Umeå University

Umeå University is Sweden’s fifth oldest university, best known for its Institute of Design and research into genomes.

It began as a medical school in 1957 and was inaugurated eight years later as Umeå University by King Gustav VI Adolf.

From its location in the northerly half of Sweden, students can enjoy the northern lights, the midnight sun in the summer months, as well as the rugged arctic landscape where wild elk roam freely.

On the university’s doorstep is the fashionable City of Umeå, population 120,000, which is home to museums, jazz festivals, theatres and an opera company. In 2014 Umeå was designated the European Capital of Culture.

Over 500 courses and 34 degree programs are taught in English at the university, including more than 30 two-year Masters programs in science and technology, social sciences, business, health and medicine and the arts.

Umeå University has regularly topped the ranks of Swedish universities for its overseas student satisfaction scores, as measured by the International Student Barometer.

It comprises students and faculty from all over the globe, with over 52 languages spoken at Umeå and a diverse offering of 900 international student exchange programs.

Its campus is home to Europe’s largest training and fitness facility (IKSU Sport), as well as many elite local sports teams.

Umeå is known locally as the ‘City of Birches’, with almost 3,000 birch trees lining its avenues – the  result of a fire in 1888 that destroyed most of the city. The birch trees were planted as part of a restoration program and to limit the spread of future fires.

Since its inception, Umeå University has experienced a huge expansion, from its opening classes of just 446 students to the tens of thousands that attend the institution today.

Umeå alumni include Hanna Ljungberg, retired football star, and Sweden's prime minister, Stefan Löfvén.

The DNA-editing tool CRISPR/cas9 was discovered by Emanuelle Charpentier at the university.