Södertörn University

Södertörn University was established in 1996 following a parliamentary decision made the previous year, after extensive investigation into the need to expand higher education in southern Greater Stockholm. Factors behind the decision included comparatively low transition rates to higher education, high unemployment, and pronounced segregation in parts of the region.

At the time of the university’s establishment, Karolinska Institutet had already relocated its dental programme to Flemingsberg, while both KTH and Stockholm University operated certain activities in the area. The Novum research park was also beginning to develop.

When Södertörn University opened in 1996, it had approximately 1,000 students and activities located in Södertälje, Flemingsberg, and Haninge. Initially, the vice-chancellor of Stockholm University also served as Vice-Chancellor of Södertörn University, but on 1 January 1997 Per Thullberg assumed the position full-time, and the university gained the right to award its own degrees.

In 2002 the current main building, Moas båge, was inaugurated in Flemingsberg. The following year, the building received the Swedish Concrete Association’s Outdoor Environment Prize. The new facilities enabled the relocation of teacher education from Södertälje to Flemingsberg, and Campus Telge was subsequently closed. In 2006 the governing board decided to relocate all remaining activities from Campus Haninge to Campus Flemingsberg by autumn 2008.

In 2002 Södertörn University applied for full university status, an application that has not yet been processed. In 2004 the university, together with Karolinska Institutet and KTH, submitted a proposal to establish a joint network university at Södertörn, inspired by the collegiate model used at the University of Oxford. An updated application was submitted to the government in 2006.

On 1 July 2010, the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education granted Södertörn University the right to award doctoral degrees in Historical Studies, Critical Cultural Theory, Environmental Science, and Politics, Economy and the Organisation of Society. In November 2017, the Swedish Higher Education Authority authorised the university to award licentiate and doctoral degrees in Educational Science.

Research

Research at Södertörn University is conducted in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, technology, and educational science. In 2024, external grants and funding for research and doctoral education totalled approximately SEK 417 million, corresponding to around 36 per cent of the university’s total operations.

A substantial share of the university’s research funding is provided by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies (Östersjöstiftelsen), which supports research focusing on the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe. The foundation also finances several research centres and contributes to the university library.

Institutes and research centres

Södertörn University hosts several research centres and institutes, including:

Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES)