Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Overview

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet or SLU) is a public university with several campuses across Sweden. Headquartered at Ultuna, Uppsala, it was founded by the merger of Agricultural, Forestry, and Veterinary University Colleges, Veterinary School at Skara, and Forestry School at Skinnskatteberg in 1977. The university is a co-founder of a network of leading universities cooperating in the fields of natural resource management, agricultural and forestry sciences, and environmental sciences called the Euroleague for Life Sciences.

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Key Statistics

SLU has an educational structure composed of 33 departments which are grouped into four faculties such as the Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Agriculture Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, and Faculty of Forest Sciences. These faculties administer different programs at various levels that are mostly centered around natural and life sciences.

The university has a student population of more than 4,300, among whom are 2,791 undergraduates, about 1,400 postgraduates, and over 100 doctoral candidates. Furthermore, it has a faculty strength of over 1,100 academicians, of which 191 are professors, 142 senior lecturers, 109 lecturers, and 749 in other teaching positions.

SLU's main campus is situated in Uppsala and several branch campuses in Umeå, Skinnskatteberg, Alnarp. Other notable Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences key statistics include Sweden's only University Animal Hospital and a number of libraries that hold an extensive collection of printed and digital materials.

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Research

Research is one of the core programs at the university. In 2020, its researchers were able to produce and publish about 1,950 articles. Interestingly, external funding represents a majority of SLU's total income for research and doctoral courses at 53% share or 32 million Swedish kronor. The funding mostly comes from research councils and scientific foundations, with Formas accounting for almost a third of it.

The research produced by SLU has made impactful contributions in the fields of biology, ecology, and environmental science. Moreover, its teams of researchers are frequent attendees of many conferences and symposia such as MVA: Machine Vision Applications, DSS: Decision Support Systems, and ICCS: International Conference on Conceptual Structures.

The most cited Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences research publication is Klionsky et al.'s (2021) "Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)." It has been cited 8,166 times by students and researchers around the world and was published in the Autophagy journal. SLU's second most cited paper, also published in the Autophagy journal, is the earlier study by Klionsky et al. (2012) of the same topic, "Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy" with 8,032 citations to date. Further, Hooper et al.'s (2005) "Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: A consensus of current knowledge" is the university’s third most cited work with 7,790 citations. It was published in the Ecological Monographs.

In addition, there are several research centers and institutes that are housed by SLU campuses such as the Swedish Livestock Research Centre, Clinical Animal Research Network, and Centre for Environment and Development Studies.