Örebro University

Örebro University (Örebro universitet) is a state university in Örebro, Sweden.

The university has its roots in the Örebro campus of Uppsala University, and became an independent state university college in 1977, Örebro University College (Högskolan i Örebro). The university college also incorporated three other existing educational institutions in Örebro: the teaching seminar, the sports college (founded in 1966) and the social work college (founded 1967). Örebro University College was granted the privileges of a university by the Government of Sweden in 1999, becoming the 12th university in Sweden.

On 30 March 2010 the university was granted the right to award medical degrees in collaboration with Örebro University Hospital, making it the 7th medical school in Sweden.

The law programme at Örebro University is one of Sweden's most popular programmes (number 10 in 2018, with more than 4,800 applicants).

History


In 1967, Uppsala University established a branch in Örebro, the College of Social Sciences. In 1977, Örebro University College was established through a merger of the Uppsala University branch in Örebro, the Preschool Teaching Seminary, and the College of Physical Education and Sport Science, and the College of Social Sciences. In 1999, the university college was granted the status of a university by the Government of Sweden and opened by then Prime Minister Göran Persson on 6 February 1999.

Rankings
Örebro University is ranked number 84 on the Times Higher Education's list of the best young universities in the world. This list includes only universities established less than 50 years ago.

Faculties

 * Faculty of Business, Science and Engineering
 * Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
 * Faculty of Medicine and Health

Schools

 * Business School
 * School of Health Sciences
 * School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science
 * School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
 * School of Law, Psychology and Social work
 * School of Medical Sciences
 * School of Music, Theatre and Art
 * School of Science and Technology

Vice-Chancellors

 * Thore Hammarland (1977–1978)
 * Stefan Björklund (1978–1982)
 * Anders Stening (1983–1989)
 * Ingemar Lind (1990–1999)
 * Janerik Gidlund (1999–2008)
 * Jens Schollin (2008–2016)
 * Johan Schnürer (2016–present)

Alumni

 * Lars Adaktusson, Member of the European Parliament
 * Stefan Borsch, vocalist, Vikingarna (1973–1979)
 * Johan Dennelind, CEO, Telia Company
 * Lars Joel Eriksson, politics editor, Skånska Dagbladet
 * Fredrick Federley, Member of Parliament, Centre Party
 * Nataliya Gumenyuk, Ukrainian journalist, teacher
 * Mats Jansson, CEO, SAS Group (2007–2010)
 * Hans Karlsson, Minister for Employment
 * Ulrika Knape, Olympic medalist in diving (1972 and 1976)
 * Pernilla Månsson Colt, television host
 * Göran Persson, Swedish Prime Minister (1996–2006)
 * Ali Sadeghian, musician, singer, songwriter, and actor
 * Elisabeth Svantesson, Minister for Employment, Member of Parliament, Moderate Party
 * Sten Tolgfors, Minister for Defense and Foreign Trade, Member of Parliament, Moderate Party
 * Rickard Olsson, television and radio host
 * Sven-Göran Eriksson, Football manager
 * Marika Domanski Lyfors, coach of the Swedish women's national football team (1996–2005)

Faculty

 * Anna G. Jónasdóttir, political science, gender studies; Professor Emerita
 * Fuat Deniz, sociology, killed on campus on 13 December 2007

Student Union
The student union called "Örebro studentkår" shortened "ÖS" was created 1963 and represents all students at Örebro University. The union pursues issues relating to education and student welfare to ensure that all the university's students receive a good and well-rounded education as well as a safe and secure study environment.

Örebro Student Union collaborates and is in constant contact with the university and the municipality to speak on behalf of students in the decisions that affect them. Among other things, the Student Union has student representatives in the Faculty Boards – which are part of the university's central management.

Örebro Student Union is a democratic, non-political organisation which is ruled by the students themselves as a whole, but to make things easier there are different departments that run the actual work in the student union, the most important ones being the student council and the student union board.

Student council
The Student Council is the organisation's highest decision-making body. Simply translated, the general council is Örebro Student Union's own parliament. The role of the Student Council today is to set the overall direction for Örebro Student Union as an organization and activities and to be responsible for the full-time remunerated employees who are elected by the Student Council.

The council consists of 41 members where each union section is represented; the members are elected by the union section's members to represent the union section and speak on its behalf. Every ordinary member of Örebro Student Union has the right to submit points to the Student Council.

The council meets four to five times a year, when they vote on various issues that affect or have been submitted by the students. A couple weeks before each voting session the student council assembles for an opinion meeting where all documents that will be brought up at the time of the vote will be reviewed. This is so that the council's members can ask questions and make themselves familiar with the issue for them to bring it back to their respective sections for their opinion as well as being able to discuss and exchange ideas before the actual voting meeting which will reduce the amount of time needed to make an actual decision.

Student union board
Directly subordinate to Örebro Student Union's (ÖS) council is the union board – Örebro Student Union's highest executive body.

The union board consists of the president of ÖS, the two vice presidents of ÖS and one member from each section (usually the president or vice president of the section). The main task of the Student Union Board can be summarized as implementing the council's decisions and managing the organization.

Kårsektionerna
The student union is divided into sections "Kårsektioner" that represent the different programs and faculties that are available at Örebro University. Örebro studentkår have 9 different sections called; Corax, DokSek, GIH, Grythyttan, Qultura, Serum, Sesam, Sobra and TekNat.

There is also one un-official student section at Örebro University called ESN which contains all the exchange students who come to study at the university. ESN does not have any voting power in the student union, as its members are only students at the university for a short time.

Each student section has its own given colour which also translates onto their student overall, or "Ovve". The different colours help in identifying different sections from each other, for example during the student introduction or just on a night out at the student club.

Ovven
The student overall or "Ovve" is arguably the holiest piece of clothing a Swedish university student can own. The act of owning/wearing an Ovve is a cultural phenomenon dating back to the 1960s that has evolved through the different universities in Sweden. Today owning the boilersuit-looking overall filled with patches is a must for university students across the country, and the piece of clothing comes with a series of rules that its bearer must follow.

While the rules and act of wearing the ovve differ slightly between universities, they are mostly the same all throughout the country, with the most important rule being: You can never wash the Ovve unless you wear it while doing so.

The ovve ceremony
Since the ovve is considered holy among the Swedish university students, you are not allowed to use it fully until it has been through the ovve ceremony, which is like a baptism of sorts. Before the ovve ceremony you are only able to wear your ovve fully buttoned up, in student terms "uppcabbad," and free from any sort of embellishments. The ceremony itself can be different depending on which university you study at, but they all have the common goal of inviting new people to the ovve-wearing society. After you and your ovve have been through the ceremony you are finally allowed to embellish it to your heart's desire and wear it rolled down and tied at your waist (nedcabbad).