Stockholm University is the state university of Stockholm, Sweden.
Stockholm University has two scientific fields: the natural sciences and the
humanities/social sciences. With over 70,000 students at four different
faculties, law, humanities, the mathematical and natural sciences, it is
one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is regarded
as one of the top 100 universities in the world by both the Academic Ranking
of World Universities and the Times Higher Education World University
Rankings - whereas, in the QS World University Rankings, the SU is among the
200 universities in the world. Stockholm University was granted university status
in 1960, making it the fourth oldest Swedish university. Stockholm
University's primary mission is to provide education and high quality
research for the betterment of the Swedish community.
History The initiative for the formation of
Stockholm University was taken by the Stockholm City Council. The process was
completed after a decision in December 1865 regarding the establishment of a
fund and a committee to "establish a higher education institution in the
capital". The nine members of the Committee were respected and prominent
citizens whose work have helped the evolution of science and society.
The next important step was taken in October 1869, when the Stockholm
University College Association was established. Several members of the
committee became members of the association - including Professor Pehr
Henrik Malmsten. The association's mission was to establish a university in
Stockholm and would "not be dissolved until college came into being and its
future could be secured." The memorandum of the Stockholm University College were
adopted in May 1877, and in the autumn semester of the following year, actual
operations began. In 1878, the university college
Stockholms högskola started its operations with a series of lectures on
natural sciences, open to curious citizens. Notable in the university's
early history is the appointment of Sofia Kovalevskaya to hold a chair in
mathematics department in 1889, making her the third female professor in
Europe. In 1904 the college became an official degree granting institution.
In 1960, the college was granted university status, becoming Sweden's
fourth state university. The university premises were situated in central
Stockholm at Observatorielunden but increased enrollment resulted in a lack
of space, which required the university campus to be shifted to a bigger
facility. Since 1970 most of the university operations are pursued at the
main campus at Frescati north of the city center.
Organisation Stockholm University is a state agency
and is governed by the decisions coming from the government and parliament. The
University has the right, within the limits the government provides, to
decide on many issues such as their internal organization, educational,
admission of students and other administrative functions of the
university. = Intra-university bodies =
The University Board is the University's highest governing body. The board is
responsible for the University as a government agency 's mission and for
following the requirements of laws and regulations. The board reports to the
government. It consists of eight external members, four business
representatives from the university with two group alternates and three student
representatives with an alternate. The University board is above the principal
who is the head of the authority and have operational responsibility for all
operations. The principal has a vice president to replace him/her if
necessary. At the university, there are two area
councils, Area board of science and Area board of humanities, law and social
sciences. They are headed by a vice principal. The area boards are
responsible for strategic planning of education and research, coordination of
faculty teaching, research and internal and external collaboration.
After the district councils, the faculty boards are the highest decision-making
bodies at the faculty level. The faculty boards consists of the dean, the
assistant dean, other business representatives and student
representatives. The deans are appointed by the president after proposal by
choice within the faculty. After faculties, decisions are taken on
the institutional level, where each department has a department head who
manage and make decisions together with the institutional board.
The University administration is the preparation and service organization for
the University board, principals and other decision-making bodies, and it is
led by the executive director. The University administration has a number
of administrative units in charge of different parts of the university
administration, for example, finance department, IT department, HR department
and the student section. There are also three staff units: The strategy,
planning and communication unit that will help the university management with
decision making. The Permanent Secretary is the most
senior official at Stockholm University and decide on including university
administration's organization and finances. The permanent secretary is
titulated University Director. Departments, institutes and centers
Education and research at Stockholm University is carried out within the
natural sciences and the humanities/social sciences. Within these
fields, there are four faculties with 70 departments, institutes and centers
within the humanities, law, natural sciences and social sciences. Research
and training also takes place at a number of centers and institutes with a
separate governing board, but that organisationally belong to a department.
Courses and Programmes At Stockholm University, there are 200
Bachelor's programmes and 1,900 courses to choose from.
Research The university researchers engage in
governmental investigations, participates in the media, leaving
comments on proposed legislation and is included in several Nobel committees and
international expert bodies. Field stations
Askö Laboratory Stockholm University Marine Research
center provides "Askö Laboratory". Research on ecosystems, ecology and the
impact of human interference is carried out here. The field station was built in
1961 by Professor Lars Silén, Prefect of the Department of Zoology, and is now
established as a renowned marine research center.
Tarfala Tarfala research station belongs to the
Department of Physical Geography at Stockholm University. The station is
located 1135 meters above sea in Tarfaladalen, on the east side of
Kebnekaise in arctic / alpine surroundings. Here, glaciological,
hydrological, meteorological and climatological research is conducted.
The station has the capacity to accommodate groups up to 25 people and
the staff consists of 2-5 people. Tovetorp
Tovetorp Zoological Research Station belongs to the Department of Zoology at
Stockholm University, and is located about 95 km southwest of Stockholm. It
conducts research and training activities in ecology and ethology.
Every year Tovetorp is visited of up to 600 students who live and study between
2–10 days on the station. On the research side, over 20 people work today
with different research projects. The number of employees are currently 6
people. Student unions
Prior to 2008, Stockholm University had only one student union called Stockholm
University Student Union. However, as of 2008 the computer and system science
students and the teacher students have their own, independent, student unions
called DISK and "The Teacher's College's Student Union". The law students also
have their own student union, as do journalism students.
The future of the Teacher's College's Student Union is however not entirely
safe, as Stockholm University's Student Union has declared it will begin talks
with the Teacher's College's Student Union on transferring its members to it,
as it already has a teacher's division. In contrast to common belief, DISK is
not an abbreviation. Notable people
See also Category:Stockholm University alumni
Nobel Prize Laureates Svante Arrhenius, 1903 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry Hans von Euler-Chelpin, 1929 Nobel Prize
in Chemistry George de Hevesy, 1943 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry Paul Crutzen, 1995 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry Tomas Tranströmer, 2011 Nobel Prize in
Literature Karl Gunnar Myrdal, economist,
sociologist and politician. Received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic
Sciences in 1974 Selected alumni and researchers
Research Hans Bielenstein, Sinologist.
Bert Bolin, Meteorologist. First chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change Meemann Chang, Paleontologist.
Sara Danius, Professor in Literature, member of the Swedish Academy.
Horace Engdahl, former Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy.
Harry Flam, Swedish Economist, Dean of the School of Business.
Christer Fuglesang, Swedish Astronaut. First Swede and Scandinavian in Space.
Gunnar von Heijne, Professor at the Department of biochemistry and
biophysics. Oskar Klein, Professor in Physics.
Johan Rockström, Professor Environmental science.
Carl-Gustav Rossby, Meteorologist. Ebba Witt-Brattström, Professor in
Literature. Business
Mia Brunell, CEO Kinnevik. Annika Falkengren, CEO SEB.
Johan Stael von Holstein, Swedish entrepreneur.
Peter Wallenberg. Michael Wolf, CEO Swedbank.
Politics and society Hans Blix, diplomat.
Carl Bildt, Prime Minister of Sweden 1991-1994, and Foreign Minister
2006-2014. Thomas Bodström, former Swedish Minister
of Justice. Dag Hammarskjöld, U.N. Secretary
General. Karin Kock-Lindberg, first woman to hold
a Ministerial position in Sweden, and first female professor of national
economy in Sweden. Princess Madeleine of Sweden, studied
Art History and Ethnology. Carolina Neurath, Swedish journalist and
writer. Barbro Osher, diplomat and
philanthropist. Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden.
Andreas Papandreou, Greek prime minister. Taught at the university
1968-1969. Georgios Papandreou, Greek prime
minister. Studied sociology 1972-1973. Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of
Sweden 2006-2014. Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
studied Political Science. Entertainment and art
Alexander Ahndoril, author Daniel Birnbaum, Director Moderna Museet
Ingmar Bergman, film director Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, author
Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, Class of 1905 - Swedish illustrator.
Jens Lapidus, criminal defense lawyer and author.
Peter Lindgren, former guitarist of Opeth
Petra Mede, comedian, TV presenter Greg Poehler, actor, author
André Pops, TV presenter Johan Rheborg, actor
Vilgot Sjöman, film director, author Rankings
In the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2014, an annual publication
of university rankings by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy/Academic Ranking of
World Universities, Stockholm University was placed as the 78th overall best
university worldwide. The Times Higher Education World
University Rankings 2014-2015 listed Stockholm University at position 98 on
the list of the world’s top universities. Times Higher Education
World University Rankings are annual university rankings published by British
Times Higher Education magazine. In the QS World University Rankings,
Stockholm University was ranked 182 overall in the world in 2014. Whereas,
in the 2013 Stockholm University was ranked 170th overall in the world. Its
subject rankings were: 81st in Arts & Humanities, 168th in Life Sciences &
Biomedicine, 69th in Natural Sciences, and 65th in Social Sciences.
In the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2014, Stockholm University was placed at 140
on the list of universities in the world.
The Campus The main part of Stockholm University is
in the area Frescati, ranging from Bergius Botanical Garden in the north to
Sveaplan in the south. It is located in the world's first national urban park
and the area is characterized by nature, architecture and modern art. Within
Frescati, the areas Albano, Bergius Botanical Garden, Frescati Backe,
Frescati Hage, Kräftriket, Lilla Frescati and Sveaplan are located.
Identification of many of these areas have a history dating back to the late
1700s. After Gustav III's trip to Italy in 1783-84, several places at
Brunnsviken were named after Italian models. Stockholm University has also,
for example the Department of computer and systems sciences, located in Kista.
Public transportation to Stockholm University
There are many ways to get to Stockholm University, the main campus Frescati is
located near the underground railway station Universitetet metro station, on
the red line of the Stockholm Metro. The commuter train line Roslagsbanan also
stop close to the main campus, at Universitetet railway station. SL buses
40, 70, 540, 608 and 670 can also be used to get to the campus.
The Computer Science campus, Kista, also is close to an underground station
called Kista. It is also located close to the pendeltåg station Helenelund,
only 1-2 stops from the bus station Torsnäsgatan located next to the campus
area. See also
Stockholm University Library Bergian Garden of Stockholm University
Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm School of Economics
List of modern universities in Europe List of universities in Sweden
References External links
Official website of Stockholm University Stockholm University
Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University
The Bergian Botanical Garden of Stockholm University
Stockholm University Library The Center for Pacific Asia Studies
Universität Stockholm Universidad de Estocolmo
Université de Stockholm Stockholm University Student Union
Stockholm University Student Union Official website of the Computer Science
students' union DISK