Strategy 2012

Strategy 2012 Karolinska Institutet 2010–2012

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Contents President’s introduction............................................................................................................................................ 4 Mission........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Vision.......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Values.......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Challenges.................................................................................................................................................................. 8

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Conduct medical research of high quality in an international perspective............................................... 8

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Shorten the period between research result and practical application.....................................................10

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Apply quality assurance in education and promote learning.....................................................................13

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Strengthen education at doctoral level to compete with increasing global competition........................14

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Strengthen leadership in order to achieve efficient operations and competitive environments...........17

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Improve the conditions for core activities by more efficient administrative support.............................18

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Improve integration between health care, research and education...........................................................20

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

President’s introduction Karolinska Institutet will celebrate its 200-year anniversary in 2010, and this is an excellent opportunity not only to review our successful past but also to cast our eyes forwards to new challenges. Previous generations of colleagues and students have forged through their work the KI brand to the strength it has today. The responsibility for awarding the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology is one prestigious task that has been assigned to KI for over 100 years. Many other tasks and resources have been placed on KI from various sources over the years.

It is a heavy responsibility to manage and develop these assets well, and to create the conditions and opportunities required for development in the future.

Fortunately, our economic position is today favourable.

The Swedish parliament and government have increased investment into medical research during the past year.

The research at KI funded by external sources has expanded following successful applications in both Swedish and international competition. And KI’s own fundraising activity has provided considerable resources.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

KI is a medical university at the heart of society. We are players in a global research arena, but also in close collaboration with the health and medical care sector and the business community. The strong research profile of KI places on us a responsibility to take a leading role within the whole field of medical science.

The academic world today is both complex and in continuous flux, and we are facing new challenges. It is crucial to reaching our goals that we can recruit the very best leaders and colleagues. We must build creative and innovative environments that provide the conditions required for KI to work in the front line of international research. We must continually renew and adapt the education we offer such that it corresponds to the needs of society, we must create clear and definable career opportunities for our teaching personnel and we must integrate education, research and health care.

KI’s strategy for the coming three years, “Strategy 2012”, is based both on the extensive strategic planning that went into creating KI 05 and on the “Strategy for research and

From left to right: University Director Karin Röding, President Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson and Vice President Jan Andersson.

education” that KI presented to the government in 2007 as background material to the government’s Research Bill.

The time perspective of Strategy 2012 has been chosen to be short. We are caught up in a dynamic period in which development in the biomedical field is taking place at a very high rate, not least with respect to new technology and new methods. New knowledge has made it possible to create new tissues and organs, exchange damaged cells, and treat using other methods diseases that as recently as ten years ago were considered to be incurable.

Major economic investment is taking place in the international arena, together with strategic restructuring, and this will enable the scientific community to draw benefits from the blossoming of knowledge. Strategy 2012 will act as a pathfinder during the coming three years for KI’s active participation in this development, enabling us to lead, educate and train the next generation of scientists, teachers and healthcare personnel.

KI has contributed to improving people’s health for 200 years. We are subject to high expectations from

many stakeholders: from the health care and medical care sector, from the business community, from fellow scientists, present and future students, and – not least – from the general public.

Strategy 2012 is a further step for Karolinska Institutet towards the realisation of our vision to be one of the leading medical universities in the world. We will continue to work together to contribute to creating a better and healthier world, for everyone alive today and for future generations.

Stockholm, December 2009 Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson President

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Mission Vision Values

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

The mission of Karolinska Institutet is to improve people’s health through research and education.

Karolinska Institutet shall be one of the world’s leading medical universities.

Karolinska Institutet operates in an area in which fundamental values have a profound effect.

An ethical and humanist conviction is therefore an ever-present consideration for all personnel.

Society has a right to pose very stringent requirements on the work carried out at KI.

n The work carried out at KI shall be characterised by high quality and an ethical approach. n KI shall defend the independence of research. n Education and research at KI shall interact in a mutual exchange of knowledge and experience. n Education and research at KI shall be characterised by a sincere responsibility for society and thus contribute to sustainable development both within and beyond Sweden’s borders. n The work carried out at KI shall be characterised by confidence in the initiative, creativity, independence and expertise of its personnel and students. KI shall support personnel and students in developing these properties. n KI shall provide an environment for work and study that is characterised by sound leadership, participation, involvement, transparency, equality and diversity, and by a concern for both the internal and the external environment.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Challenges Conduct medical research of high quality in an international perspective The medical research carried out at Karolinska Institutet should focus on important biological and medical issues that can lead to fundamentally new knowledge, and thus contribute to improved health care and medical care in the long term. An active interaction with the global research community and a constant bi-directional flow of knowledge, ideas and methods are required in a successful university. Furthermore, interaction with significant stakeholders in the neighbourhood and throughout Sweden is important in reinforcing the research profile of KI. A further necessary condition is the recruitment of skilled scientists and the provision of economic support for scientists working at KI. It is particularly important to support promising young scientists during the postdoc period and the years immediately following it.

Research at KI is conducted in a close collaboration between the academy and the health and medical care system. An important component of this collaboration is

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

the transfer of research results into clinical application.

KI and the Stockholm County Council have adopted a joint road map for the development of research. The innovative work carried out at KI also plays a significant role as a bridge between the research world and the pharmaceutical and medical products industries.

The results of external quality assessments play an everincreasing role in the allocation of resources by the government. An increasing fraction of grants from central government is distributed according to results, where the results are calculated relative to the fraction of external funds gained and by the use of bibliometric analysis.

These factors are also to be reflected in the distribution of resources within KI. All activity at KI, independent of its source of finance, shall be subject to quality assurance.

This requires that we make clear which aspects and criteria are relevant, and that we define indicators that can measure these in a satisfactory manner.

Course of action n Give high priority to high-quality research that generates new knowledge within biological science and the life sciences, and within the mechanisms of disease and public health. Such research can lead to better health care and medical care. n Reinforce the research profile of KI by investments in the formation of centres of translational research, by granting ear-marked resources to prominent professors, by strategic recruitment of world-leading professors, and by development of the research infrastructure at KI. n Improve the prospects of recruiting and financing young scientists, principally during the post-doc and research assistant phases of their careers. n Use the results of the external assessment of research quality at KI (ERA 2010) as a basis for strategic considerations. n Develop the Swedish Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) to become a world-class laboratory for large-scale research in the biological sciences, in collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and Uppsala University.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Shorten the period between research result and practical application The ability to transfer new knowledge for application in dental care, health care, medical care, and the pharmaceutical and med tech industry is crucial to the mission of Karolinska Institutet – to improve people’s health.

Shortening the period between a scientific discovery and its application and being able to measure the benefit that the discovery brings to patients and others are therefore highly important tasks.

KI and the Stockholm County Council must vigorously develop and increase the quality of knowledge transfer both within the care system itself and from the scientific sphere to the care system. This will require significant investment, while offering at the same time major potential in the form of increased patient benefit, higher quality in the care system, improved conditions for research, and – in the long run – reduced costs.

KI is in the forefront of development within the Nordic region with respect to the development of an innovation system within the life sciences. The challenge facing us now is to create a long-term and sustainable system that can finance from its own revenue the development of

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

innovations, ensuring that these innovations become commercially available. The innovation system may come to encompass a broader range of areas through collaboration with other universities, such as, for example, medical products and the provision of services within the health and medical care sector.

The purposes of such a strategic collaboration with the business community will be not only to strengthen research at KI but also to convert in partnership scientific discoveries into products, services, and other benefits.

The pharmaceuticals industry and the med tech industry are currently undergoing major structural changes.

It will therefore be necessary for KI to work with the Stockholm County Council and create procedures by which an increasing number of clinical trials are hosted here, and to develop in collaboration medical technology and other applications.

Systematic and proactive measures must be taken throughout the university in order to strengthen its capabilities within the field of innovation.

Course of action n Develop the innovation system to become a long-term, sustainable and self-financing system for the transfer of research results to commercial application. n Shorten the period between discovery and practical clinical application by creating better systems for measuring the benefit of new methods of treatment and new pharmaceuticals within the health and medical care system. n Develop the art of entrepreneurship and the innovative capacity of scientists, teaching personnel and students.

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Course of action n Review and modify the courses and programmes offered by Karolinska Institutet such that an increased proportion of the education is given at the advanced level in fields that correspond to KI’s profile of high-quality research. n Reward educational environments that provide high-quality education by relating the resources granted to a number of predefined criteria. n Reward skill and engagement in teaching by a focused application of KI’s incentive and careerdevelopment system, adapted to suit teaching activities. n Reinforce the position of education by considering the needs of education when recruiting personnel. n Reinforce on-site training by establishing several new clinical adjunct and joint employment positions, and by increasing the academic and educational expertise of clinical supervisors.

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Apply quality assurance in education and promote learning Several of the courses and programmes at Karolinska Institutet are among the most popular in Sweden. This means that KI has many highly motivated and ambitious students who excel in their studies. There is a high demand on the labour market for the expertise our students can offer, and thus they enjoy good prospects for gaining employment after graduation.

Research of a high international standard is carried out at KI, and this forms a basis on which the university can offer its students an academic education that corresponds to the current state of knowledge and the cutting edge of research. This means that KI is in an excellent position to compete with education offered by the most prestigious universities throughout the world, and it can attract students not only from Sweden but also from other countries.

In order to retain KI’s position as a leading university, all parts of the university must work together, and education must be appreciated in the same way as research. Investment in education is crucial – not only investment in educational facilities and infrastructure but also in skilled and innovative personnel. The role as educator must be attractive, and educational merit must affect both the individual’s career opportunities and the resources available. KI shall work to ensure strategic collaboration with other seats of higher education, both in Sweden and in other countries, within the field of education.

The purpose of the collaboration will be to ensure that resources are used more efficiently, to offer high-quality

in student and teacher exchange, and to offer unique expertise in education that has been developed in collaboration. Further, students will be prepared for an international and multicultural labour market through such collaboration.

KI is able to offer high-quality education in a number of fields due to its excellent research activities in these fields. This opportunity can best be exploited by adapting the range of courses offered such that it includes a higher proportion of education at advanced level.

All education shall have a clear base in research, such that conditions favourable to the development of an evidence-based method of work develop, and such that students are well-prepared for future research training and research.

There are several key factors in the development of successful education at KI. These include a clear coupling with research right from the start, integration of theory and practice, interprofessional education, and the availability of high-quality clinical training. These factors can be secured only by active participation of teaching personnel and researchers at all levels, the realisation that students are an important resource in our continuous work to adapt and improve, and a close collaboration with the Stockholm County Council. The requirements for education laid on the departments must be made clearer and the education provided must be assessed, such that resources are targeted to those areas that maintain the highest quality of education.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

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Strengthen education at doctoral level to compete with increasing global competition Doctoral education at Karolinska Institutet has traditionally been excellent, and its most important competitive advantage has been a close coupling with leading scientists and research environments. The world around us, however, is in flux, and with it the situation for research. Research and education are important for global development, and major investment has been poured into these areas. Research students today face increasing international competition and a research arena in which such factors as the allocation of resources and the availability of employment are in rapid change.

Increased internationalisation, one aspect of which is the implementation of the Bologna Accords, will place high demands for quality and efficiency within doctoral education. These requirements can only be met by cultivating what is unique for KI and what can make KI’s doctoral students attractive and successful in the labour market.

Doctoral education at KI shall provide solid scientific training and develop the students’ abilities in critical thinking, independence and creativity. The doctoral education at KI is, and will continue to be, based on research carried out by the students under supervision.

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

KI today offers training in internationally renowned research groups. In order to ensure that training at KI at doctoral level is able to meet the highest international standards, the courses and the expertise of supervisors must also meet such standards.

Clinical research has long been particularly strong in Sweden, but the lead over other nations has been eroded in recent years. Training at doctoral level at KI must be constructed such that also clinical personnel are eager to take research training. Research is now conducted to an ever-increasing extent in networks, in which scientists and doctoral students may not necessarily be located close to each other. Technical developments within the field of communication can aid in maintaining high quality in this type of collaboration, but this will require the development of new models of such issues as how supervision is carried out. The maintenance of a high-quality environment for training at doctoral level requires continuous development of the way in which methods are learned, and it requires that teaching methods in supervision are brought into focus and become the subject for innovation.

Course of action n Develop the recruitment and selection of doctoral students. n Stimulate and develop doctoral education in a translational setting: training is to be designed such that it stimulates the transfer of knowledge and issues between patient-based and experimental research. n Develop the educational theory of doctoral education conducted in courses, programmes and research schools, and the theory of supervision; and work to implement goal-directed methods within doctoral education. n Ensure the quality of training at doctoral level that is provided for clinical personnel.

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Course of action n Develop a strategic supply of leaders by identifying potential leaders at an early stage, followed by preparing and developing such personnel for leadership. n Improve and develop the quality of leadership by creating clear objectives for leadership within KI and by developing a system for regular follow-up and assessment. Good examples of leadership are to be continuously recognized n Improve the flow of communication such that comprehensive objectives and processes of change are adopted throughout KI’s operations. Provide support for leaders at all levels in their role as communicative leader, such that personnel become involved and develop a sense of participation.

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Strengthen leadership in order to achieve efficient operations and competitive environments Leaders in the academic sphere work in a changing and complex world, where they must often face conflicting demands and balance opposing interests. This means that distinct and developing leadership is an important factor for the success of KI and for achieving results.

Unequivocal responsibility and authority, and organisational structures, facilitate good leadership. The role of leader must become more attractive and be valued as a positive career merit, in order to attract to a greater extent personnel who are interested in and capable of good leadership.

Leaders at all levels are important carriers of the values of an organisation. This means that they have an important task in creating an organisation in which comprehensive objectives and guidelines permeate the

activities; an organisation in which personnel are involved and motivated to take part in the development of the university. Open communication is vital to powerful leadership. The ability to present messages clearly and a sensitivity to the opinions of personnel contribute to strengthening participation in the organisation.

Successful leadership in the academic sphere requires solid foundation on the core operations of the university.

It is also important to possess the skills required to manage processes of change and development and to manage successful and complex projects. This must be coupled to recruiting the correct personnel, defining clear objectives, and establishing good relationships with stakeholders.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

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Improve the conditions for core activities by more efficient administrative support

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Administrative functions at all levels within the university shall be characterised by high quality and an efficient use of resources, forming in this way a natural support for core activities.

at the same time providing the scope required to promote strategic development, increase efficiency and apply quality assurance throughout the university administration.

The university administration is the interface between the requirements of the core activity for flexible administrative support and the requirements by the authorities that be for conformance to regulations and detailed follow-up in various areas. These two tasks conflict to a certain extent, and they can be balanced and developed only by an administration that displays a clear process-based approach, professionalism and uncompromising integrity. A competent and efficient collaboration between central and local administration will provide the core activities with clear support, while

Examples of areas in which the contribution of the administration to activities is particularly clear are the process of securing research funding, both in the application phase and in the accounting phase, and the need for good expertise within personnel management and labour law when conditions of employment change.

Sweden’s ambition to recover its leading position within IT-based administration can be added to this, posing as it does requirements for a systematic development and good collaboration between the various administrative units within KI.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Course of action n Increase the attractiveness of tasks in administration by clarifying mandates and increasing expertise. n Reinforce collaboration between central and local administration. n Make administrative processes more efficient and more uniform by giving priority to work to improve such processes. n Develop the infrastructure for information management within KI.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

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Improve integration between health care, research and education The organisation, management and development of organisation within the health and medical care system are fundamental to clinical research and work-based training. The regional implementation between Karolinska Institutet and the Stockholm County Council of the “ALF agreement” (“Agreement for medical training and research”) has made the current extensive collaboration between these two bodies possible, working together to set priorities for overall resources for research, education and development. This interaction is the first step in the development towards an academic health care system in which care, research and education are well-integrated components. This is not the case today. A further stage in the development of this academic health care system must now be taken, therefore, in order to give research and education an equal footing with that of health care provision. This work is to be carried out in collaboration between Stockholm County Council, as principal purchaser of health care and dental care, private actors in these fields, and KI. Joint strategies must be established

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

to determine how activities are to be developed, organised and managed, and – not least – how they are to be assessed and rewarded.

It is the ambition of KI that all health and medical care, including dental care and public health initiatives, in the county of Stockholm are to be included in this work.

This includes also the growing private activities, and the major investment that is being put into the new university hospital NKS, and thus the complete field of academic health care. The objective of this work is to provide top-quality research and education that can rapidly and efficiently improve the health and medical care system, which in turn can generate new challenges for the collaboration. The Stockholm region is to be an internationally leading example of how common ambitions for the health and medical care system, education and research promote the quality and competitiveness of these components.

Course of action n Formulate a joint strategy between KI and SLL for the development of health care, education and research, and implement this strategy. n Clarify tasks within the academic health and medical care system for the fields of activity: providing care, research and education. n Develop an appropriate organisation, incitement structure and leadership for the health and medical care system, clinical research and work-based education.

Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

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The University Board Back row: Professor Klas Kärre (faculty representative), University Director Karin Röding (rapporteur-general), Professor Marie Wahren-Herlenius (faculty representative), Professor Lotta Widén Holmqvist (faculty representative), Vice President Jan Andersson, (co-opted member of the KI Board), Professor Olle Stendahl, County Governor Chris Heister, associate professor Hans Bergström, Anna Aleman (OFR), Gunnar Stenberg (SEKO), Lars Sundell (SACO).

Front row: Erik Hagman (chairperson of the Medical Students Union), Eva Fernvall (brand director at Apoteket AB, President Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, Susanne Eberstein, MP (chairperson of the KI Board), Håkan Åström MBA (vice chairperson of the KI Board), Richard Bergström (CEO of Lif), Turid Tidblom (chairperson of the Dental Students Union).

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012

Strategy 2012 Published by Karolinska Institutet, 1 December 2009 Contact info@ki.se to obtain further copies Photographers Scanpix: Cover. Camilla Svensk: p 5, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22. Pierre Zoetterman: p 21.

Lennart Nilsson: p 9. Anders Kallersand: p 9, 19. Johan Bergmark: p 11. Erik Cronberg: p 19. Lasse Skog: p 5, 21.

Design Sofia Lindberg, The Information and Public Relations Office Print: Partnerprint 2010 ISBN: 978-91-85681-23-5

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ki.se

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Karolinska Institutet Strategy 2012