Luleå University of Technology is a

public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...

, Sweden. The university has four campuses located in the

Arctic Region The Arctic (; . ) is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway (Nordland, Troms, Finnmar ...

in the cities of

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with a population of 36,388. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 77,322 inhabitants in 2024. The city is historically industrial, with mining ...

, and

Piteå Piteå (; ) is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326. Geography Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River (), at the shore of ...

. With more than 19,000 students and about 1,500 employees, Luleå University of Technology is a middle-sized academic institution in Sweden and

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

's northernmost

Institute of technology An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

. The university was originally established in 1971 under the name Luleå University College and had its first campus in the suburbs of Porsön in Luleå. But was a couple of years later merged with the Teacher's Training College of Luleå and the School of Music of Piteå. In 1997, the institution was granted full university status by the Swedish government and became then thereafter renamed as Luleå University of Technology.

Research

Since 2023 research at Luleå University of Technology has been organized into 11 research areas: * Built Environment and Infrastructure * Architecture and Design * Mines and Minerals * Mechanical Engineering and Materials * Energy * Digitalisation, Automation and Artificial Intelligence * Space * Business Administration and Social Sciences * Health * Education * Music and Theatre The university's strategic research foundation lies within the technical field, but most areas are interdisciplinary. A significant part of the research is applied and conducted in close collaboration with industry, other universities, and organizations at regional, national, and international levels.

International collaboration

The university is an active member of the

University of the Arctic The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arcti ...

. UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region. The university also participates in UArctic's mobility program north2north. The aim of that program is to enable students of member institutions to study in different parts of the North.

Campuses

Campus Kiruna

Campus Kiruna is part of Umeå University and Luleå University of Technology. It is home to space-related research conducted by the Division of Space Technology in close collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.

Campus Luleå

The university campus in Luleå is located in the Porsön area and consists of several main buildings. * A Building houses education and research in computer science, economics, and social sciences. * B Building contains the university library, main reception, and administrative offices. * C Building serves as a central meeting place for students, hosting student union offices and student sports facilities. * E Building is dedicated to research and education in physics and mechanical engineering. * F Building accommodates activities in geosciences, civil engineering, and work sciences. D Building was dismantled in 2024, and according to the university’s future campus plan, a new building will be constructed on the site. Currently, parts of the teacher education and health sciences programs are housed in temporary pavilions due to ongoing renovations. Nearby, there are amenities such as a grocery store, dental care services, housing, and the science center ''Teknikens Hus''.

Campus Piteå

Campus Piteå focuses on research and education in music and media. Located at the Piteå campus, Orgel Acusticum was built by the renowned European firm Orgelbauwerkstatt Woehl under the direction of Gerald Woehl. The organ consists of 9,000 pipes distributed across 140 registers, with plans to expand to a total of 206 registers. During its inauguration in October 2012, Luleå University of Technology’s honorary doctor Benny Andersson premiered a specially composed piece, ''En skrift i snön'' (''A Writing in the Snow''), with lyrics by Kristina Lugn. The organ is owned by the university and partially funded by donors, with the Kempestiftelserna foundation being the largest contributor.

Campus Skellefteå

Campus Skellefteå is a center for higher education, offering research and education in areas such as wood technology, computer graphics, game development, electrical power engineering, nursing, and social work.

Theatre Academy in Luleå

The Theatre Academy in Luleå is the acting program at Luleå University of Technology. The program is based in the same building as ''Norrbottensteatern'' in central Luleå and was established in 1996 as a collaboration between the university and the theater. It educates actors for theater, television, film, and radio.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lulea University Of Technology Education in Norrbotten County Piteå Kiruna Technical universities and colleges in Sweden Universities and colleges established in 1971 Buildings and structures in Norrbotten County 1971 establishments in Sweden 20th-century establishments in Norrbotten County