The availability of both research results and data is appealing to different actors, which has increased the interest in open access significantly during the past decades. Generally, a more openly access to research results is regarded as a positive movement as this contributes to a faster spread of information, increase of visibility of research and the promotion of research collaborations. However, resistance concerning this movement exists such as limitations of the academic freedom, difficulties in choosing the right publication channel. This master thesis examines policy documents regarding the Nordic academic institutions’ approach to open access. It focuses on the communication style in policy documents, specifically whether researchers’ publishing freedom is considered when policies impose restrictions on researchers’ choice of publication type or channel. In order to examine the presented factors, an indication model was created that functions as a specification in which bearing concepts appear in the policies. The model could in the future guide policy makers when deciding which type of information is necessary to include in a policy. A finding in this study is that the majority of guidelines in policy documents remain relatively liberal concerning the manner in which scientific publication should be performed at each institution. The follow-up of the open access requirements in the policies is usually left to the interpretation of the individual researcher which makes the impact of the policies more difficult to analyse. In conclusion, the study shows a variation of open access policies, partly regarding outline and content, and partly concerning communication mode towards their recipients.

The overall aim of this master’s thesis is to, with tools offered by Actor Network Theory, study how policies produced by Swedish universities present the actors involved in the practices surrounding open access and quality assuring mechanisms in scientific publishing. The material consists of policies regarding scientific publishing and the ongoing shift towards open access gathered from twenty-two universities in Sweden. The documents (23 in total) are analyzed qualitatively and further supported by patterns generated through data mining using Orange3. The results suggest that the shift towards open access is widely accepted at Swedish universities, although some variation is present regarding the type of open access that is promoted. Comments on the overall quality of open access channels are infrequent in the material. However, it is often mentioned that it is important to choose peer reviewed open channels. Furthermore, peer review and general reputation are commonly referred to as indicators of a quality publishing channel. Lastly, I conclude that the surrounding actors involved in scientific publishing have a large influence on the way the practices develop and solidifies. These actors are also actively referred to within the policies to strengthen the overall arguments.

Introduction: Researcher support is often written in the perspective of researchers, and few examine it from the perspective of archivists and librarians, the aim of this study is to change that. In this study we examine how archivists and librarians within Data Access Units (DAU) use their knowledge and how said knowledge is used to achieve the requirements set for making research data available at higher education institutions in Sweden. Method: In this study we have chosen to interview librarians and archivists at DAU:s since their goal is to be there for researchers and create access to data. A qualitative method was used to generate deeper understanding about the subjects. Theories: By applying two theories, Wiig’s Knowledge Management Cycle and Patrick Wilson’s cognitive authority, we aim to show the cycle from beginning of knowledge to the use of knowledge and a deeper understanding of why DAU are to be trusted, both by themselves and by researchers. Analysis and results: Within DAU archivist are unseen next to librarians, often left out and are therefore not assigned cognitive authority compared to the librarians who are often the first that researchers contact when they need help with their data. Problems arise when librarians answer questions meant for archivists, further reducing the archivist’s cognitive authority and highlights the wedge between the professions. However, we have found that many trusts DAU, and that the colleagues trust each other. Conclusions: DAU:s builds and pools knowledge to combine and give a complete coverage in the support they provide for researchers. This allows the different professions in DAU to share their knowledge and their strengths, helping them overcome the increasing demands from the scientific world. This is aided by the fact that archivists and librarians respect each other and assign each other cognitive authority over their specific knowledge domains. However, archivists do not gain the same amount of it from researchers, as librarians do.

This master´s thesis studies the discourse surrounding research data and open access within the artistic research field in Sweden. Its purpose is to explain how librarians better can support artistic researchers in research data management. The study was conducted by nine qualitative interviews, four with artistic researchers and five with academic librarians, to further investigate the differences and similarities between the two workgroups approach to research data and open access. The paper uses a theoretical framework of poststructuralist discourse analysis, inspired by discourse researcher Johannes Angermüller, to uncover structures and meanings connecting research data and open access amongst the two occupations. The thesis also uses Jacques Derrida´s concept of deconstruction, as inspiration to further analyze the collected material. The interview material was transcribed, coded and presented in three chapters. The first part investigates the subject of research data and management, the second part presents the data collected when investigating the topic of open science. The final chapter of the analysis discusses the interactions between the two groups. The results show that the concept of research data and open access remains a difficult and complex question within artistic research, where the discourse surrounding it is made up by multifaceted voices. The paper concludes that the field would benefit from a further collaboration between researchers and librarians in understanding and handling questions surrounding open access and research data. The data further suggests that more established guidelines and principles for data publishing within the artistic research field would further help librarians and researchers when communicating with each other. This is a two-year master´s thesis in library and information science.

The integration of distributed energy sources and systems is of high relevance for the transition towards a more sustainable energy system. Taking into consideration the  amount of emissions produced by the heating sector, which account for at least half of the energy demand in buildings, district heating systems have the potential to play a key role in the transition, by enabling the integration of various energy sources and provide flexible energy services to the grid. The objective of this research is to evaluate the potential for flexible sector coupling between the electrical and heating sectors, utilizing thermal energy storage alongside various heat generation units, including heat pumps and a combined heat and power (CHP) unit. To examine this concept, we used a district heating facility located in Oskarshamn, Sweden, as our case study. At present, the production mix at this facility comprises various production units- that utilize mainly biomass as their fuel source, including wood pellets, wood chips, and occasionally, bio-oil. Extensive research was conducted to review the existing literature and gain a comprehensive understanding of the technologies and concepts associated with FSC. This thorough examination allowed for a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in FSC. As the main contributions of this work, two numerical models respectively for production and dispatch optimization were developed and simulated complementary, concerning the thermal and electrical system of the studied plant. A dispatch model was developed with the aim of analyzing the operating behaviour of the system, identifying the available energy sources and optimizing their hourly dispatch. Subsequently, utilizing the open-access tool for capacity and investment optimization (OSeMOSYS), various scenarios were examined to evaluate the potential of thermal energy storage (TES), where a water tank was found to be the most cost-effective solution, and heat pump integration in enhancing the plant performance and providing flexibility. The study was divided into two distinct time periods. The first period focused solely on hourly dispatch optimization until 2035. In the second period, the analysis extended to include investment optimization, followed by the subsequent dispatch optimization until 2050, hence, using both tools. To effectively compare and assess the different scenarios, several key performance indicators (KPIs) were chosen, including the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), capital expenditure (CAPEX), generation costs, and emissions. These scenarios were designed to account for variations in crucial variables such as electricity prices, the plant’s self-consumption potential, and the capital cost of storage. By considering the aforementioned factors, a comprehensive analysis was conducted to determine the optimal approach for maximizing performance and cost-effectiveness. It is important to mention that the electrical self-consumption within the plant was considered as one of the potential improvements. While the potential for electrical self-consumption was mainly studied on a shorter-term, the variability in the capital cost of the TES system was better considered on the long-term investment analysis. From the different simulations, the cases where self-consumption is included result in smaller operating costs, as producing electricity via the CHP unit of the plant is cheaper on average than the prices offered by the local distribution company. The obtained capacities for TES and the heat pump vary among the studied scenarios. Higher electricity prices favor investments in alternative fuel boilers like wood chips or wood pellets, while lower electricity prices result in increased TES capacities and higher heat pump production. The capital cost of storage also determines the capacity chosen for the storage water tank, sometimes investing a bit more to gain efficiency and reduce operational costs. Throughout the project, various sustainability aspects have been addressed. These encompass environmental responsibilities, with a focus on reducing CO2 emissions, enhancing social equity by implementing a more efficient heating system within the municipality, and assessing the economic viability of these initiatives. In conclusion, the study provides evidence and showcases the viability of implementing FSC in Oskarshamn’s power plant, as results from the different scenarios commonly show that FSC could bring down the total costs, as well as the amount of CO2 emissions on a long-term basis. Based on the findings, additional recommendations are proposed to optimize the plant’s performance and leverage the potential of this innovative approach. The proposed recommendations include increasing the time resolution in the model simulations to improve result accuracy and exploring different scenarios, which may involve considering various electricity or fuel price predictions, among other factors. / Integreringen av distribuerade energikällor och energisystem är av stor betydelse för övergången till ett mer hållbart energisystem. Med hänsyn till det utsläpp från värmesektorn, som står för minst hälften av energibehovet i byggnader, har fjärrvärmesystem potential att spela en nyckelroll i omställningen genom att möjliggöra integrering av olika energikällor och tillhandahålla flexibla energitjänster till nätet. Syftet med denna forskning är att utvärdera Potentialen för flexibel sektorkoppling (FSC) mellan el- och värmesektorerna, med hjälp av termisk energilagring tillsammans med olika värmeproduktionsenheter, inklusive värmepumpar och en kombinerad kraftvärmeproduktion (CHP). För att undersöka detta koncept, använde vi en fjärrvärmeanläggning i Oskarshamn, Sverige, som vår fallstudie. För tillfället består produktionsmixen vid denna anläggning av olika produktionsenheter som huvudsakligen använder biomassa som bränslekälla, inklusive träpellets, träflis och ibland bioolja. Omfattande forskning genomfördes för att granska den befintliga litteratur och få en heltäckande förståelse för de tekniker och koncept som är förknippade med FSC. Denna grundliga undersökning möjliggjorde en omfattande översikt av det aktuella kunskapsläget inom FSC. Som de viktigaste bidragen i detta arbete utvecklades och simulerades två numeriska modeller för produktions- respektive leveransoptimering, som berör det termiska och elektriska systemet i den studerade anläggningen. En fördelningsmodell utvecklades i syfte att analysera systemets driftsbeteende, identifiera tillgängliga energikällor och optimera deras fördelning per timme. Med hjälp av det verktyget med öppna tillgång (open-aceess) för kapacitets- och investeringsoptimering (OSeMOSYS) undersöktes därefter olika scenarier för att utvärdera potentialen för termisk energilagring (TES), där en vattentank visade sig vara den mest kostnadseffektiva lösningen, och integration av värmepumpar för att förbättra anläggningens prestanda och ge flexibilitet. Studien var uppdelad i två olika tidsperioder. Den första perioden fokuserade enbart på optimering av timfördelning fram till 2035. Under den andra perioden utvidgades analysen till att omfatta investeringsoptimering, följt av efterföljande optimering av driften fram till 2050, vilket innebär att båda verktygen användes. För att effektivt kunna jämföra och bedöma de olika scenarierna valdes flera viktiga nyckelprestandaindikatorer (KPI:er), inklusive den nivellerade energikostnaden (LCOE), kapitalinvesteringar (CAPEX), produktionskostnader och CO2 utsläpp. Dessa scenarier utformades för att ta hänsyn till variationer i viktiga variabler som elpriser, anläggningens självkonsumtionspotential och kapitalkostnaden för lagring. Med hänsyn till de ovan nämnda faktorerna genomfördes en omfattande analys för att fastställa den optimala metoden för att maximera prestanda och kostnadseffektivitet. Det är viktigt att nämna att den elektriska självförbrukningen inom anläggningen betraktades som en av de potentiella förbättringarna. Medan potentialen för elektrisk självförbrukning främst studerades på kortare sikt, beaktades variationen i kapitalkostnaden för TES-systemet bättre i den långsiktiga investeringsanalysen. De olika simuleringarna visar att de fall där självförbrukning ingår resulterar i lägre driftskostnader, eftersom elproduktionen via kraftvärmeverket i genomsnitt är billigare än de priser som erbjuds av det lokala distributionsbolaget. De erhållna kapaciteterna för TES och värmepumpen varierar mellan de studerade scenarierna. Högre elpriser gynnar investeringar i alternativa bränslepannor som flis eller träpellets, medan lägre elpriser resulterar i ökad TES-kapacitet och högre värmepumpsproduktion. Kapitalkostnaden för lagring avgör också vilken kapacitet som väljs för vattentanken (some en TES), ibland investerar man lite mer för att öka effektiviteten och minska driftskostnaderna. Under hela projektet har olika hållbarhetsaspekter beaktats. Dessa omfattar miljöansvar, med fokus på att minska CO2-utsläppen, öka den sociala rättvisan genom att införa ett mer effektivt värmesystem inom kommunen, och bedöma den ekonomiska bärkraften i dessa initiativ. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att det är möjligt att implementera FSC i Oskarshamns kraftverk, eftersom resultaten från de olika scenarierna visar att FSC kan sänka de totala kostnaderna samt mängden CO2-utsläpp på lång sikt. Baserat på resultaten föreslås ytterligare rekommendationer för att optimera anläggningens prestanda och utnyttja potentialen i denna innovativa metod. De föreslagna rekommendationerna inkluderar att öka tidsupplösningen i modellsimuleringarna för att förbättra resultatens noggrannhet och utforska olika scenarier, vilket bland annat kan innebära att man överväger olika el- eller bränsleprisprognoser.