Stockholm University, founded in 1878, is one of the largest and oldest universities in Scandinavia.
When the institution first opened, it held public lectures in mathematics, physics, chemistry and geology – a tradition that still continues to this day, covering a diverse range of subjects.
Now home to almost 70,000 students, with an intake of 1,400 foreign exchange students annually, the university prides itself on its multicultural environment. Over 80 of its degree programmes are taught in English and Swedish language courses are available to all international students.
Stockholm University is one of Sweden’s pre-eminent centres for research within science, humanities and the social sciences. It is organised across four faculties, comprising 64 academic departments between them, with its main campus located north of the city, in the Frescati area of Stockholm.
Set in the middle of a National City Park – the world’s first – the university describes itself as ‘a campus university in a park environment’. It is surrounded by extensive woodland, flora and fauna, including some 800 species of flowering plants and over 100 species of birds, with the Baltic Sea inlet of Brunnsviken and beaches to its north.
The campus is also famed for its modernist architecture, with buildings designed by the renowned Swedish architects David Helldén, Ralph Erskine and Carl Nyrén. Alongside its notable architecture are many public works of art. A sculpture park on campus includes contributions from artists Marianne and Sivert Lindblom, and Olle Baertling.
Stockholm University boasts a longstanding tradition of openness and innovation. Four of its researchers have previously received Nobel Prizes, while a fifth was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
With the city centre just a metro ride away from the campus, Stockholm students have easy access to all the city’s cultural and commercial amenities. The university’s international exchange arrangements mean study abroad opportunities are plentiful across Europe, as well as in America, at the University of Illinois.