Facts and practical information

The University of Gothenburg

Exchange students from all over the world come to Gothenburg to experience the city’s unique atmosphere, and spirit. The University of Gothenburg (in Swedish: Göteborgs universitet) tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 50 000 students and 6 000 employees make the University a large and inspiring place to work and study, with a continuous flow of new knowledge and ideas. Together with the universities in Uppsala, Lund, and Stockholm it is one of the large international research universities in Sweden.
The university is also one of the most wide-ranging and versatile universities in Sweden. Its faculties offer training in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Humanities, Education, In-formation Technology, Business, Economics and Law, and Health Sciences.

The Faculty of Humanities

Students at the University of Gothenburg are not based on one single campus; instead, they are spread out across different faculties all over the city. The Faculty of Humanities is centrally located among beautiful surroundings, with nature close at hand. The Faculty of Humanities (in Swedish: 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 Faculty consists of six departments.

The Departments

Department of Cultural Sciences offers subjects that are part of the aesthetic sciences and that explore different cultural areas such as the pictorial arts, music, and film, i.e. “Culture” in a traditional, narrow sense. Cultural studies, the study of Children’s and Youth Culture, Ethnology, and Gender Studies are some examples of this.

Department of Historical Studies focuses on mankind and human societies from the Old Stone Age to modern times through the subjects: Ancient history, Archaeology, and History. Ongoing research concerns different epochs in the past. A number of projects concern Sweden or the other Nordic countries as well as non-European areas such as the Incas and the Mediterranean region in antiquity.

Department of Languages and Literatures comprises all the languages taught at the Faculty, with the exception of Swedish and the other Nordic languages. The department offers courses and pursues research in the major European languages as well as in languages that are more distant from a geographical and historical point of view. It is not only language that is the object of courses and research, but also the literatures and cultures that the language in question is part of.

Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion offers Comparative Literature, Theatre Studies, History of Ideas and Science, Religious Studies and Theology united by a common interest in the analysis and interpretation of texts. The study of mankind and of what is human in cultural contexts ranging from literature, philosophy, science, politics and religion, from ancient stone tablets to contemporary digital media, forms the basis of the education and research carried out at the Department.

Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science provides training in basic critical thinking that can be applied to virtually any other area or discipline. Theoretical philosophy focuses on how the world is constituted and how we can know and express something about it, while practical philosophy deals with how the world ought to be, i.e. questions about norms, values and ideologies. Theory of science deals with empirical and theoretical meta-studies of scientific research. General linguistics investigates the human capacity for language, commonalities of human languages and linguistic communication.

Department of Swedish, Multilingualism, Language Technology offers courses in Swedish, Swedish as a Second Language and Danish. You can also choose to focus on a specific area, such as writing or rhetoric. Swedish, Swedish as a Second Language and Nordic Languages offer opportunities for many different research interests. The main areas are currently Modern Swedish and Swedish as a Second Language.

Practical Information

Portal for incoming students.

Welcome Program

There is always a welcome program including arrival day and pick-up service at the airport, for international students the week before the official start of the semester. More information can be found here.

Application

All nominated students will receive information and guidelines for application through email. More information about the application can be found here.

Deadlines

Courses & Grades

Erasmus students are expected to choose courses offered at the faculty of Humanities. It is possible to choose courses from other faculties, given that the students meet the prerequisites and that there are available places.

General language requirements for courses taught in English is a minimum of B2 in English. General language requirements for courses taught in Swedish is a minimum of B2 in Swedish. Some courses in the subjects English or Swedish requires a minimum of C1 in English or Swedish.

60 credits (hp) represent a full academic year. The system is compatible with ECTS credits (the European Credit Transfer System) as one credit is equal to one ECTS credit.

For information about how to plan for selection of courses and grading scales at the University of Gothenburg, please see Avoid time-table clashes | University of Gothenburg (gu.se).

Find courses for exchange students

You can choose courses within your study field, at the department or faculty specified in your exchange agreement. If you are on a university-wide agreement, you can choose courses from all faculties.

Find courses here.

Academic calendar

The academic year in Sweden is divided into two semesters, each lasting 20 weeks. The exact duration of the semesters may vary slightly from year to year, depending on which weekday the official holidays are that year.

• Autumn semester 2024: September 02 - January 19
• Spring semester 2025: January 20 - June 08
   
• Autumn semester 2025: September 01 - January 18
• Spring semester 2026: January 19 - June 07

Accommodation

Application for accommodation is made together with the online exchange application. For more information about accommodation please use this link.