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Strategy 2018Roadmap for Karolinska Institutet 2014–2018

A summary of

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READ THE STRATEGY DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY

Strategy 2018 (reference number 1-311/2014) was adopted by the Board of Karolinska Institutet on 28 April 2014 and can be found at internwebben.ki.se/strategy2018.

“Only through everyone’s participation can we attain the ambitious and concrete goals outlined in the strategy”

PRODUCTION: Communications and Public Relations Office, Karolinska Institutet PHOTO: Erik Cronberg DESIGN: Sofia Lindberg PRINT: Mixi Print AB 2014 ISBN: 978-91-85681-62-4

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The years 2014–2018 represent a period of intense activities at Karolinska Institutet, within the healthcare sector, in Swedish society and in the world. Biomedicum in Solna and the research environment at New Karolinska Solna will be completed, and new infrastructure projects are being carried out in Huddinge. Healthcare is undergoing rapid change and involves more and more stakeholders. Univer-sities, the county council and municipalities are playing an increasing role in attracting students, researchers and indu-stry to the region with the goal of creating growth and jobs. Life science is still a strong export industry for Sweden. The decline among pharmaceutical companies in the Swedish arena requires new investments.

When we look back, Karolinska Institutet has for a long period experienced a positive development in terms of increa- sed resources, quality of research and sought-after courses and educational programmes. But when we compare ourselves with the most renowned international elite universities, we observe that the percentage of breakthrough research is too low and the number of top-cited publications is fewer at Karolinska Institutet than at comparable universities. The last time a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to a researcher at Karolinska Institutet was in 1982.

We also note that the original articles included in doctoral theses are not always of high quality, and that the quality and connection to research varies and is insufficient in some of our educational programmes.

During a five-year period, we have seen new buildings emerge and become completed, investments that provide opportunities for increased capacity, new recruitment and large-scale research. Both society and we have expectations that our findings will lead to practical application to be utilised in the form of new diagnostic methods, treatment methods, and healthcare. Furthermore, that discoveries will become business ideas in collaboration with industry and through our own innovation system, or made available for “the global good” in a non-commercial way.

At present, Karolinska Institutet enjoys a leading position among Swedish universities and is a successful medical uni-

versity on the international stage with a prominent position in Europe. But in the competition for funding and success, both in Sweden and internationally, we need to continue to strengthen Karolinska Institutet in order to reach our full potential.

Against this background, we* have developed and decided upon Strategy 2018 which aims in all parts to increase the quality of our research and education. The strategy is inten-ded to provide a roadmap for the next five years. We shall invest additional resources in already strong research areas, as well as in educational programmes capable of achieving very high quality and strong links to research within priority areas of research.

We must make smart choices and decisions while elimina- ting redundant activities, aim for quality over quantity.

Strategy 2018 sets out the overall goals within four areas: employees, infrastructure, collaboration and funding. Much work remains with regard to concretising the strategy. The work must permeate the entire organisation and be executed by both internal boards and departments as well as leaders at all levels and each individual employee. Only through everyone’s participation can we attain the ambitious and concrete goals outlined in the strategy.

The involvement and interest of all employees creates good conditions for us to, by the end of 2018, conduct our core activities of research and education at an even higher level than today so that we can take on new challenges for the future.

Anders HamstenVice-Chancellor

Karolinska Institutet must choose a path

*Karolinska Institutet’s management, the Board of Karolinska Institutet, heads of departments, heads of administration, students, staff organisations, the management group KI/SLL and several other groups.

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PRODUCTION: Communications and Public Relations Office, Karolinska Institutet PHOTO: Erik Cronberg DESIGN: Sofia Lindberg PRINT: Mixi Print AB 2014 ISBN: 978-91-85681-62-4

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Strategy 2018 sets out the overall goals and strategies for KI.

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VisionKarolinska Institutet significantly contributes to the improvement of human health.

MissionKarolinska Institutet’s mission is to conduct research and education, and to collaborate with other parts of society.

Research goalsThe goal for our research is to achieve scientific breakthroughs that change the view of human health and disease, as well as normal vital processes. Research results should lead to innovations and practical applications that can be implemented within the health service sector.

Educational goalsThe goal for our educational programmes is to strengthen their link to research, and to prepare the students for engagement in research. They should provide the best possible conditions to work in, lead and continue to develop activities in collaboration with other professions.

Core values The activities of Karolinska Institutet fall within an area where fundamental values are of a particular importance. The public is entitled to place extensive demands on our approach and activities. KI must safeguard the freedom of research, and our activities are to be characterised by:

• a very high quality and an ethical approach• trust and support for the initiatives, creativity, independence and skills of our

employees and students• good leadership, employeeship, inclusion, openness, equality and diversity,

as well as care for the internal and external environments• a strong social commitment and contribution to sustainable development

within and outside Sweden’s borders through our education and research.

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Karolinska Institutet wants to shift the perspective from a strong national position to a strengthened international position. To achieve this goal requires a variety of desirable changes such as increased auto-nomy, close collaboration with healthcare services, the professionalisation of complex organisations in large-scale research environments (such as Biomedicum and SciLifeLab), increased access to clinical education, a developed university healthcare system and stronger interaction with the life science industry. Karolinska Institutet’s internal organisation must be reviewed. It is also desirable from a national perspective that Karolinska Institutet assumes greater responsibility for the coordination of medical research.

Special challenges for the future

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Our educational programmes require access to qualified supervision and training.

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Employees – we want the most qualified The strategy proposes a more selective recruitment in inter-national competition. This applies to both senior and junior researchers as well as students. The number of professors will need to be reduced to achieve a better resource allocation. The academic leadership needs to be strengthened, with particular emphasis on department heads, as well as on research group leaders as scientific leaders responsible for work environment and mentorship. There should be incen- tives at all levels of the organisation that encourage break- throughs in research and higher quality within education, in the form of, among other things, increased resources.

Infrastructure – for a modernised KI The new advanced research laboratories need to be planned, the need for scientific equipment identified and a plan for funding implemented. A targeted fundraising campaign is being considered. The learning environments need to be modernised and the IT support needs to be improved for both teachers and students. Informatics, i.e., technologies for linking biobank data, patient records and population data, etc., that currently exist in several different systems within research and care need to be developed. Stockholm County Council is in charge of this issue, but Karolinska Institutet has to contribute to the development.

Strategy 2018 in four minutesThe strategic initiatives have been divided into four areas: Employees, infrastructure, collaboration and funding. This is a summary of the strategy’s overall objectives. On the following pages you can read more about each area.

EMPLOYEES

INFRASTRUCTURE

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COLLABORATION

FUNDING

Collaboration – for common strategies Stockholm County Council is Karolinska Institutet’s most im- portant partner. The goal for the collaboration is a common strategy for research and education. Successful university healthcare needs to be based on good conditions for clinical research and education. Clinical research requires access to patients and the education requires access to qualified supervision and clinical training. Karolinska Institutet aims for the collaboration with Stockholm County Council to be concentrated to the university healthcare organisation in a significantly clearer form than today, and for a marked increase in Karolinska Institutet’s real influence.

Karolinska Institutet also needs an overall strategy for international collaborations. A Deputy Vice-Chancellor for International Matters assumes overall responsibility for the internationalisation. It is emphasised that Karolinska Institutet’s strongest researchers should spend time at elite universities abroad.

The innovation issues are anchored in the academic leadership with a Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and Corporate Alliances. The innovation system is redefined and integrated into the core activities to promote the positive application of discoveries within society.

Funding – to finance our investments At the end of the period referred to in this strategy, major new infrastructure projects will be completed in the form of Biomedicum in Solna and the research environment at New Karolinska Solna. Furthermore, new infrastructure invest-ments must be made at Campus Huddinge during the same period. Karolinska Institutet’s new research laboratories and the Comparative Medicine Unit will be very costly. They must be funded through existing resources, an increased borrowing from the state and through donations. There will also be additional costs for expensive scientific equipment.

The direct government funding shall be allocated so that research and education reach their goals. A plan for how the departments are to use the agency capital that has been built up must be established. The ALF funding must be used in a manner which best promotes Karolinska Institutet’s clinical research and education.

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KI shall be able to compete with the international elite universities.

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• Coordinated recruitment in international competition

The high number of retirements in the next few years is paving the way for strategic recruitments of top candidates internationally within research and education. It requires an overview and a coordination of Karolinska Institutet’s recruitment needs. Here, university management and departments need to collaborate and the Recruitment Committee is given greater responsibility. The need for university-wide priorities should be balanced against the departments’ responsibility for different subject areas. The ambition now is to further raise the quality and inter-national competitiveness among the professors as well as among other recruitments of senior and junior researchers, also focusing on the most educationally intensive subject areas. A reduced number of professors will free up resour-ces that can be used by those who will be recruited.

• Clearer career system

Strategic recruitment needs to be supplemented with a clear career system for junior researchers. Karolinska Institutet shall be able to compete with the international elite universities when it comes to attracting leading junior researchers for positions as research associates and senior researchers. More of these positions can be created with the help of funds being released in connection with upcoming retirements among professors. There will be a particular focus on providing positions with time for both teaching and research as well as for clinical practice.

• Strengthened academic leadership

The head of department, in the role of academic leader, and the research group leader, in the role of scientific leader, need to be strengthened in their positions. The head of department and research group leader have key roles within Karolinska Institutet of great impor-tance to the operations – the head of department as the person with overall responsibility for the department, and the research group leader as the person in charge of the research undertaken as well as work environment, supervision and work management. Special training and leadership programmes are required along with clear requirements for qualified leaders at these levels.

Administrative leaders, in the role of support to heads

of departments and research group leaders, should be provided additional opportunities to support the core operations through specific development programmes.

• Incentives that encourage higher quality

In order to achieve the goals for research and education, it is necessary to have incentives at all levels to promote higher quality. To increase the chances of breakthrough research requires time-consuming studies, a broad panel of techniques, access to unique biobanks and/or large well- characterised population-based or clinical cohorts. Such research should be rewarded through increased resources that, to a greater extent than today, are based on quality indicators. Results that lead to breakthroughs in medical care and public health work should also be rewarded in the resource allocation system.

The allocation of resources to education shall also be developed and reward departments that contribute to the highest quality and strong links to research within a subject area.

• Higher status and incentives for academic leaders

Karolinska Institutet’s management positions should be highly sought after and filled with professors who are natio- nal leaders and/or internationally prominent. During and after the period during which the mandate is held, support is to be given to the leader’s research for it to be maintained.

The professors’ salaries are to be primarily financed by direct government funding. For international recruitment, external grants and donations may be required during the establishment.Various programmes should be established to provide stable funding that allows for long-term and bold research with greater opportunities for breakthroughs.

• Post-doctoral education in an international environment

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet who have recently de- fended their doctoral thesis shall be encouraged to conduct post-doctoral studies in a high-class international research environment. Such experience is to be assessed prior to appointment and merits allocation of special resources.

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Infrastructure – for a modernised KI

• Strategic planning of large-scale research environments

Karolinska Institutet is now planning for advanced research laboratories of a scale close to in total 100,000 square metres including large spaces for comparative medicine. Up to 60 per cent of existing space for experimental and translational research will thus be replaced in the coming years in Solna and Huddinge. This requires strategic planning including relocation of existing activities and development of new ones, recruit-ment for strategically important research positions, and utilisation of core facilities. In addition, the expensive scientific equipment has to be identified and funded. Karolinska Institutet’s management will strive to obtain external funding for parts of this, and a targeted fund-raising campaign is being considered.

• Modernisation of learning environments

A modernisation of the learning environments under way at Karolinska Institutet’s campus will be comple-ted during the strategy period in order to create an attractive student environment, an important prere-quisite for recruiting and retaining the best students. The modernisation must also be transferred to the clinical environment at the teaching hospitals and in the primary care, which requires a development of the col-laboration with Stockholm County Council and other health service actors. IT support is an important part of the learning environment. In the coming period, an entirely new platform for this support will be introduced with the goal of improving the resource for teachers and students. This also requires significant collaboration between the university and healthcare’s various actors.

• New platform for IT support

Karolinska Institutet’s own IT environment has been characterised by fragmentation and significant variation in quality. A co-ordinated quality-raising effort with

the aim of developing and providing joint solutions has been introduced to increase both security and efficiency. The IT infrastructure needs to be developed further for better access to advanced IT support for all employees and students.

• Integrated informatics structure

One of the comparative strengths of Sweden, the Stockholm region and Karolinska Institutet, inter-nationally speaking, is the access to quality registers, population registers, biobanks, genomic and proteomic data, along with the Swedish population which is highly prone to participate in various studies. However, the restructuring of healthcare services, with an increasing number of stakeholders complicates patient monitoring and long-term studies, in that the information is not made as readily available for research. A series of initiatives to promote increased availability have been introduced. It is also strategically important for our competitiveness to coordinate the diverse informatics systems currently used within research and healthcare. An example of an integrative approach is 4D (four diag-noses), a joint programme for Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council. An integrated informatics systems within healthcare needs to be developed. The County Council is in charge of this issue and Karolinska Institutet wants to contribute.

• Professional support functions

Karolinska Institutet’s research and education need strong administrative support. Continued development and review are required of service functions that are currently found both at departments and centrally. Increased central competence and expanded support for researchers and departments are required when it comes to, inter alia, major grant applications and funding from e.g., the European Union (EU), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and national financiers such as Vinnova.

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• Changes in the internal organisation

Management The university management is strengthened by three

Deputy Vice-Chancellors for the Coordination of Matters Relating to Future Healthcare, for Innovation and Cor- porate Alliances, and for International Matters, respec- tively. The Vice-Chancellor assigns specific areas of responsibility to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Vice-Chancellors. The three internal boards will remain for now but will be reviewed during the strategy period.

External advice An International Advisory Board is to be appointed to

assist the university management with outside per- spectives and will consist of academic leaders from elite universities and university healthcare.

Organisational structure for education The organisational structure for education will be

changed to support the development of the quality and research basis of education. The programme committee organisation is being changed and the collaboration between the departments is being developed. Preclinical departments need to develop the teaching aspect in

connection with the establishment of Biomedicum. The Board of Education will have a clearer responsibility for distributing educational assignments to the departments with the highest subject-related and educational skills to carry out the task. The Board of Education will also be responsible for evaluating the implementation.

Thematic centres and strategic research areas Research centres on various themes that unite preclinical

and clinical researchers have already created appropriate conditions for translational research and innovations. The investment in such virtual thematic centres within strategic research areas, which for example has been made possible through collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council, and through support from the Swedish Research Council and the Swe- dish Foundation for Strategic Research, should continue.

Organising When New Karolinska Solna is finished and ready for

occupancy, Karolinska Institutet should have a strategy for how the clinical departments will be organised to maximise the collaboration between academic depart-ments and healthcare units.

A modernisation of the learning environments will be completed.

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The healthcare system is of great importance in clinical research and education.

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• Development of university healthcare

Joint strategy for Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council

Karolinska Institutet will push for a joint strategy for research and education for Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council. It will act as support for the activities of the university healthcare in terms of objecti-ves, organisation, management and funding.

Clear requirements for the university healthcare What falls within the category of university healthcare

must be clear. The parts within healthcare services that provide conditions for clinical research, education and development should be examined and certified. This is crucial for how new knowledge will be applied in other parts of the healthcare organisation.

Healthcare participation in education and research All county council-funded healthcare services, even

outside the university healthcare, have great importance for clinical research and education. They should create favourable conditions for providing an increased num-ber of students the opportunity to practice their skills in direct contact with patients, and for making patients and patient data available for clinical studies.

Joint management organisation Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council

should have a clear and simple collaborative organi-sation that gives Karolinska Institutet real influence over the operations of the university healthcare. Private healthcare services may also constitute university health- care. Other healthcare services should work with the university healthcare to ensure participation in clinical research and research-based education. Karolinska Institutet strives to have a clear division of roles between Karolinska Institutet and the health service providers within the university healthcare, where the university is responsible for research and education, while the health service organisation is in charge of providing healthcare.

The position of the University Hospital The Karolinska University Hospital should have a central

position within university healthcare. Extensive investments in heavy infrastructure are being made by both Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council in Huddinge and in Solna. This infrastructure should become a common resource for all clinical research and education in the Stockholm region and motivate a joint management of these activities by Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. To guarantee a clinical connection for all research and education at Karolinska Institutet, it is important to strengthen those clinical areas that currently have a weaker research, development and education (RD&E) connection. It is also important that research and education in essential respects can follow the patient flows.

Combined employment Combined professorships and lectureships are key positions

for the university healthcare’s three missions: healthcare, research and education. Karolinska Institutet and Stock- holm County Council should also develop a joint pro-gramme and funding proposals for combined employ-ment relating to doctoral students, post-doctoral resear-chers (“post docs”), research associates and researchers. Staff employed by the County Council shall participate in research and education. Conversely, researchers and teachers employed by Karolinska Institutet shall be en-gaged in clinical work when their formal skills allow.

Specialist hospital Karolinska Institutet should be involved in the building of

a specialist hospital with a focus on relevant diagnoses for the university’s activities. The specialist hospital should have an organised collaboration with the university hospital.

Streamline clinical training/placements Education within healthcare should be conducted in

research-based environments by teachers with combined positions. Karolinska Institutet will strive to ensure that clinical training is concentrated to parts of the health service organisation which will be adapted to this task.

Collaboration – for common strategies

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• Regional and national collaboration

Strategic partnerships in the local area Karolinska Institutet aims to develop its partnerships

with other universities in the Stockholm and Uppsala region. SciLifeLab is an important base for this type of collaboration. The collaboration with KTH within tech-nology development in research and healthcare shall be deepened. The campus area surrounding the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge is expanding and provides increased opportunities for cross-curricular collaboration between Karolinska Institutet, Södertörn University College and KTH.

National collaboration National cooperation is necessary for the establishment

and operation of the expensive infrastructure needed for large-scale research and clinical studies. Karolinska Institutet should assume greater responsibility for the medical research in Sweden and initiate a discussion on closer collaboration with the medical faculties of the country.

• Increased industrial collaboration

Karolinska Institutet’s students will increasingly work in the private sector in the future. Thus, the educatio-nal programmes must also be adapted to prepare for job opportunities within both healthcare and the life science industry. The innovation and business perspec-tive should be reinforced at both the departmental and management level.

• Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and Corporate Alliances

Innovation issues will play a prominent role, as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Innovations and Corporate Alliances has been appointed. In addition, the current innovation system within Karolinska Institutet must be redefined and integrated into different parts of the core activities, within both research and education.

• Incentives and funding for innovation

Initiatives that result in innovation should be rewarded in Karolinska Institutet’s resource allocation system. There should be incentives that drive research towards developing collaboration with industry and provide space for it. In addition, funding of the early innovation development must become stronger.

• Strategic industrial collaboration

There are already closer collaborations between acade-mia and industry. Karolinska Institutet will endeavour to secure more strategic alliances with companies in order to gain access to broader expertise, greater resour-ces and to contribute to a faster utilisation of research results in society.

• International collaboration

Deputy Vice-Chancellor for International Matters A Deputy Vice-Chancellor assumes overall responsibility

for international affairs, primarily to develop a strategy for Karolinska Institutet’s international alliances.

Research environments abroad In order to strengthen Karolinska Institutet’s international

exchange within research and education, the best research- ers should be encouraged to spend time at foreign elite universities.

International educational environments The goal is for all education programmes to have strong

international collaborations. To achieve this goal, Karo-linska Institutet needs to build partnerships with other universities relating to both research and education. This can be done through a number of general collabo-ration agreements.

Centralised support for international exchanges For international collaboration, both incoming and out-

going researchers/teachers require support in practical issues. This competence should be bolstered through centralisation in a central support function similar to that in place for incoming and outgoing students.

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Researchers should be encouraged to spend time at foreign elite universities.

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Funding – to finance our investments

• Direct government funding

Direct government funding shall be distributed between the university management, the internal boards and the departments in a way that allows us to reach the ambi-tious goals for research and education. The departments’ funds must be distributed so that the direct government funding, by way of the resource allocation system, does not get automatically distributed at the research group level. First-cycle and second-cycle education need to be organised and work together in the best way to achieve an optimised use of resources between departments and programmes. The agency capital already accrued at the depart-ments needs to be utilised and greatly reduced through use in the strategy work. Special reservations may need to be made in the direct government funding to cover the indirect costs that a number of financiers do not accept for funding allocated to Karolinska Institutet.

• ALF funding

ALF funding from the government is transferred via Karolinska Institutet to Stockholm County Council for the university to be able to conduct research and edu- cation within the health service sector. The ALF funding is of great strategic importance to Karolinska Institutet and needs to be used in a manner that best promotes clinical research and the quality and research basis of clinical education within the university healthcare.

• Fundraising

Additional funds are required for Karolinska Institutet’s most ambitious goals. This applies to recruitment, career development, expensive equipment and the development of an effective innovation system. The prospects for a new fundraising campaign will be investigated through a feasibility study of the potential for donations from both private individuals and from foundations and corporations in and outside Sweden. With the support of the results from the feasibility study, a fundraising campaign may be initiated for the period 2015–2018.

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Additional funds are required to reach KI’s most ambitious goals.

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Karolinska InstitutetSE-171 77 Stockholm

Phone: +46-8-524 800 00ki.se

The years 2014–2018 represent a period where a lot is happening at Karolinska Institutet and within healthcare. This document summarises the strategy document “Strategy 2018” which was adopted by the Board of Karolinska Institutet on 28 April 2014. It describes the overall goals for Karolinska Institutet and the strategies that will result in concrete action plans in all areas of the university’s activities in order for the goals to be achieved.