Karlstad University (Swedish Karlstads universitet) is a state university in Karlstad, Sweden. The university, being a former university college (founded 1977) was granted university status in 1999 by the Government of Sweden. Originally it was a branch of the University of Gothenburg. There are about 50 training programmes, 20 programme extensions and 800 courses within humanities, social studies, science, technology, teaching, health care and arts. As of today, it has approximately 12,500 students and 1,200 employees. Its university press is named Karlstad University Press.
Service Research Center (Swedish Centrum för tjänsteforskning), or "CTF", at Karlstad University is one of the world's leading research centers focusing on service management and value creation through service.
On March 26, 2009 the faculty of Economics, communication and IT formed Karlstad Business School (Swedish Handelshögskolan vid Karlstads universitet) as a brand of their educational programmes in the business related areas.
Karlstad [ˈkɑːrlsta] is a city, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city had 87,000 inhabitants in 2015, and is the 21st biggest municipality in Sweden. Karlstad has a university and a cathedral.
Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden's longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden's largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.
Karlstad is often associated with sunshine and the symbol for Karlstad is a smiling sun. Karlstad is reputed to be one of the sunniest towns in Sweden and a local waitress, known as "Sola i Karlstad" (the Sun in Karlstad) for her sunny disposition, is also commemorated with a statue.
On Karlstad's largest islet, there was a place of counsel called Tingvalla in the medieval age, which had roots from the Viking Age before 1000 AD. It was also used as a market place.
Karlstad was granted its city charter on March 5, 1584 by the Swedish Duke Charles, who would later be crowned King Charles IX of Sweden. The city derives its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Charles' city. The Duke also granted Karlstad the right as a governmental seat in the region, and gave it a substantial amount of land.