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Linköping University


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In close collaboration with the business world and society, Linköping University (LiU) conducts world-leading, boundary-crossing research in fields including materials science, IT and hearing. In the same spirit, the university offers many innovative educational programs, many of them with a clear vocational focus, leading to qualification as, for example, doctors, teachers, economists, and engineers.

Are you curious about what it is like to study at LiU? Join us for a chat about what it is like to live and study on our campuses in Sweden. We offer free webinars and recordings for both prospective and admitted degree students throughout the year. Visit our Meet us online page.

About Linköping University

Linköping University will never rest on its laurels.

In close collaboration with the business world and society, Linköping University (LiU) conducts world-leading, boundary-crossing research in fields including materials science, IT and hearing. In the same spirit, the university offers many innovative educational programs, many of them with a clear vocational focus, leading to qualification as, for example, doctors, teachers, economists, and engineers.

The university has 32,000 students and 4,000 employees on four campuses. Together we seek answers to the complex questions facing us today. Our students are among the most desirable in the labor market and international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.

LiU achieved university status in 1975 and innovation is our only tradition.

History of Linköping University

In 1975 Sweden’s sixth university was founded in Linköping. Since then Linköping University (LiU) has grown considerably, expanding to Norrköping and Stockholm.

Linköping has been an important center of learning since medieval times when Linköping Cathedral offered a school with extensive international contacts and its own student hall in Paris. In 1627 the Cathedral School became the third upper secondary school in Sweden and in 1843 a college for elementary school teachers began operations. In Norrköping, the Fröbel Institute – Sweden’s first college for training pre-school teachers – was founded in 1902.

From university college to university

What would later become Linköping University began to take shape in the mid-1960s. Higher education in Sweden was expanding and in 1965 the Swedish Parliament decided to establish a branch of Stockholm University, together with a university college of engineering and medicine, in Linköping.

In the autumn of 1967, the branch of Stockholm University moved into premises in central Linköping. There the first students could take courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Two years later the units for engineering and medicine got underway.

In 1970 education and research started moving into the recently built Campus Valla, a short distance from the town center. Buildings A and B were the first to be completed. The same year the various parts were merged to form Linköping University College, including faculties of engineering, medicine and arts, and sciences.

The new university college was the first in Sweden to offer study programs in Industrial Engineering and Management and Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, both starting in 1969. A few years later, in 1975, Linköping University launched Sweden’s first Computer Science and Engineering program.

1975 was also the year when Linköping University College became Linköping University, the sixth university in Sweden. In line with the 1977 reform of the Swedish higher education system, teacher education was also transferred to Linköping University.

Interdisciplinary research and problem-based learning

Linköping University has always worked with innovation in education and research. In 1980 the newly formed Department of Thematic Studies adopted an approach that was new in Sweden. Research was organized in interdisciplinary themes, such as Technology and Social Change or Water and Environmental Studies. Scientists worked across boundaries to solve complex problems. LiU was also first in Sweden to introduce graduate research schools for different themes. The model later spread to other parts of the university and became a national success.

The new Faculty of Health Sciences (Hälsouniversitetet), formed in 1986, combined governmentally and regionally funded education. It introduced a radically changed methodology, being the first in Sweden to use problem-based learning, PBL. Later, LiU became the first university in the world to allow students from different health sciences programs to treat actual patients on a student-managed training ward.

Expansion to Norrköping – and Stockholm

A significant milestone in the history of the University was the opening of Campus Norrköping in 1997. Some programs had previously operated from Norrköping, but the number of students now grew drastically in line with government efforts to expand higher education. Historical factories in the former industrial district were again filled with life, as they were filled with classrooms, laboratories, cafés, a library and of course students.

Linköping University also expanded to Stockholm when the reputable Carl Malmsten School of Furniture sought a collaborative partner from the academic sector. The Malmsten furniture design and handicraft programs became part of LiU in 2000. After almost 60 years at Södermalm in central Stockholm, Malmstens moved to new premises on the island of Lidingö in the autumn of 2009. LiU got its fourth campus.

Buro Millennial / Pexels

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LiU in figures

Some important figures for Linköping University.

Education

  • 32,000 students (full-time equivalents 17,907)
  • 21,400 on Campus Valla
  • 5,500 on Campus Norrköping
  • 3,900 on University Hospital Campus (US)
  • 2,100 distance students and students in other locations, including Campus Lidingö

(Some students take courses on more than one campus.)

  • 120 study programs, of which 27 are international programs in English
  • 550 single-subject courses
  • Exchange agreements with 400 universities in 50 countries
  • 2,400 international students
  • 2,200 first cycle degrees
  • 2,700 second-cycle degrees

Research and scientific training

  • 300 professors
  • 1,200 PhD students
  • 40 licentiate degrees
  • 140 doctoral degrees

Staff

  • 4,000 employees (full-time equivalents 3,156)

Campus Valla is located about three kilometres from Linköping town centre. It is surrounded by a popular recreation area, a golf course, the innovative new district Vallastaden and Linköping Science Park, home to many of the university's spin-off companies. Nearby is also the town’s largest area of student housing: Ryd. Valla is the oldest and largest of the university’s campuses with students from many programs and research within a large number of fields. On campus there are several cafés, restaurants and shops.

Campus Norrköping is centrally located in the Industrial Landscape, the town’s old industrial precinct alongside the Motala River. Old buildings have been filled with new contents, and the waterway adds a special atmosphere to the area. There are about 5000 students here who study everything from healthcare and communication to teaching and engineering programs. There is a close-knit atmosphere on campus and the different programs doesn't put up any friendship boundaries. It is close to the city's fantastic cultural and entertainment life, but at the same time also to water and green areas. Welcome!

Linköping University’s University Hospital Campus (Campus US) is located within walking distance of Linköping town centre and not far from the beautiful oak woodlands at Tinnerö. As the name suggests, the campus is integrated with Linköping University Hospital. Here you find education and research in medicine, healthcare and public health, as well as some technological research bordering on medicine.

Linköping University does not offer student accommodation. We recommend that all prospective students who are very intent on studying at LiU should start joining queues as soon as possible. It does not need to cost you anything and you are not obligated to rent a property but if you start studying at LiU you will have more points in the system. Local students often sign up years in advance which means they get the first pick of the best and cheapest apartments. The more organised you are – the more options you will have!

    The LiU International Scholarship is aimed at supporting international master's degree students with significant academic potential who are required to pay tuition fees. The tuition fees for a student awarded a scholarship are normally reduced by 50%. We offer a limited number of these scholarships to new students.

    Students who have applied for a master’s program and who meet all the following conditions are eligible to apply for a LiU International Scholarship

    • you applied by the deadline for the first admission round
    • you submitted all the required documents by the deadline
    • you chose a master’s program at Linköping University as your first priority (ranked as number 1 of 4)
    • you have been admitted to your first choice in the First Notification of Selection Results (usually early April)
    • you are required to pay tuition fees.

    Linköping University welcomes students from all over the world, and English is widely spoken everywhere by its 2,000 international students, or about 6% of its student population. Many doctoral students and researchers are international.

    We rank highly: LiU has been named as one of the world’s 200 best universities in education, materials science, sociology and electrical and electronic engineering, according to this year’s QS World University Rankings by Subject.

    Good prospects: A degree from LiU makes you a highly sought after employee. An impressive 88% of our students are employed within 18 months of graduating.

    Research that makes a difference: What makes Linköping University special is the lack of boundaries between different subjects and faculties, which has resulted in world-leading research environments and companies as well as a number of truly cross-disciplinary study programs.

    University accreditation by the Swedish Higher Education Authority, UKÄ

    Accredited

    Academic Ranking of World Universities Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2021): LiU's place: 301–400

    Ranked

    QS World University Rankings QS Quacquarelli Symonds (2022): LiU's place: 329

    Ranked

    The World University Rankings Times Higher Education (2020-21): LiU's place: 401–500 (411)

    Ranked

    QS Top 50 Universities Under 50 QS Quacquarelli Symonds (2021): LiU's place: 43

    Ranked

    The Young University Rankings (2021): LiU's place: 83

    Ranked

    DigiMaker, the library’s combined Digital Lab and Makerspace, a creative environment for testing and sharing technology, methods and experiences.

    • Student Health Care.
    • Study guidance.
    • University Chaplaincy and rooms for reflexion.
    • LiU Student Second Hand.

    The richness of student life at Linköping University is well-known, and the university has won the “Årets svenska studentstad” (Student City of the Year) award three times. It offers unique student traditions, life close to nature, and a broad range of activities, student clubs and societies to get involved in. Clubs and societies gather students with similar interests. No matter what you are interested in – chess, politics, music, horses, programming, theatre, or Harry Potter – there is something for everybody. And if your interest is not catered for, you can always start a new society.

    Linköping has Sweden’s best preserved medieval cathedral, an Air Force Museum, an Open Air Museum and the main square, Stora Torget.

    Norrköping is known for its yellow trams, beautiful old industrial buildings, the historic district Knäppingsborg, full of cozy cafés and shops, the Museum of Work and Visualization Center C - a digital science center with dome shows and exhibitions. There are easily accessible Bronze Age rock carvings within the city limits.

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    • Linköping

      Linköping University, , Linköping

    • Norrköping

      Bredgatan 33, 602 21 Norrköping, , Norrköping

      • Linköping

        9HWF+26 Linköping, , Linköping

        • Linköping

          CJ3C+CV Linköping, , Linköping

          • Lidingö

            942V+89 Lidingö, , Lidingö

            • Linköping

              Linköping, Sweden

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              Linköping University