External research funding
Research accounts for 84% of Karolinska Institutet’s annual turnover, and the revenues for the research area in 2021 were just over SEK 6.3 billion. External funders account for about 53% of research revenues. The largest financial contributions, except government base-funding, come from the Swedish Research Council, the EU, the Swedish Cancer Society, and the Wallenberg Foundations. The public healthcare system within Region Stockholm is also a significant research funder.
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Awarded grants to KI research
Swedish foundations
A number of Swedish foundations are contributing largely to different research projects at KI. The most important of these private contributors are the Swedish Cancer Society and the Wallenberg Foundations.
Funding from the EU
The European Union is the most important international funding organisation for research at KI, which in turn is one of the largest recipient of European funding in the field of health research.
US research funding
US and international funding supports many research projects at Karolinska Institutet. In 2021, some SEK 101 million was obtained from federal agencies and private foundations in the US.
Strategic research areas
The strategic research areas are efforts by the Swedish government in certain selected areas. KI has received funding for six of seven research fields: stem cells, diabetes, neuroscience, cancer, epidemiology and care sciences.
News on funding awarded to KI
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Three KI-led coronavirus projects selected in EU funding round
EU has selected three KI-led coronavirus projects for grant negotiations involving 9 million euros. The projects aim to find a vaccine, immunotherapies and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Tailored brain-cells to combat Parkinson's disease
The ERC Advanced Grant is one of Europe’s most prestigious programmes for research financing. The grant has now been awarded to Ernest Arenas to tailor dopamine-producing brain cells for patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Celebrating 100 years: The story about KAW's awakening interest in KI
In its pursuit of excellence and pursuing long-term goals, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has awarded billions of Swedish kroner to researchers at Karolinska Institutet over the years.
"Junk DNA" could be gold
Previously, researchers considered that non-coding RNA was a junk DNA that had no significance because it did not create any proteins. It has since been found that it may prove to be gold in the fight of cancer. KI researcher Claudia Kutter is one of the researchers who is studying non-coding RNA. View a video from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Better medicines and vaccines
Disease-causing viruses and bacteria challenging body's immune system are a major health problem. Carmen Gerlach at KI explores how our immune system works, focusing on the T-cells which she hopes will be able to provide puzzle pieces for better vaccines and medicines. This video is produced by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.