Vision and core values

Vision for Umeå University

By 2035, Umeå University will be one of Sweden’s leading universities and internationally recognised for its quality, impact and attractiveness. From our position in Northern Europe, Umeå University contributes important perspectives and solutions to global challenges.

The vision describes how Umeå University contributes to the development of society and clarifies our role as an internationally recognised comprehensive university. It shows how we develop research and education of the highest quality and how we continue to improve our ability to attract students, employees, partners and funding bodies.  

Umeå University is using three strategies below to realise this vision.

Breadth to achieve excellence – with the breadth of our organisation as a foundation, we ensure excellence by strengthening research collaborations, developing future courses and programmes, and prioritising selected research areas in the long term. 

Cutting-edge research and education – we offer attractive research and education environments and are continually improving a collaborative culture and a campus environment that promote excellence. 

Relevance for societal development – the University is a development engine that promotes innovations for a sustainable society through research and collaboration. Umeå University also takes clear responsibility for safeguarding the development of democracy, academic freedom and critical thinking. 

Umeå University´s core values

Our core values are characterised by three academic core values: academic freedom, academic collegiality and academic integrity. The University is also a government authority, meaning the central government’s basic values apply to our activities.

Our starting point is that academic freedom requires collegial responsibility and the integrity of our staff. The academic core values are fundamental for enabling fulfilment of our mission with quality and credibility.