Information for staff and students concerning the war in Ukraine

Questions and answers on the war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is provoking outrage, horror, frustration - and many questions. We’ve gathered some questions and answers about the war that are of relevance to Karolinska Institutet and our students and staff. The Q&A list was compiled in mid-March 2022, but since the situation is constantly changing and developing, the relevance of some of the questions might be affected. We aim to keep the list continually updated. 

Questions and answers on the war in Ukraine.

Cyber security – Information and IT security

The grave security situation in Europe increases the risk of cyberattacks, and most regulatory authorities are urging everyone to be especially alert to such eventualities.

KI’s security offices therefore ask all staff to be particularly vigilant. This means:

• being alert when it comes to attacks, phishing, harmful code, password management, false links, attachments and websites
• reporting functional and other anomalies to the IT system
• being alert to activities that can be seen as attempts to gather information or affect KI’s activities
• not using private devices for work-related tasks; includes use of private cloud services
• installing security updates on your phone, computer and other devices as soon as possible
• reporting incidents or suspicious events here.

Universities shall cut all collaborations with state-run institutions in Russia and Belarus

At a press conference on 2 March, Minister for Education Anna Ekström calls on universities in Sweden to immediately cut all ties and collaborations with state-run institutions in Russia and Belarus, adding that no new contacts may be made. At the same time, she points out that there are many personal contacts with scientists in Russia and Belarus, and they are not to be treated automatically in the same way as state-run institutions.

• KI’s university-wide Memorandum of Understanding with state-run institutions in Russia is rescinded with immediate effect.
• Heads of department must check if there are any department agreements with state institutions in Russia or Belarus, and if so rescind them with immediate effect.
• As regards personal scientific collaborations, the researchers concerned must judge if such contacts are appropriate and consider the security implications. All managers must be prepared to give advice when called upon to do so.

Read the entire article at the Swedish government's webpage.

Support for staff

Telephone counselling is offered to all employees, scholarship-funded doctoral and post-doctoral students, for quick access to professional support.

The occupational healthcare provider Avonova.

Support for students

The Student Health Centre.

Contact the above support functions or your immediate manager/student advisor.