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The Psychological Defence Research Institute has published a new report in the working paper series titled "Psychological Defence and Strategic Resilience: North Macedonia’s response to hybrid threats and malign foreign influence and interference". It is authored by Professor Zhidas Daskalovski and Sasho Damjanovski of the Faculty of Security-Skopje, University St Kliment Ohridski-Bitola, North M
During the fall of 2024, Hilkka Grahn is a visiting researcher at the Psychological Defence Research Institute (PDRI) at Lund University. Hilkka is a postdoctoral researcher (KILPI project) and senior lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. With an academic background in cognitive science, Hilkka Grahn's doctoral research focused on driver distraction and inattention – a topic that may
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/researcher-profile-hilkka-grahn - 2026-05-29
Disinformation takes various forms, posing harmful and far-reaching effects that can erode trust in public institutions, influence elections, and jeopardise public health. The report Eduation as a countermeasure against disinformation, written by Professor Thomas Nygren, Department of Education, Uppsala University, and Professor Ullrich K H Ecker, School of Psychological Science, University of Wes
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/education-countermeasure-against-disinformation - 2026-05-29
Phenomena such as disinformation and propaganda have been widely studied across various academic disciplines, each offering unique perspectives on their causes, mechanisms, and effects. These disciplines include, for instance, political science, media & communication studies, philosophy, computer science, and military science. Despite the breadth of research, cognitive science appears to be underr
Elsa Hedling is an affiliated researcher at the Psychological Defence Research Institute at Lund University, where she contributes to advance research on disinformation and hybrid threats. Elsa Hedling is an Associate Professor (Docent) in Political Science and an Associate Senior Lecturer in European Studies at the Centre for Languages and Literature. Her research focuses on the intersection of d
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/researcher-profile-elsa-hedling - 2026-05-29
In today’s complex security environment, the intelligence community must address dynamic hybrid threats through coordinated efforts that span multiple sectors. In a recently published article, Swedish Defence University and PDRI researchers emphasise the critical interaction between intelligence analysis, communication, and societal resilience ("Hybrid Threats and the Intelligence Community: Primi
Two new reports have been presented as part of the EU Horizon project ADAC.io, coordinated by the Psychological Defence Research Institute. They aim to support the defender community in strengthening capabilities and methodologies related to the ongoing work of attributing information influence operations.The first report, "A Framework for Attribution of Information Influence Operations", presents
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/attribution-information-influence-operations - 2026-05-29
Affiliated with the Psychological Defence Research Institute, Rolf Fredheim explores the use of AI to detect harmful and illegal content on social media. Rolf builds systems to detect and measure harmful and illegal content on social media. This work presents distinct challenges: social media data is quickly removed from platforms, presented in visual formats, and often appears in multiple languag
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/researcher-profile-rolf-fredheim - 2026-05-29
The research team from the Psychological Defence Research Institute was well represented at the 66th annual convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), held under the theme Reconnecting International Studies. To highlight the diverse range of events in which PDRI members participated, Elsa Hedling took part in a panel organised by the Nordic International Studies Association titled
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/pdri-isa-chicago - 2026-05-29
Elsa Hedling, affiliated with PDRI, recently published a report on social identities and democratic vulnerabilities. The report, Social identities and democratic vulnerabilities: Learning from examples of targeted disinformation, is published by the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE). It discusses the sensitive relationship between social identities and hybrid
Hedvig Ördén of PDRI participated in the workshop "Intelligence, insecurity and the international: new encounters between IR and intelligence scholarship" at King's College. The workshop brought together scholars to discuss a wide range of topics at the intersection of intelligence and international relations. Participants discussed how to conceptualise intelligence in IR, touching on topics such
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/presentation-recent-research-kings-college-uk - 2026-05-29
Based on leaked documents, James Pamment and Darejan Tsurtsumia of PDRI have studied Russian malign information influence through the Doppelganger campaign and analysed the capabilities of one of the main actors behind it – the Social Design Agency (SDA). In 2022, a comprehensive and coordinated influence campaign was launched by Russian actors aimed at weakening international support for Ukraine,
On 16–17 September 2025, the ADAC.io consortium met in Lund for an official meeting hosted by PDRI, coordinator of the EU-funded Horizon project. Representatives from across the consortium participated, including Debunk.org, Alliance4Europe (liasion with the DIARM Foundation), TU Dortmund, Cardiff University, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS), and Leiden University.The meetin
https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/adacio-consortium-meeting-setting-priorities-final-year - 2026-05-29
The Young Academy of Sweden, an interdisciplinary academy for a selection of the most prominent younger researchers in Sweden, has launched "A Beginner’s Guide to Swedish Academia", a guide for international researchers, to help navigate Swedish academia and remove time-consuming obstacles. The Young Academy of Sweden (YAS) is an independent platform that provides young researchers with a strong v
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/beginners-guide-swedish-academia - 2026-05-29
The WCMM centre has got yet another new doctor! Roberta Battistella, PhD student in the Lundgaard lab, successfully defended her thesis this month. Roberta Battistella, PhD student in the Lundgaard lab and part of MultiPark, defended her PhD thesis entitled “Methods to study glymphatic system in rodents´ brain during physiological and pathophysiological processes” on the 1st of December. Roberta w
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/new-wcmm-doctor-0 - 2026-05-29
Karin Tran Lundmark was awarded funding from the Heart-Lung Foundation for the project "Synchrotron-based imaging to decipher cardiovascular pathobiology". The funding includes 800.000 SEK per year for 3 years. The main purpose of this project is to find novel treatments for pulmonary hypertension. To achieve this, Karins group aims to: Use synchrotron-based imaging combined with other methods to
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/karin-tran-lundmark-receives-heart-lung-foundation-grant-24-million-sek - 2026-05-29
The first pair of WCMM ScienceBrew popular science talks was a success. Stay tuned for the many exciting plans we have for our popular science talks series! Thanks to all the speakers for their fantastic performance at Café Ariman! At the inaugural WCMM ScienceBrew we heard from: Luís, on turning skin into immune cells to fight disease. Zackarias, on the "sweet" science of sugars that decorate our
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/two-wcmm-sciencebrews-down-many-more-come - 2026-05-29
The SciLifeLab & Wallenberg National Program for Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) is the is one of the latest research initiative funded by Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation. Lund University has successfully recruited two DDLS Fellows starting now in the beginning of 2023. The practice of life science is continuously becoming more data-dependent. The amount and complexity of data is growing expo
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/scilifelab-wallenberg-national-program-data-driven-life-science - 2026-05-29
Filipe Pereira was awarded the ERC Proof-of-Concept grant covering €150.000 for a period of 18 months for the idea to identify cancer neoantigens with dendritic cell reprogramming (NeoIDC). The ERC Proof-of-Concept (PoC) grant aims at facilitating the exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC-funded research. The project, for which Filipe Pereira got the grant, aims to e
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/filipe-pereira-awarded-erc-proof-concept-grant - 2026-05-29
Gesine Paul-Visse and consultant neurologist and clinical fellow Robert Carlsson received 3 million SEK of funding by Cancerfonden covering 3 years for their project. The already ongoing project entitled “Modulating key targets in pericytes: impact on tumor infiltration and immune evasion in glioblastoma” will investigate if and how modulation of previously selected targets in pericytes antagonize
https://www.wcmm.lu.se/article/gesine-paul-visse-receives-3-million-sek-cancerfonden - 2026-05-29
