Karolinska Institute

The Karolinska Institute, based in Stockholm, Sweden, is among the world’s leading medical universities.

Its vision is to contribute to the improvement of human health via research and teaching. The institution, which has around 6,000 students, is located close to the Karolinska University Hospital. The Karolinska Institute’s research spans the whole field of medicine, from basic experimental research to patient-oriented and nursing research. The institution is the single largest conductor of academic medical research in Sweden.

The Karolinska Institute was founded by King Karl XIII in 1810 as an academy for the training of surgeons, after one in three soldiers wounded in a war against Russia died in field hospitals. In 1861, the institution was granted the right to confer degrees and gained a status equal to that of a university. In 1895, Alfred Nobel's will bequeathed the Karolinska Institute the right to select the winner of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Since then, five Karolinska Institute researchers have won a Nobel Prize in that category. In 1997, the institution was granted full university status. The institution has two campuses: KI Campus Solna and KI Campus Huddinge, located in the northwest and south of Stockholm respectively. Both campuses are a 10-15 minute walk or train ride from the centre of the city. As well as bachelor’s and master degrees, the Karolinska Institute also offers doctoral degrees. To gain a PhD, students must develop an advanced general knowledge of medical science and scientific methodology, as well as cutting edge scientific skills in the research field they choose to explore in their thesis.