efficient and sustainable organic solar cells
Organic solar cells are highlighted as a promising future technology. They are flexible, lightweight and can be manufactured at low cost in large volumes. In recent years, their efficiency has surpassed 20 per cent. However, despite this progress, a crucial challenge remains: lifetime.
In a new doctoral thesis at Karlstad University, Suraj Prasad shows why the materials degrade and how the problem can be addressed.
“We already have high efficiency. The main challenge now is to make the solar cells last,” says Suraj Prasad.
Light and oxygen trigger degradation
In the study, organic solar cell materials were exposed to simulated sunlight in air. The results show that degradation is driven by chemical reactions in which oxygen plays a central role.
