This December newsletter highlights our recently published advice, features an interview with toxicology students from Karolinska Institutet, and provides summaries of meetings organised during the autumn.
Photo: Sören Andersson/2See AB
Advice on Refined Methods for Handling, Habituation and Training
During 2025, the Swedish 3Rs Center has been working on a project to provide guidance on how to refine common minor procedures. The first advice in this series focuses on blood sampling and was published earlier this year.
The second advice focuses on handling, habituation and training of laboratory animals. Handling can cause stress to the animals, particularly if they are not used to it or if it is forced upon them. When animals experience stress, several physiological functions and systems are affected, which could subsequently influence your results and the variability present in your data.
This advice is intended to support you in planning how to handle, habituate and train your animals. It is available in both English and Swedish.
Advice on Refined Methods for Administering Medicinal Products or Other Substances
The administration of medicinal products or other substances is a common procedure performed on animals in research. To enhance animal welfare and ensure the quality of research results, it is essential to select an appropriate method of administration and to carry out the procedure correctly. We have developed advice to support your choice of administration method.
Photo: RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
The advice is available in both English and Swedish.
Students from Karolinska Institutet Became EURL ECVAM Student Ambassadors
The EU Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL ECVAM) promotes the 3Rs – Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal experimentation – through research, development, validation, and dissemination of knowledge.
In 2024, EURL ECVAM launched its first Student Ambassador Project. Students from the Master's Programme in Toxicology at Karolinska Institutet have been involved in the project from start.
We have spoken to three students to hear about their experience as ambassadors and to learn more about the project.
On 8 October, the Swedish 3Rs Center organised a meeting for the Swedish Animal Welfare Bodies. Approximately 40 participants from 14 different Animal Welfare Bodies attended and took part in lectures, workshops, and dedicated time for discussion and exchange.
The Animal Welfare Bodies at laboratory animal facilities are an important target group for the Swedish 3Rs Center. Therefore, the Center arranges an annual in‑person meeting for the Animal Welfare Bodies, as well as several digital meetings each year for their chairs.
A summary of the meeting is available in Swedish only.
During the autumn, the Swedish 3Rs Center organised two meetings for Swedish research funding bodies. The purpose of these meetings was to promote increased implementation of the 3Rs in calls for research funding.
A stronger focus on the 3Rs within research funding can help ensure that the most appropriate methods are used in each individual study. In turn, this contributes to higher-quality Swedish research through more relevant results and more efficient use of resources. Organisations that fund research are therefore an important target group for the Swedish 3Rs Center.
A summary of the meetings is available in Swedish only.
The Swedish 3Rs Center is the executive body of the National Committee
for the Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes and part of the
Swedish Board of Agriculture.
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