News & Features

A new report from the Stockholm Academic Forum shows that the proportion of international PhD students in the Swedish capital has increased by 14 percentage points over the ten-year period 2008–2018. The biggest increases have been registered at the Stockholm School of Economics and Stockholm University. Between 2008 and 2018, the proportion of international PhD students at Stockholm University rose …

Throughout life, we are exposed to complex mixtures of chemicals that could potentially harm us in various ways. Whose responsibility is to regulate these chemicals and what should be done about it? Christina Rudén, Professor at ACES, was appointed by the Swedish government to provide answers to these questions and has now submitted her findings in a newly published report. …

The kickoff of Horizon 2020 project ”Constrained Aerosol Forcing for Improved Climate Projections,” or FORCeS, will be hosted by Stockholm University on November 6-7. The project is a transdisciplinary collaboration between 20 European partners and aims to reduce the uncertainty of the impact of air particles on climate by more precise climate projections. “We are thrilled with the opportunity to …

Postdoctoral researcher Jana Johansson and PhD student Bo Sha have recently begun a 42-day field sampling campaign onboard the 29th Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) cruise that will cross the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton, UK, to Punta Arenas in southern Chile. The goal of their campaign is to investigate the water-to-air transfer of persistent organic pollutants known as PFAAs via sea …

It was 4 AM in mid-June 2019 when I met my supervisor Paul in the lab. We were going to an island in the Arctic. Amongst our luggage was a home-printer sized black box labelled ‘bioaerosol sensor’. A cab was called and we started our trip. A little more than half a day and 2 commercial flights later we were …

Measures to reduce air pollution between 1990 and 2015 in three major Swedish cities have led to an increase in average life expectancy at birth by up to one year, according to a recent PhD thesis from ACES. “While it has been widely known that exposure to harmful air pollutants is associated with adverse health effects, the health benefits associated with …

While research into the effects of microplastics has expanded greatly in the past decade, important questions about what concentrations are hazardous in water still remain unanswered. Moreover, water contains naturally occurring suspended particles, such as clay, that are of the same size as microplastic and may be equally harmful to aquatic life when present at high concentrations. With that in …

Which is the best student city in the world? Stockholm is ranked 37th based on QS Best Student Cities 2019.  Published annually, the ranking show the best urban destinations for international students based on different indicators grouped into categories like University Rankings, Student Mix, Desirability, Employer Activity, Affordability and Student View. This year’s ranking is topped by London and followed …

Microplastics are small (less than 5 mm) pieces of plastic litter. They mainly originate from the breakdown of plastic debris in rivers and seas, but are also flushed out from other sources such as personal hygiene products that contain microbeads. Once in the ocean, the fate of microplastics is largely unknown. To address that question, PhD students Zandra Gerdes and Sophia …

The Swedish financier Mistra and industry partners are collectively investing SEK 100 million in the four-year research program SAFECHEM, which aims to create a sustainable chemicals industry and reduce exposure to hazardous substances. Of all the applicants involved, Stockholm University has been awarded the largest sum, approximately SEK 30 million. Within the framework of SAFECHEM, Stockholm University, together with Stockholm …

Stockholm University ranks 30th in environmental studies and 191st overall, according to the QS World University Ranking 2020 published on June 19th.  The QS World University Ranking is regarded as one of the most prestigious ranking lists in the world of higher education. This year’s edition includes over 1 500 institutions from 85 different countries. Stockholm University holds place 191, …

Human exposure to unnecessary and potentially harmful chemicals could be greatly reduced if manufacturers add chemicals only when they are truly essential in terms of health, safety and functioning of society. That’s the conclusion of a study published in Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. In this study, researchers propose a framework based on the concept of “essential use” to determine …