Linnaeus University takes shape

University of Kalmar and Växjö university amalgamate to create a new seat of learning.

Handslag

Linnaeus University – a firm focus on quality and competence

On 1 January 2010 Växjö University and the University of Kalmar will merge to form Linnaeus University. This new university is the product of a will to improve the quality, enhance the appeal and boost the development potential of teaching and research, at the same time as it plays a prominent role in working closely together with local society. Linnaeus University offers an attractive knowledge environment characterised by high quality and a competitive portfolio of skills.

Linnaeus University will be a modern, international university with the emphasis on the desire for knowledge, creative thinking and practical innovations. For us, the focus is on proximity to our students, but also on the world around us and the future ahead.

A modern university

The underlying rationale for the merger between the University of Kalmar and Växjö University is the ambition to create a university where the focus is fixed firmly on quality and competitiveness.

Linnaeus University will be

  • a fully integrated, dual-campus university
  • an active initiator of stronger research
  • bigger, more visible and more influential
  • a driving force behind new forms of collaboration and coproduction with the local communities which it serves


Linnaeus University will have approximately

  • 25,000 students
  • 15,000 full-time equivalents
  • 2,000 members of staff
  • a budget of SEK 1,500 million, with SEK 350 million earmarked for research and postgraduate studies

 

One plus one is more than two

We want to create a new university based on the collective strengths of the two existing seats of learning by exploiting the potential to create new content and new forms of collaboration in conjunction with the merger. Our intention is to continue to conduct activities on two campuses on more or less the same scale as at present.

Organising committee

An organising committee has been tasked by the Swedish government to prepare the ground and take the steps that are necessary to establish the Linnaeus University.

The committee is chaired by Lars Haikola, who holds an executive role in the run-up to the merger comparable to that of a university Vice-Chancellor. He will liaise with the two universities’ currently serving Vice-Chancellors to determine how Linnaeus University will be staffed. The organising committee comprises a total of 17 members; the chairman and eight representatives from the boards of the University of Kalmar and Växjö University respectively.

 

More information for students: New University - New opportunities for students

 

Uppdaterad: 2009-10-05
Publicerad av: Linda Ingeman