Ã…bo Akademi University ( , ) is the only exclusively
Swedish language
Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...
multi-faculty
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
(or anywhere outside
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
). It is located mainly in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
(Ã…bo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activities in
Vaasa
Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Royal Academy of Ã…bo, which was founded in 1640, but moved to
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
after the Turku fire of 1827 and is today known as the
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Ã…bo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...
.
Ã…bo Akademi was founded by private donations in 1918 as the third university in Finland, both to let Turku again become a university town and because it was felt that the Swedish language was threatened at the University of Helsinki. The Finnish
University of Turku
The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...
was founded in 1920, also by private donations and for similar reasons. Ã…bo Akademi was a private institution until 1981, when it was turned into a public institution.
As the only uni-lingually Swedish multi-faculty university in the world outside Sweden and consequently the only one in Finland, Ã…bo Akademi University is responsible for higher education for a large proportion of the Swedish-speaking population. This role has many implications for education and research as well as for the social environment. As there are few students in most subjects, cooperation between faculties and with other universities is very important.
A minority of students are Finnish speakers who have passed a university entrance Swedish language test. While Turku itself is a bilingual city, the university provides a strong Swedish environment. Most of the students, regardless of their original language, will be functionally bilingual when finishing their studies.
Organisation
The university consists of four faculties:
*Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology (located in Turku)
*Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies (located in Vaasa)
*Faculty of Science and Engineering (located in Turku, with some activity also in Vaasa)
*Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics (located in Turku, with some activity also in Vaasa)
In addition, there are several other units and joint programs, such as:
* Language Centre
* Centre for Lifelong Learning
* Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History
* Institute of Human Rights
* Turku PET Centre (jointly run by Turku University, Ã…bo Akademi and the Turku University Hospital)
* Turku Centre for Computer Science (TUCS) (in co-operation with Turku University, among others)
* Turku Centre for Biotechnology (in co-operation with Turku University, among others)
*
Vasa övningsskola
Vasa övningsskola (VÖS) is a Swedish-speaking normal school in Vaasa, Finland. VÖS is a part of Åbo Akademi University, and its Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies located in Vaasa. It is the only Swedish normal school in Finland. VÖS pro ...
, located in
Vaasa
Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),normal school of the teacher training programme.
While the university turned into a public institution, the foundation Stiftelsen för Åbo Akademi remained. Besides maintaining many of the university buildings, it is also a significant donor.
Rectors
The following people have served as rectors of Ã…bo Akademi:
* 1918–1921:
Edvard Westermarck
Edvard Alexander Westermarck (20 November 1862 in Helsinki – 3 September 1939 in Tenala) was a Finnish philosopher and sociologist. Among other subjects, he studied exogamy and the incest taboo.
Biography
Westermarck was born in 1862 in a w ...
Lars Erik Taxell
Lars Erik Taxell (6 April 1913 – 7 October 2013), was a Finnish legal scholar and politician. He was the leader of the Swedish People's Party of Finland in 1956–1966. He was also the Rector (academia), Rector of the Ã…bo Akademi University ...
Moira von Wright
Moira Johanna von Wright (born 23 December 1957)''Finlands ridderskaps och adels kalender 1965'', p. 559. is a Finnish and Swedish academic, who has been the rector of first Södertörn University 2010–2016 and Åbo Akademi University between ...
* 2022–present:
See also
*
Education in Finland
The educational system in Finland consists of daycare programmes (for babies and toddlers), a one-year "preschool" (age six), and an 11-year compulsory basic comprehensive school (age seven to age eighteen). As of 2024, secondary general acade ...
* ESN vid Ã…bo Akademi r.f.
*
List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
The list of modern universities in Europe (1801–1940) contains all University, universities that were founded in Europe after the French Revolution and before the end of World War II. Universities are regarded as comprising all institutions ...