The University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden’s second largest city, Gothenburg.

The University is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 staff members it is one of the largest universities in the Nordic countries.

Structure

Management

The University of Gothenburg is one of Sweden’s largest universities. It is a comprehensive university, organised into eight faculties and 38 departments. The University is a public authority as well as a confederation of Faculty Boards. Each faculty/school has significant autonomy based on its attributed powers, and a distinct identity within the University.

The University Board is the University’s highest decision-making body. The board consists of 15 members and has “supervision over all the University’s affairs, and is responsible that its duties are fulfilled”. The Swedish Government appoints seven of the members externally, based on their having experience in activities that have significance for the university’s teaching and research functions. In addition, the Vice-Chancellor, three faculty members and three students, as well as union representatives are included as ordinary members.

The day-to-day management is headed by the Vice-Chancellor, who is responsible for implementing the decisions of the board. She is supported by the central administration.

Faculties

Modern architecture: Sahlgrenska Academy (left) and the reading hall of the School of Business and Law (right).

GU offers a large variety of academic disciplines, e.g. Department of Geosciences (left) and Department of Swedish Studies (right).

The university is organised into eight academic faculties. Collaboration across faculty and subject boundaries is emphasised in the university’s research and education strategies. All faculties takes advantage of this possibility and are active participants in a multitude of cross-disciplinary research and education activities within the framework of the university. The university closely cooperates with Chalmers University of Technology, a fact that further increases the total scope of the academic environment in Gothenburg.

• The Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts (Konstnärliga fakulteten) offers courses in the fields of design and crafts, film studies, photography, scene, music and fine arts. The Göteborg Organ Art Center, HDK, Högskolan för scen och musik, and Valand Academy are part of the faculty.
• The Faculty of Education (Utbildningsvetenskapliga fakulteten) is responsible for teacher training in various subjects.
• The Faculty of Arts (Humanistiska fakulteten) comprises the humanities, for instance cultural studies, history, literature, history of ideas, religion, modern languages, philosophy, linguistics, theory of science and Swedish language and literature
• The IT Faculty (IT fakulteten) offers programmes in applied information technology, computer science and engineering.
• The Faculty of Science (Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten) covers a number of science disciplines such as botany, cell and molecular biology, physics, earth sciences, chemistry, conservation, marine ecology, mathematics, environmental science, and zoology.
• The Sahlgrenska Academy (Sahlgrenska Akadamin) is part of the University of Gothenburg and functions as a separate academy with the prestigious Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
• The School of Business, Economics and Law (Handelshögskolan vid Göteborgs universitet) is a business school and a law school.
• The Faculty of Social Sciences (Samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten) offers courses in peace and development studies, public administration, journalism, psychology, social anthropology, social work, sociology, political science, and European studies.