Mid Sweden University () is a Swedish state university located in the region around the

geographical center of Sweden The geographical center of Sweden is contested amongst at least four locations. Flataklocken The oldest and most famous geographical center of Sweden is Flataklocken, a spot next to Lake Munkby in Torpshammar, Medelpad at . The site was identif ...

. It has two campuses: one in

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

and one in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

. The University was founded in 1993 as the result of a merger. A third campus in

Härnösand Härnösand () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 25,012 inhabitants in 2023. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just ...

was active from founding to the summer of 2016, but has since closed.

History

Created on 1 July 1993, the institution was originally called Mid Sweden University College (Mitthögskolan) and was the result of a merger between the University College of

(''Högskolan i Sundsvall/Härnösand'') and the University College of

(''Högskolan i Östersund''). The two university colleges had been founded in 1977, with roots in the School of social work that started in 1971 in the city of Östersund, and in the

Folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

teachers' seminary and the nautical training/naval school that were launched in 1842 in the city of Härnösand. On 1 July 1995, the

Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (; ), often shortened to just Ö-vik, is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in th ...

and

Colleges of Health Sciences (''Vårdhögskolor'') were also incorporated. In 2001 Mid Sweden University was awarded university status in the

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s area of research including IT, and was thus entitled to issue doctoral degrees. Employees that were carrying out

doctoral studies A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

before then were enrolled at other universities, where they had their main supervisor, but were also locally supervised at Mid Sweden University College. Effective 1 January 2005, the

government of Sweden The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the Cabinet (government), national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's Executive (government), executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister and their ...

granted the institution the right to call itself a university and the school's name changed to Mid Sweden University (Mittuniversitetet).

Organization

Mid Sweden University has two authorised areas of research (''vetenskapsområden''), organized under the Faculty of Science, Technology and Media (since 2001), and the Faculty of Human Sciences (since 2005), respectively. Education and research is also organized under the Faculty of Educational Sciences (''lärarutbildningsnämnden''). The university was organized into eight departments, of which four are multi-campus departments: *Faculty of Human Sciences: **Department of Humanities **Department of Social Sciences **Department of Social Work **Department of Health Sciences **Department of Economics, Geography, Law and Tourism *Faculty of Science, Technology and Media: **Department of Information Technology and Media **Department of Natural Sciences **Department of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics *Faculty of Educational Sciences: **Department of Education

Education

The university has offered

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

(''kandidatexamen'') and Swedish master's degree (''magisterexamen'', one year) in a wide range of subjects since 1994,

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

(''doktorsexamen'' and ''licentiatexamen'') since 2001, and International master's degree (''masterexamen'', two years) according to the Bologna model since 2005. Mid Sweden University also offers professional degrees within

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

and Engineering (''civilingenjörsexamen'', similar to German Diploma engineer) since 2003, and as engineer, teacher, nurse, specialist nurse,

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

/welfare officer (''socionom''), journalist and, from 2008,

Psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. The university's two main campuses have different focuses but with some overlap. The Sundsvall campus has a school of education and offers various courses in the humanities and arts. It also has a wide range of courses and degrees in the technical and natural sciences and journalism. The Östersund campus focuses on graduate degrees in tourism, health care, social work and public administration. Campus Östersund also has Sweden's only

ecotechnology Ecotechnology is an applied science that seeks to fulfill human needs while causing minimal ecological disruption, by harnessing and manipulating natural forces to leverage their beneficial effects. Ecotechnology integrates two fields of study: the ...

programme. Besides the above, education and research within digital printing technology is located in the city of Örnsköldsvik. The institution is also well known for a wide range of web-based

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

International collaboration

Mittuniversitetet 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.

Number of students and employees

In school year 2009/2010, the university had 21,476 undergraduate students (including master students) with 4,000 of them based in Östersund, 4,000 in Sundsvall, 2,000 in Härnösand and the rest in distance-learning programs. The university has 235 doctoral students, about 800 teachers, of which 80 were employed professors, and in all more than 1,000 employees.

Past rectors (
Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...
)

Source: *1993–1994 Alf Gunnmo *1994–1999 Kari Marklund *1999 (acting) Alf Gunnmo *1999–2003 Gunnar Svedberg *2003 (acting) Pia Sandvik Wiklund *2003–2008 Thomas Lindstein *2008 (acting) Håkan Wiklund *2008-2016 Anders Söderholm

Past
prorector Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic ran ...
s (
Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...
)

Source: *1993–1999 Alf Gunnmo *1999 (acting) Sture Pettersson *1999–2002 Mats Ericson *2002–2005 Pia Sandvik Wiklund *2003 (acting) Sture Pettersson *2005–2006 (acting) Sture Pettersson *2006— Håkan Wiklund *2008 (acting) Sture Pettersson

Honorary doctorates at Mid Sweden University

*2001 –

Thorbjörn Fälldin Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin (24 April 1926 – 23 July 2016) was a Swedish politician and farmer who served as the prime minister of Sweden from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1979 to 1982, heading three non-consecutive cabinets. He was the ...

*2002 – Kenway Smith *2004 – Sverker Martin-Löf *2006 –

Bodil Malmsten Bodil Malmsten (19 August 1944 – 5 February 2016) was a Swedish poet and novelist. Malmsten was born in Bjärme, Östersund Municipality. Due to her parents' early separation, she grew up at her maternal grandparents and at foster care in V� ...

and Bengt Saltin *2008 –

Magdalena Forsberg Magdalena "Magda" Forsberg (née Wallin; born 25 July 1967) is a Swedish former cross-country skier and biathlete. She was the dominant female biathlete from 1997 to 2002, when she retired, winning the Biathlon World Cup for six years straight. ...

and Lars Näsman *2010 – Kenneth Eriksson, Erik Fichtelius, Björn Fjæstad and Jan Stenberg

Notable professors

* Angelika Sjöstedt * Peter Schantz

Famous alumni

Here is a list of people who have received attention from national media, and have studied either at Mid Sweden University, or one of the colleges that later formed Mid Sweden University. *Jerry Ahrlin, cross-country skier *

Abir Al-Sahlani Abir Al-Sahlani (born 18 May 1976) is an Iraqi-born Swedish Member of the European Parliament and since July 2019 a member of the European Parliament, representing the Centre Party. She lives in Hägersten, Stockholm. Biography Al Sahlani w ...

, Member of Parliament *

Berit Andnor Berit Andnor (born 20 November 1954) is a Swedish Swedish Social Democratic Party, Social Democratic politician. She was Minister for Social Affairs of Sweden 2004–2006. Biography Berit Andnor grew up in a working-class family in Gothenburg, a ...

, former Minister for Social Affairs and member of parliament * Helena Jonsson,

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

Mari Jungstedt Mari Jungstedt (born 31 October 1962, in Stockholm) is a Swedish journalist and crime fiction author. Jungstedt worked as a reporter with Swedish national public radio and television, and was an occasional presenter on TV4's daily talk show ...

, journalist and author * Jan Helin, journalist and the editor-in-chief of

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

since 2008 * Anna-Karin Kammerling, swimmer * Mikaela Laurén, swimmer and boxer * Melodie MC (Kent Lövgren),

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

* Ylva Nowén,

Alpine ski ''Alpine Ski'' (アルパイン・スキ一) is an alpine skiing arcade video game released by Taito in 1981. The player controls a skier on a vertically scrolling video game, vertically scrolling course who can move left, right, or increase for ...

er and expert commentator * Linda Olofsson, TV journalist * Anna Ottosson,

er * Roger Haddad, Member of Parliament * Fadime Sahindal,

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

immigrant * Anders Sodergren, cross-country skier *

Åsa Torstensson Åsa-Britt Maria Torstensson (born 25 March 1958) is a Swedish politician and a member of the Centre Party. She has a university degree in social work (). She was a member of the Riksdag between 1998 and 2002 representing Västra Götaland County ...

, Member of Parliament and former

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

2006–2010 * Fredrik Wikingsson, journalist and TV host * Gina Dirawi, comedian and TV host

References

External links

Mid Sweden University
– Official site
Courses for exchange students
– Courses taught in English
Study programmes taught in English
– International programmes
Mid Sweden University Students' Union (Östersund)
– Official site
Mid Sweden University Students' Union (Sundsvall)
– Official site {{authority control Education in Jämtland County Education in Västernorrland County 20th-century establishments in Jämtland County 20th-century establishments in Västernorrland County 1993 establishments in Sweden Educational institutions established in 1993