Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the ca ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...

still in operation. The university rose to significance during the rise of Sweden as a great power at the end of the 16th century and was then given a relative financial stability with a large donation from King

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in the early 17th century. Uppsala also has an important historical place in Swedish national culture, identity and for the Swedish establishment: in

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

, literature, politics, and music. Many aspects of Swedish academic culture in general, such as the white student cap, originated in Uppsala. It shares some peculiarities, such as the student nation system, with

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the R ...

. Uppsala belongs to the

Coimbra Group The Coimbra Group (CG) is an international association of 41 universities in Europe. It was established in 1985. It works for the benefit of its members by promoting "internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and resear ...

of European universities and to the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. It has ranked among the world's 100 best universities in several international rankings. The university has nine faculties distributed over three disciplinary domains: Humanities and Social Sciences, Medicine and Pharmacy, and Science and Technology. , it had approximately 52,000 registered students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and 2,200 PhD students. Architecturally, Uppsala University has traditionally had a strong presence in Fjärdingen, the neighbourhood around the cathedral on the western side of the River Fyris. Despite some contemporary building developments further away from the centre, Uppsala's historic centre continues to be dominated by the presence of the university.Sten Lindroth. A History of Uppsala University: 1477–1977. Almqvist & Wiksell International (1976).

History

15th century: origins

As with most medieval universities, Uppsala University initially grew out of an ecclesiastical centre. The archbishopric of Uppsala had been one of the most important sees in

Sweden proper Sweden proper ( sv, Egentliga Sverige) is a term used to distinguish those territories that were fully integrated into the Kingdom of Sweden, as opposed to the dominions and possessions of, or states in union with, Sweden. Only the estates of ...

since Christianity first spread to this region in the ninth century. Uppsala had also long been a hub for regional trade, and had contained settlements dating back into the deep

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. As was also the case with most medieval universities, Uppsala had initially been chartered through a papal bull. Uppsala's bull, which granted the university its corporate rights, was issued by Pope Sixtus IV in 1477, and established a number of provisions. Among the most important of these was that the university was officially given the same freedoms and privileges as the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

. This included the right to establish the four traditional faculties of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

, law (

Canon Law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

and

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

), medicine, and philosophy, and to award the bachelor's, master's, licentiate, and doctoral degrees. The archbishop of Uppsala was also named as the university's

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

, and was charged with maintaining the rights and privileges of the university and its members.

16th century: Turbulent times

The turbulent period of the reformation of King Gustavus Vasa resulted in a drop in the already relatively insignificant number of students in Uppsala, which was seen as a centre of Catholicism and of potential disloyalty to the Crown. Swedish students generally travelled to one of the Protestant universities in Germany, especially

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...

. There is some evidence of academic studies in Uppsala during the 16th century; the Faculty of Theology is mentioned in a document from 1526, King Eric XIV appointed Laurentius Petri Gothus (later archbishop) rector of the university in 1566, and his successor and brother John III appointed a number of professors in the period 1569–1574. At the end of the century the situation had changed, and Uppsala became a bastion of Lutheranism, which Duke Charles, the third of the sons of Gustavus Vasa to eventually become king (as Charles IX) used to consolidate his power and eventually oust his nephew Sigismund from the throne. The Meeting of Uppsala in 1593 established

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

orthodoxy in Sweden, and Charles and the Council of state gave new privileges to the university on 1 August of the same year. Theology still had precedence, but in the privileges of 1593, the importance of a university to educate secular servants of the state was also emphasized. Three of the seven professorial chairs which were established were in Theology; of the other four, three were in Astronomy, Physics (or general natural sciences) and Latin eloquence. A fourth chair was given to Ericus Jacobi Skinnerus, who was also appointed rector, but whose discipline was not mentioned in the charter. Of the professors, several were taken over from the Collegium Regium in Stockholm, which had been functioning for a few years but closed in 1593. An eighth chair, in Medicine, was established in 1595 but received no appointee for several years. In 1599 the number of students was approximately 150. In 1600 the first post-reformation conferment of degrees took place. In the same year, the antiquarian and mystic

Johannes Bureus Johannes Thomae Bureus Agrivillensis (born Johan Bure; 1568–1652) was a Swedish polymath, antiquarian, mystic, royal librarian, poet, and tutor and adviser of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He is a well-known exponent of Gothicism. Life an ...

designed and engraved the seal of the university, which is today used as part of the logotype.

17th century: Expansion

The medieval university had mainly been a school for theology. The aspirations of the emergent new great power of Sweden demanded a different kind of learning. Sweden both grew through conquests and went through a complete overhaul of its administrative structure. It required a much larger class of civil servants and educators than before. Preparatory schools, gymnasiums, were also founded during this period in various cathedral towns, notably

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

(the first one) in 1623. Beside Uppsala, new universities were founded in more distant parts of the Swedish Realm, the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

(present-day Tartu) in Estonia (1632) and the

University of Åbo The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...

in Finland (1640). After the Scanian provinces were taken from Denmark,

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Axel Oxenstierna, who had spent his own student days in German universities and who for the last years before his death was also chancellor of the university. King

showed the university a keen interest and increased the professorial chairs from eight to thirteen in 1620, and again to seventeen in 1621. In 1624 the king donated "for all eternity" all his own inherited personal property in the provinces of

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

and

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...

, some 300 farms, mills and other sources of income. The king's former private tutor,

Johan Skytte Johan Skytte (1577, in Nyköping – 15 March 1645, in Söderåkra, Sweden) was a Swedish statesman, and the founder of the ''Academia Gustaviana'' (today's University of Tartu in Estonia), in 1632. He was a son of the mayor of Nyköping, Beng ...

, who was made chancellor of the university in 1622, donated the Skyttean chair in Eloquence and Government which still exists. The university received a stable structure with its constitution of 1626. The head of the university was to be the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

, his deputy was the " pro-chancellor" (always the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

''ex officio''). The immediate rule was the responsibility of the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

, to which belonged all the professors of the university, and the

rector magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

, who was elected for a semester at the time; the latter position circulated among the professors, each of whom sometimes held it several times. During the late 16th and early 17th centuries (and perhaps even earlier), the university was located to the old chapter house parallel to the south side of the cathedral, later renamed the ''Academia Carolina''. In 1622–1625 a new university building was built east of the cathedral, the so-called ''

Gustavianum Gustavianum is the oldest standing building of Uppsala University. It was built between 1622 and 1625, and used as the main building of the university between 1778 and 1887. Since 1997 it is used as the university museum of Uppsala University. H ...

'', named after the reigning king. In the 1630s, the total number of students were about one thousand. Anders-Celsius

Queen Christina was generous to the university, gave scholarships to Swedish students to study abroad and recruited foreign scholars to Uppsala chairs, among them several from the

University of Strassburg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, notably the philologist

Johannes Schefferus Johannes Schefferus (February 2, 1621 – March 26, 1679) was one of the most important Swedish humanists of his time. He was also known as Angelus and is remembered for writing hymns.See the link below "German Classics" Schefferus was born in ...

(professor skytteanus), whose little library and museum building at ''S:t Eriks torg'' now belongs to the

Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala), is the oldest of the royal academies in Sweden, having been founded in 1710. The society has, by royal decree of 1906, 50 Swedish fellows and 100 foreign. ...

. The Queen, who would eventually declare her abdication in the great hall of

Uppsala Castle Uppsala Castle ( sv, Uppsala slott) is a 16th-century royal castle in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. Throughout much of its early existence, the castle played a major role in the history of Sweden. Originally constructed in 1549, the castle has bee ...

, visited the university on many occasions; in 1652 she was present at an anatomical demonstration arranged at the castle for the young physician

Olaus Rudbeck Olaus Rudbeck (also known as Olof Rudbeck the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, and occasionally with the surname Latinized as ''Olaus Rudbeckius'') (13 September 1630 – 12 December 1702) was a Swedish scientist and writer, professor o ...

. Rudbeck, one of several sons of Johannes Rudbeckius, a former Uppsala professor who became

Bishop of Västerås A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, was sent for a year to the progressive

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

in the Netherlands. Returning in 1654, he received an assistantship in Medicine in 1655, and had already gone to work on a program of improving aspects of the university. He planted the first

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, the one which would eventually be tended by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

and is kept today as a museum of 18th-century botany under the name ''Linnéträdgården'' ("the

Linnaean Garden The Linnaean Garden or Linnaeus Garden ( sv, Linnéträdgården) is the oldest of the botanical gardens belonging to Uppsala University, Sweden, and nowadays one of two satellite gardens of the larger University of Uppsala Botanic Garden, the oth ...

"). With the patronage of the university chancellor Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, Rudbeck was made full professor in 1660, was elected rector for two terms, despite his youth, and started a revision of the work of the other professors and a building spree with himself as architect. His most significant remaining architectural work is the anatomical theatre, which was added to Gustavianum in the 1660s and crowned with the characteristic cupola for which the building is today known. A gifted scientist, architect and engineer, Rudbeck was the dominant personality of the university in the late 17th century who laid some of the groundwork for Linnaeus and others, but he is perhaps more known today for the pseudohistorical speculations of his ''Atlantica'', which consumed much of his later life. When large parts of Uppsala burned down in 1702, Gustavianum, which contained the university library and its many valuable manuscripts, escaped the fire; local lore has it that the aging Rudbeck stood on the roof directing the work of fighting the fire.

18th century: Enlightenment and mercantilism

The early part of the 18th century was still characterized by the combination of Lutheran orthodoxy and classical philology of the previous century, but eventually a larger emphasis on sciences and practically useful knowledge developed. The innovative mathematician and physicist

Samuel Klingenstierna Samuel Klingenstierna (18 August 1698 – 26 October 1765) was a very renowned Swedish mathematician and scientist. He started his career as a lawyer but soon moved to natural philosophy. Already as a student he gave lectures on the then novel mat ...

(1698–1765) was made a professor in 1728, the physicist and astronomer

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germ ...

in 1729, and

was made professor of medicine with botany in 1741. The university was not immune to the parliamentary struggle between the parties known as the "Hats" and the "Caps," with the former having a preference for hard sciences and practical knowledge. The Hat government then in power established a chair in economics (''Œconomia publica'') in 1741 and called Anders Berch as its first incumbent. This was the first professorship in economics outside Germany, and possibly the third in Europe (the first chairs having been established in Halle and

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

in 1727). In 1759, following a donation, another chair in economy was established, the Borgströmian professorship in "practical economy," by which was meant the practical application of the natural sciences for economic purposes (it eventually developed into a chair for physiological botany). There were very radical attempts at reforms which were never implemented, but important changes took place. University studies had until this time been very informal in their overall organization, with the all-purpose ''philosophiæ magister''-degree being the only one frequently conferred and many never graduating, as there were no degree applicable to their intended area of work (and well-connected aristocratic students often not graduating as they did not need to). A few professional degrees for various purposes were introduced in 1749–1750, but the radical suggestion of binding students to a single program of study adapted to a particular profession was never implemented. The reforms of this era have been compared to those of the 1960s and 1970s (Sten Lindroth). Although it took some time after the fire of 1702,

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran t ...

and

were both eventually restored, both by

Carl Hårleman Baron Carl Hårleman (27 August 1700 – 9 February 1753) was a Swedish architect. Biography Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who had been ennobled in 1698. ...

, perhaps the most important Swedish architect of the era. He also modified

, designed a new conservatory for Linnaeus' botanical garden and built the new Consistory house, which was to be the administrative core of the university. Another magnificent royal donation was that of the large baroque garden of the castle, given by

Gustavus III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what h ...

to the university when it was obvious that the old botanical garden was insufficient. A large new conservatory was built by the architect

Louis Jean Desprez Louis Jean Desprez (occasionally but incorrectly ''Jean Louis Desprez'') (May 1743–18 March 1804) was a French painter and architect who worked in Sweden during the last twenty years of his life. Biography Desprez, who was born in Auxerr ...

. Additional grounds adjacent to the baroque garden has since been added. The old garden of Rudbeck and Linnaeus was largely left to decay, but was reconstructed in the years between 1918 and 1923 according to the specifications of Linnaeus in his work ''Hortus Upsaliensis'' from 1745. Gustav III of Sweden at the Gustavianum in 1786

Gustav III of Sweden at the Gustavianum in 1786

Women at the university

The issue of women's right to study at universities was raised during the very last session of the estate parliament in 1865 in a motion from Carl Johan Svensén, a member of the farmers' estate. The reception was mixed, with the most negative views coming from the clergy. In the following years the issue continued to be debated at the universities. In 1870, it was decided to let women take the secondary school examination ("

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and r ...

") that gave the right to entry at universities and the right to study and complete degrees at the faculties of Medicine in Uppsala and Lund and at the Caroline Institute of Medicine and Surgery in Stockholm. A common view was that the female sensitivity and compassion would make women capable of working as physicians, but their right to work was still restricted to private practice. Women's rights to higher education was extended in 1873, when all degrees except those in the faculties of theology and the licentiate degree in Law were made accessible for women. The first female student in Sweden was

Betty Pettersson Betty Maria Carolina Pettersson (Visby 14 September 1838–7 February Stockholm 1885), was a Swedish teacher. She became the first official female university student in Sweden in 1871. She was also the first female student of Uppsala University ...

(1838–1885), who had already worked as a private tutor for several years when she took "studentexamen" in 1871. With a royal dispensation, she was allowed to enter university in Uppsala in 1872, the year before studies at the Philosophical faculty would actually be made generally available to women. She studied modern European languages and was the first woman in Sweden to complete an academic degree when she finished a fil. kand. in 1875. She became the first woman to be employed as a teacher in a public school for boys. The first woman in Sweden to complete a doctoral degree was

Ellen Fries Ellen Fries (23 September 1855 – 31 March 1900) was a Swedish feminist and writer. She became the first female Ph.D. in Sweden in 1883. She was also involved in founding several women's organizations. Biography She born in 1855 at Rödsleg� ...

(1855–1900), who entered Uppsala university in 1877 and became a PhD in history in 1883. Other female students of this period includes

Lydia Wahlström ''Lydia'' Katarina Wahlström (28 June 1869 – 2 June 1954) was a Swedish historian, author and feminist. She was one of the founders of the National Association for Women's Suffrage and its chairman in 1909–1911. Life and career Wahlst ...

(1869–1954) who later became a noted educator, activist and writer on women's emancipation and suffrage. Defending a dissertation in history in 1900, she became the second woman to finish a doctorate at a Swedish university. In 1892, she founded the Uppsala Women's Student Association, who set up spex performances and other things enjoyed by male students but from which the women were excluded at the time. The members of the Association were the first woman to wear the student caps in public, an important sign of their status. Elsa Eschelsson (1861–1911) was the first Swedish woman to finish a law degree, and the first to become a "docent," but was not permitted to even hold the position of acting professor despite being formally qualified for this in everything but her sex. After years of conflicts with the professor of civil law A. O. Winroth, who wrote the paper on "Om tjenstehjonsförhållandet" and with the university board, she died in 1911 from an overdose of sleeping-powder. According to the constitution of 1809, only "native Swedish men" could be appointed to higher civil servant positions, including professorships. This was changed in 1925, and the first woman to hold a professorial chair at Uppsala University was Gerd Enequist, appointed professor of human geography in 1949. Hildegard Björck who studied in the university became the first Swedish woman to receive an academic degree.

Administration and organisation

Central administration

The governing board of the university is the

, with representatives of the faculties as well as members representing the students and non-academic employees (three professors and three students), and ten university outsiders appointed by the Swedish government. All these members in the consistory have the right to vote. The unions active at the university also have three representatives in the consistory; these members have the right to speak but not any right to vote. Since the last reorganization in 1999 the university has a separate body called the ''academic senate'', which is a wider, but mostly advisory group representing teaching staff / researchers and students. The executive head of the university is the ''rector magnificus'', whose deputy is the ''prorector''. There are (also since 1999) three vice rectors, each heading one of the three "disciplinary domains" (Arts and Social Sciences, Medicine and Pharmacy, and Science and Technology) into which the nine faculties are divided. Each faculty has a faculty board and is headed by a

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

(''dekanus''). The position of dean is held part-time by a professor of the faculty.

Faculties

Through division of faculties and the addition of a previously independent school of Pharmacy as a new faculty, the traditional four-faculty organization of European universities has evolved into the present nine faculties: *The ''disciplinary domain of Arts and Social Sciences'' includes the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Languages, the Faculty of Theology, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Educational Sciences (formerly the Department of Education, that was raised to the status of a faculty in its own right in 2002). *The ''disciplinary domain of Medicine and Pharmacy'' includes the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Pharmacy. The Faculty of Pharmacy was originally an independent "royal institute" in Stockholm, which was moved to Uppsala and incorporated with the university between 1968 and 1972. *The ''disciplinary domain of Science and Technology'' includes only the Faculty of Science and Technology. The engineering programs have from 1982 been marketed as the ''Uppsala School of Engineering'' (''Uppsala Tekniska Högskola''). This has however never been a separate institution, but only a unit within the Faculty of Science and Technology and use of the term has been phased out after the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences was renamed the Faculty of Sciences and Technology in the 1990s. Uppsala University also hosts the Forum for South Asia Studies, a collaborative academic effort by its six faculties: Theology, Law, History and Philosophy, Social Sciences, Languages, and Educational Sciences. The Forum aims facilitate and promote research and education related to the

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n countries:

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

the Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, on the national and international level, with

Ferdinando Sardella Ferdinando Sardella, born 1960, is a Swedish scholar of the history of religions, Hinduism, and religious studies, the former director and coordinator of the Forum for South Asia Studies at Uppsala University. Academic background Sardella stu ...

, Faculty of Theology, serving as the Forum's director.

Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law (''Juridiska fakulteten'') is the oldest one in the Nordic countries and existed before 1477 (when the University of Uppsala was founded). The activities of the faculty include a wide range of research areas and specializations. This Faculty has one department: the Department of Law.

University Library

The university library holds about 5.25 million volumes of books and periodicals (131,293 shelf meters), 61,959 manuscripts, 7,133 music prints, and 345,734 maps and other graphic documents. The holdings of the collection of manuscripts and music includes, among other things, the Gothic Bible manuscript

Codex Argenteus The Codex Argenteus (Latin for "Silver Book/Codex") is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript, originally containing part of the 4th-century translation of the Christian Bible into the Gothic language. Traditionally ascribed to the Arian bi ...

The most widely recognized building of the

university library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...

Carolina Rediviva Carolina Rediviva is the main building of the Uppsala University Library in Uppsala, Sweden. The building was begun in 1820 and completed in 1841. The original architect was Carl Fredrik Sundvall. Later additions to the building have been designed ...

, the "revived Carolina," thus named in reference to ''Academia Carolina'' (see illustration), which held the university library from the earliest times until 1691, when it was moved to the upper floor of Gustavianum, where it miraculously survived the great city fire of 1702. In the mid-18th century, there were plans to move it back to the Academia Carolina or a new building on the same spot. The building was demolished in 1778 to make place for a new library, but this was never built and the area next to the cathedral where it stood is today a lawn. The present Carolina Rediviva was built in a different place and completed in 1841. The present university library system comprises 19 branches, including the one in the Carolina building.

Uppsala University Hospital

The Uppsala Academic Hospital or ''Akademiska sjukhuset'', which functions as a teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine and the Nursing School, is run by the Uppsala County Council in cooperation with the university. , the hospital had 7,719 employees and 1,079 places for patients. The university hospital is actually older than the university, as it goes back to the earliest hospital, founded in Uppsala in 1302, much later merged with the university clinic. This was used for 400 years until the great fire of 1702 which destroyed large parts of central Uppsala. A new hospital, which later became the Uppsala county hospital, was built in its place, but was moved out of the town in 1811. Uppsala plate 2 from NF 30 (1920) - University hospital

Uppsala plate 2 from NF 30 (1920) - University hospital

The first clinic with the specific intention to facilitate the practical education of medical students was the ''Nosocomium Academicum'', founded in 1708 and located to the Oxenstierna Palace at Riddartorget beside the cathedral (see illustration above). The building (the former residence of the president of the Royal Chancellery Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna) today houses the Faculty of Law. The present ''Akademiska sjukhuset'' was founded in 1850 as an organizational merger of the county hospital and the university clinic, and a new building was inaugurated in 1867 on the hill below

to the southeast. From this building, which is still in use, the present hospital complex has grown.

The Svedberg Laboratory

The Svedberg Laboratory The Svedberg Laboratory (TSL) is a university facility, based in Uppsala, Sweden. The activities at TSL are based around the particle accelerator ''Gustaf Werner cyclotron''. The main activity is proton therapy for the treatment of cancer, based ...

(named after Theodore ''The'' Svedberg) is a university facility that contains the ''Gustaf Werner cyclotron'', which is used for research as well as for proton therapy for the treatment of cancer with close cooperation with the oncology clinic at

Uppsala University Hospital Uppsala University Hospital ( sv, Akademiska sjukhuset'', often referred to colloquially as "Akademiska" or "Ackis"'') in Uppsala, Sweden, is a teaching hospital for the Uppsala University Faculty of Medicine and the Nursing School. Uppsala Univer ...

. Such an accelerator and its gantries costs between $60 million and $100 million, and makes

one of the approximately 40 centres in the world to provide such cancer treatment.

Campus

The buildings and locations where the university has activities or which are significantly connected to its history are listed below. Some of the historic buildings in central Uppsala have had to be retired, as their protected status has made it impossible to make modifications necessary to meet requirements to adjust to the needs for students with disabilities. Botaniska trädgården, Uppsala II

University Park and Cathedral area *

*The Old Consistory building *The University Hall *The Ekerman House *The Dean's House (or Julinsköld Palace) *Skytteanum *The Oxenstierna House (Juridicum – Faculty of Law) *Regnellianum *

West of Central Uppsala *English Park Campus – Centre for the Humanities (including the Centre for Language Studies) *Centre for Evolutionary Biology (EBC) including the Museum of Evolution * University of Uppsala Botanical Garden *Segerstedthuset – administrative building *Blåsenhus – Centre for pedagogy, didactics, educational studies and psychology Other locations in wider Central Uppsala *Theatrum Oeconomicum and Gamla Torget ("The Old Forum") *The Observatory Park with the old observatory *Centre for Economic Sciences (Ekonomikum) * The Linnaeus Garden *

's former house and observatory Pollacksbacken, hus4

South of central Uppsala *

The Rudbeck Laboratory
*Uppsala Biomedical Centre (BMC)
Geo Centre
*Information Technology Centre (ITC) Pollax
The Ångström Laboratory
North of Central Uppsala *Teacher Training Outside of Uppsala
Campus Gotland

Ekonomikum

Ekonomikum is a

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

that is part of Uppsala University. The building, designed by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Peter Celsing Peter Elof Herman Torsten Folke von Celsing (January 29, 1920 – March 16, 1974) was a Swedish modernist architect. Biography Celsing was born in Stockholm, Sweden and was the son of bank executive Folke von Celsing and Margareta (née Norst ...

, was completed in 1976, and housed departments for languages, humanities, and social sciences. Since the early 2000s, Ekonomikum is a multidisciplinary centre specialized in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

financial Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

studies,

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of informatio ...

, and

human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography that studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social i ...

. It has approximately 2,500 students and 500 faculty and staff members, a library, KPH print shop, a restaurant, and several students' associations.

Student life

Nations and student union

Up until June 2010 students at Uppsala University were obliged to become members of one of the

nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by t ...

, corporations of students traditionally according to province of origin (not strictly upheld now, for practical reasons). The system of dividing students into nations according to origin can ultimately be traced back to the nations at the medieval

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

and other early medieval universities, but the Uppsala nations appear only about 1630–1640, most likely under influence of the ''

Landsmannschaft A Landsmannschaft (; Latin ''natio'', plural nationes) is a German fraternity of several fraternity forms called ''Studentenverbindung''. The older forms of ''Landsmannschaften'' were part of corporations and are closely aligned with the beginn ...

en'' which existed at some of the German universities visited by Swedish students. In Sweden, nations exist only in Uppsala and

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. The nations were originally seen as subversive organisations promoting less virtuous aspects of student life, but in 1663 the

made membership in a nation legal, each nation being placed under the inspectorship of a professor. The current thirteen nations all have a history stretching back to the early-to-mid 17th century, but some of them are the result of mergers of older, smaller nations that took place in the early 19th century to facilitate the financing of building projects. The nations at Uppsala University are: Since the 1960s there is a fourteenth nation, the ''Skånelandens nation'' (referring to the

Scanian lands The term Scanian (, or ) can refer to: * A person born or living in the province of Scania proper (Skåne) * The people and language of the historical provinces of Scania (Terrae Scaniae, Skånelandene (Danish), Skåneland (Swedish) * Scanian dia ...

) which has no membership fee and exists as a legal device to get around the compulsory membership for students who prefer not to become affiliated with the traditional nations. However this nation was made redundant in 2010, when membership in a nation ceased to be mandatory. The Uppsala Student Union was founded in 1849 as a corporation representing all students except those attending the faculty of Pharmacy, irrespective of nation. The students at the faculty of Pharmacy were also exempt from the compulsory membership in the nations, but most pharmacy-students belonged to one. However they were obliged to take up membership in the Pharmaceutical Association of Uppsala Students, an organisation having the same role as the nations and the student union at the rest of the university. The compulsory membership in a student union was abolished 1 July 2010; however, the unions will still be the representing organisations in the university boards and committees. The status as a student union will be decided upon by the university board for periods of three years at a time. On 20 February 2013, the university board decided that there will be four student unions at the university during July 2013 – June 2016: the Uppsala Student Union (for students at the faculties of Art, Social Sciences, Languages, Theology, Law, Educational Sciences and Medicine), the Pharmaceutical Association of Uppsala Students (for students at the Faculty of Pharmacy), the Uppsala Union of Engineering and Science Students (at the Faculty of Science and Technology), and Rindi (the union for students at Campus Gotland). In February, 2016, two additional associations were given the status as student unions: Uppsala Business & Economics Students Association (for students of economy) and Uppsala Law Student Associations (for students of law). Thus, there are now six student unions at Uppsala university.

Music

Student singers march down the stairs in Carolina Rediviva 1877

The University's

Royal Academic Orchestra The Royal Academic Orchestra (Swedish: Kungliga Akademiska Kapellet) is Uppsala University’s symphony orchestra. Both the University and its orchestra are deeply rooted in history. Uppsala University, established in 1477, is the oldest in the Nord ...

was founded in 1627. Its main purpose is to play at academic ceremonies, but holds concerts on other occasions as well. Its leader has the title of ''director musices''. The position has been held by composers such as

Wilhelm Stenhammar Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Stenhammar was born in Stockholm and was the brother of architect Ernst Stenhammar. He received his first musical e ...

Hugo Alfvén Hugo Emil Alfvén (; 1 May 18728 May 1960) was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter. Career Violinist Alfvén was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and studied at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 ...

and

Lars-Erik Larsson Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson (15 May 190827 December 1986) was a Swedish composer, conductor, radio producer, and educator. He wrote three of the most popular works (each a suite) in Swedish art music: ''A Winter's Tale'' (; 1937–1938), the '' Pas ...

. Affiliated with the university are three choirs, the mixed

Uppsala University Choir Uppsala University Choir is a student choir that performs at many of the main events at Uppsala University. According to the group's webpage, the choir has existed for over 180 years and regularly performs in venues across Sweden, as well as on ...

(''Allmänna Sången''), founded in 1830, the male choir

Orphei Drängar Sångsällskapet Orphei Drängar (OD) is a Swedish male voice choir and singing society based in Uppsala, Sweden. While best known for its high quality performances of the classical repertoire, OD sings music of all genres in many different langu ...

, founded in 1853, and the Academy Chamber Choir of Uppsala, founded in 1957. A number of other choirs and orchestras are affiliated with the nations. An important name in the recent history of the choirs is

Eric Ericson Eric Gustaf Ericson (26 October 1918 – 16 February 2013) was a Swedish choral conductor and influential choral teacher. Life and career He graduated from the Royal College of Music (''Kungl. Musikhögskolan'') in Stockholm in 1943 and w ...

, who was conductor of both Orphei Drängar and the Chamber Choir. In honour of Ericson, the

FöreningsSparbanken Swedbank AB () is a Nordic- Baltic banking group based in Stockholm, Sweden, offering retail banking, asset management, financial, and other services. In 2019 Swedbank had 900,000 private and 130,000 corporate clients and a 60% market share ...

endowed the Eric Ericson Chair in Choral Directing, and the Uppsala University Choral Centre was inaugurated in 2000. The centre arranges courses in choral directin
Uppsala universitets Körcentrum

Housing crisis

Like many cities there is a shortage of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

in Uppsala, a problem which has existed for many years. Both native Swedes and foreign students are finding it difficult to find accommodation when first enrolling into the university. This problem is however not as bad as it was with several major housing construction projects having been completed after 2010. There has never been a custom in Sweden for the universities to arrange housing for students, in fact universities are by law not allowed to own housing. Students are expected to arrange their own living accommodations on the private market. To make it easier for students to find moderately priced housing, special student rooms and student apartments have been built by the student nations and student unions. However, the student housing is insufficient to accommodate all students. About 40,000 students are eligible to live in the 11,000 available rooms and apartments. Because of the low rent in these apartments and the general lack of housing in Uppsala the student apartments are highly attractive and many try to hold on to the contracts as long as possible even after graduating.

Housing

Some of the most popular housing accommodations for the students are Flogsta, Kantorsgatan, Studentstaden, Studentvägen, Klostergatan, Rackarbergsgatan and many more. Flogsta is one of the biggest and most popular housing choice for international students.

Athletics

Sports play a very small role in the life of the university, compared to British and especially U.S. universities, but have existed in various forms since the early 17th century. Uppsala University is more noted for its musical and choral traditions. Both have partial roots in the 17th century institution of extracurricular exercises for students from the nobility.

The

Exercise yard - from Busser, Om Upsala Stad etc

To ease the recruitment of students from the nobility, the university started in the 1630s to offer training in a number of or "exercises" (Swedish: ) deemed necessary for the well-rounded education of a young nobleman: riding, fencing, dance, drawing and modern languages such as French and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. The initiative came from Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, who saw the value in a well-educated class of civil servants and the danger to his own class if its members would fall behind in academic education compared to those students who came from the lower estates. An "exercise yard," built for the riding and

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

exercises, was demolished in the late 19th century to give place to the new University Hall. The modern languages were made part of the regular academic curriculum in the 19th century. The surviving "exercises" include: *''Fencing'' – Arranged in collaboration with ''Upsala Fäktning'', a private fencing club. *''Gymnastics and sports'' – Located to the Art Nouveau University Gymnastics Hall, colloquially known as ''Svettis'' (from the

word for

sweat Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distrib ...

) *''Riding'' – Arranged by the equestrian department of the University, which has its own stables. Leaders of the activities are the Academy Stable Master and the ''Inspector Equitandi'' *''Music'' – Leader of the musical activities is the ''director musices'', who is the conductor of the

; the current Director Musices is Professor Stefan Karpe *''Drawing'' – The university appoints an established artist as Drawing Master; free weekly

croquis Croquis drawing is quick and sketchy drawing of a live model. Croquis drawings are usually made in a few minutes, after which the model changes pose or leaves and another croquis is drawn. The word ''croquis'' comes from French and means simply ...

and other lessons are offered in the southern tower of

Other sports

Besides the , other sports have had a presence in Uppsala student life. The Upsala Simsällskap, "Uppsala Swimming Society," which is the oldest swimming club in the world, was founded in 1796 by the mathematician

Jöns Svanberg Jöns Svanberg (1771–1851) was a Swedish clergyman and natural scientist. Life He was born on 6 July 1771 in Ytterbyn, Sweden and died on 15 January 1851 in Uppsala, Sweden. Career He entered Uppsala University at the age of 16. He re ...

. It had no formal connection to the university, but all its earliest members came from academic life. Svanberg even arranged a mock graduation ceremony, a ''simpromotion'', in parody of the university ceremonies, where those who had graduated from its swimming training were awarded "degrees" of master (''magister'') and bachelor (''kandidat''). These degrees stuck, and Swedish swimming schools still use these degrees for different levels of swimming skills. An attempt was made in the 1870s to introduce academic rowing after the

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...

model. The

Stockholm Nation Stockholms nation is a student society and one of thirteen student nation, nations at Uppsala University. The nation has its origins in the mid-17th century and regards 1649 as its official date of foundation, although this is uncertain. A docum ...

acquired a rowing boat in 1877, soon followed by the

Gothenburg Nation Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

, and for a number of years rowing competitions were held between teams from the two nations. Although rowing never got the strong position it has at the English universities, an annual Uppsala-Lund

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

has been arranged since 1992, between rowing teams from Uppsala and

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Fyris River in Uppsala on even years, and on a river in the vicinity of Lund on odd years. Each year there is at least one full eight crew with cox competing, with both men's and women's teams present. With the recent victory for Uppsala in 2005, the score stands 24–23 in Uppsala's favor.

Rankings

Uppsala University is one of the most prominent

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in Sweden and is commonly ranked within the top 100 in the world by several ranking agencies. For example, for over ten years, it has been ranked among the 80 best universities in the world the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...

. Moreover, the QS World University Rankings by Subject for 2021 places Uppsala University in the top 50 in the following subjects: Pharmacy & Pharmacology (37th), Theology, Divinity and Religious studies (42nd), Biological Sciences (47th), Development Studies (48th), Archaeology (48th), Environmental Sciences (49th) and Geography (49th). Additionally, the Times Higher subject rankings for 2021 places Uppsala as the 51st most international university in the world.

Notable people

Uppsala University is associated with 8 Nobel Prize laureates, and numerous royalty, academics and public figures. As the dominant academic institution in Sweden for several centuries, Uppsala University has educated a large proportion of Swedish politicians and civil servants ever since its first period of expansion in the early part of the 17th century. These range from Chancellor of the Realm (''rikskansler'')

Johan Oxenstierna Johan Axelsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (24 June 1611 – 5 December 1657) was a Count and a Swedish statesman. Biography The son of Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, he was born in Stockholm. He completed his studies at Uppsala in 1 ...

(1611–1657) and Lord Chief Justice (''riksdrots'') Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (1622–1686) to the first Social Democratic

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subj ...

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting cam ...

(1860–1925). Other alumni are

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

(1905–1961), United Nations

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

who was (posthumously) awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 1961, and the Swedish diplomat

Hans Blix Hans Martin Blix (; born 28 June 1928) is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (1978–1979) and later became the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. As suc ...

(born 1928), who was Head of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

1981–1997, of the

UNMOVIC The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was created through the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999 and its mission lasted until June 2007. UNMOVIC was meant to ...

2000–2003, and previously Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs 1978–1979. Hammarskjöld and Blix both graduated from the Uppsala Faculty of Law, as did the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs

Anna Lindh Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (19 June 1957 – 11 September 2003) was a Swedish Social Democratic politician and lawyer who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her death. She was also a Member of the Riksdag (member of parliament) f ...

, who was assassinated in 2003. Most Swedish clergymen, including most bishops and archbishops, have been educated at the university, including, in more recent times,

Nathan Söderblom Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Cale ...

(1866–1931), Professor of the History of Religions in the Faculty of Theology, later Archbishop of Uppsala, and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930 for his work as leader of the

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

movement. The university became prominent in the sciences in the 18th century with names such as the physician and botanist

(1707–1778), the father of biological and mineralogical

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

, and his numerous important pupils, the physicist and astronomer

(1701–1744), inventor of the Celsius scale the predecessor of the Celsius scale, and the chemist

Torbern Bergman Torbern Olaf (Olof) Bergman (''KVO'') (20 March 17358 July 1784) was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist noted for his 1775 ''Dissertation on Elective Attractions'', containing the largest chemical affinity tables ever published. Bergman was the ...

(1735–1784). Another scientist from this era is

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had ...

(1688–1772), better remembered today as a religious mystic. Several of the elements were discovered by Uppsala scientists during this period or later.

Jöns Jakob Berzelius Jöns is a Swedish given name and a surname. Notable people with the given name include: * Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848), Swedish chemist * Jöns Budde (1435–1495), Franciscan friar from the Brigittine monastery in NaantaliVallis Grati ...

, one of the fathers of modern chemistry, received his doctorate in medicine in Uppsala in 1804, but later moved to Stockholm. Uppsala scientists of the 19th century include the physicist

Anders Jonas Ångström Anders Jonas Ångström (; 13 August 181421 June 1874) was a Swedish physicist and one of the founders of the science of spectroscopy.P.Murdin (2000): "Angstrom" chapter in ''Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics''. Ångström is also wel ...

(1814–1874). During the 20th century several Nobel laureates in the sciences have been Uppsala alumni or professors at the university. Many well-known Swedish writers have studied in Uppsala:

Georg Stiernhielm Georg Stiernhielm (August 7, 1598 – April 22, 1672) was a Swedish civil servant, mathematician, linguist and poet. Life Stiernhielm was born on the family estate Gammelgården in the village Svartskär in Vika parish in Dalarna where his fathe ...

(1598–1672) is often called the father of Swedish poetry. The poet and song composer

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

(1740–1795), without doubt the best-loved and best-remembered of Swedish 18th-century poets, matriculated but left the university after less than a year. The writer, historian and composer

Erik Gustaf Geijer Erik Gustaf Geijer (12 January 1783 – 23 April 1847) was a Swedish writer, historian, poet, romantic critic of political economy, philosopher, and composer. His writings served to promote Swedish National Romanticism. He was an influential ...

(1783–1847), professor of history, and the poet

Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (19 January 1790 in Åsbo, Östergötland – 21 July 1855) was a Swedish romantic poet, and a member of the Swedish Academy. Life He was son of a country parson, was born in the province of Ostergotland on 19 Ja ...

(1790–1855), professor of poetry, were principal figures of early 19th-century Swedish romanticism. The less than happy experiences of the Uppsala student life of novelist and playwright

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

(1849–1912), resulted in his ''Från Fjärdingen och Svartbäcken'' (1877), a collection of short stories set in Uppsala ("From Fjärdingen and Svartbäcken," the title refers to two districts in Uppsala). Other Uppsala alumni are the poet

Erik Axel Karlfeldt Erik Axel Karlfeldt (20 July 1864 – 8 April 1931) was a Swedish poet whose highly symbolist poetry masquerading as regionalism was popular and won him the 1931 Nobel Prize in Literature posthumously after he had been nominated by Nathan Söderb ...

(1864–1931), who refused the

Nobel Prize for Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

in 1918, but received it posthumously in 1931, the novelist and playwright

Pär Lagerkvist Pär Fabian Lagerkvist (23 May 1891 – 11 July 1974) was a Swedish author who received the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature. Lagerkvist wrote poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his ...

(1891–1974), Nobel laureate in 1951, and the poet and novelist

Karin Boye Karin Maria Boye (; 26 October 1900 – 24 April 1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist. In Sweden she is acclaimed as a poet, but internationally she is best known for the dystopian science fiction novel '' Kallocain'' (1940). Career Boye wa ...

(1900–1941), for whom one branch of the university library has been named. The Communist leader

Ture Nerman Ture Nerman (18 May 1886, in Norrköping – 7 October 1969) was a Swedish socialist. As a journalist and author, he was a well-known political activist in his time. He also wrote poems and songs. Nerman was a vegetarian and a strict teetotale ...

(1886–1969) wrote a novel called ''Olympen'', based on his experience as a student in Uppsala.

International cooperation

Uppsala University has signed student exchange agreements with about 400 universities across all parts of the world. It takes part in the Erasmus programme and the Nordplus programme. It also benefits from its membership of the

of universities. In May 2010 Uppsala joined the

Matariki Network of Universities The Matariki Network of Universities (MNU) is an international group of universities that focuses on strong links between research and undergraduate teaching. Each member is leading international best practice in research and education based on ...

(MNU) together with

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

(USA),

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

(UK), Queen's University (Canada),

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

(New Zealand),

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

(Germany), and

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

(Australia).

In fiction and popular culture

Along with

, Uppsala is the historic and traditional centre of Swedish academic life, making it a popular object of reference in

Swedish literature Swedish literature () refers to literature written in the Swedish language or by writers from Sweden. The first literary text from Sweden is the Rök runestone, carved during the Viking Age circa 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Chri ...

, art, and film. Specifically, Uppsala University has appeared notably in ''Män som hatar kvinnor'' or ''

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (original title in sv, Män som hatar kvinnor , lit=''Men Who Hate Women'') is a psychological thriller novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson (1954–2004). It was published posthumously in 2 ...

'' by Stieg Larsson. The Norwegian pop singer

Kirsti Sparboe Kirsti Sparboe (born 7 December 1946) is a Norwegian musical performer and an actress. Most of her musical career has been built on participation in the widely-popular Eurovision Song Contest in which she competed three times and scored a grand ...

dedicated one of her biggest successes to Uppsala University, publishing in 1969 the song "Ein Student aus Uppsala". The song, originally written in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, lasted 14 weeks in the German charts. Uppsala University appears as a research centre in the strategy game '' Empire: Total War''. Uppsala University appears in the novel '' S.'' by

Doug Dorst Doug Dorst is an American novelist, short story writer, and creative writing instructor. Dorst is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. He is the current director of the MFA Program in Creati ...

and

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

. The fictional author V. M. Straka of ''Ship of Theseus'' sends Mr. Grahn a confidential letter on Uppsala Universitet letterhead and stamps his signature with "Straka Uppsala Arkiv" (included as an insert to the book).

References

External links

*
Uppsala University Student page

Study Abroad Uppsala
nbsp;– A guide for international students attending Uppsala University
American Friends of Uppsala University
{{Authority control Universities in Sweden Uppsala 1477 establishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 15th century Buildings and structures in Uppsala