WELCOME TO THE COURSE
Please welcome to the course Global change science held by the Department of ecology, environment and geoscience. This course will be held in English, and will be taught by David Wardle (as the course coordinator), Ylva Sjöberg, Heidi Burdett and Morgan Jones. On this page you will find important and useful information, so please read it carefully. If you have any questions, please contact our study councellor at sandra.straumdal@umu.se. Looking forward to meeting you in November!
You have been admitted for studies at Umeå University and you do not have to confirm your offer to keep your place.
If you do not want to keep your place you should decline your offer by logging in to 'My pages' on universityadmissions.se, and follow the instructions. You should click "I wish to decline this offer" next to the course you want to decline.
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If you are in need of special support due to disability, you should apply for that in good time before you start your studies. Find more information about support for studying with disabilities.
As a new student, you need to activate your user account (your Umu-id) approximately two weeks prior to the start of the semester.
With your user account you can:
If you are a new student, you will automatically receive a user account when you are admitted, but you will need to activate it for it to function properly. You will not be able to activate it until approximately two weeks prior to the start of the semester.
Install MFA for a more secure login
To increase security and reduce the risk of unauthorised access to your information or account, students must enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to log in to various systems, such as Canvas and the Student Web.
I want to activate my user account and install MFA
If you are an exchange student or tuition fee paying student, you will receive an email with instructions on how to activate your account.
If you are having problems activating your account or logging in, please contact our Servicedesk. You will find answers to common questions, and can submit enquiries.
You need to register for the course in the study documentation system, Ladok. This is to keep your place and have your results registered during the course. Online registration is open between 27 October and 10 November.
Introduction to Ladok for students
To be able to sign in to register online, you need to have activated your UMU-id account.
If you are unable to attend the course we would be most grateful if you could notify universityadmissions.se.
Over the past few decades human activity is transforming our planet, and many scientists believe that Earth is entering a new epoch known as the Anthropocene. As such, it is estimated that every single day, human activity emits 96 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the Earth’s atmosphere, 2400 hectares of the Amazon forest is cleared, and 7 species of organism becomes extinct. Of the various drivers of human-driven global change, climate change has gotten the most airtime, but there are also many other drivers, such as atmospheric nitrogen deposition, land use intensification, movement of invasive species, and loss of species that maintain ecosystem function.
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the multiple ways that human activity is transforming the Earth system, and the consequences of this for humanity. This will include a lecture and course discussion component that spans multiple dimensions of global change science, including climate warming, atmospheric pollution, habitat loss, biodiversity change, changes of wildfire regime and permafrost in northern ecosystems, alterations of ocean ecosystems, and several others. It will also include preparing a comprehensive review article and accompanying presentation on a fast moving and topical issue in global change science.
Information and course materials aimed directly at course participants are available in the Canvas learning platform. Students registered on a course have access to the course's Canvas page.
This course use only three grades: Pass, Pass with distinction or Fail, which means that no overall grade is given for a degree and students are not ranked. This is because the way of grading is fundamentally different and no finer scale exists. It implies that your home university is responsible for the conversion of the Swedish grades. To support the translation, course leaders can provide ECTS grading table is used at Umeå University. It shows the distribution of awarded grades among students of that course.
Checklist for admitted students
Follow this simple list of things to complete your enrolment at Umeå University. It includes: how to secure housing, getting a residence permit (for citizens from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland), tuition payment (if applicable), travel directions and more.
The Student web
The website for current students has all sorts of information about services, support, legal and practical matters at Umeå University. You can sign in to the learning platforms, see your schedule and course overview, get a study certificate, apply for a degree or sign up for an examination.
Recommended arrival times
International students are recommended to arrive at least a few days before the start of the regular semester, preferably prior to the Orientation. If you fail to arrive on time, you have to contact the study counselor as soon as possible, but no later than one week ahead of the course start, or you may not be able to register for the programme or course.
If you will have student housing through the Housing Office at Umeå University you will receive information about your arrival in your offer of housing.
Don't forget - Umeå has cold winters, so pack accordingly with a warm jacket, warm shoes, gloves and hat.
Orientation
Moving to a new country with an unfamiliar language, culture and customs can be a challenge. We would like to help you and ease that challenge so that you can focus on your studies. Therefore, we would like to offer you the possibility to take part in our Orientation, which begins a few days before the start of the semester (Autumn) or the same day as the semester starts (Spring).
Welcome Fair
Are you a new student at Umeå University? Visit the Welcome Fair – a perfect opportunity to learn what our university and Umeå can offer. The fair normally takes place in the beginning of each semester.
Get your UmU card
When you are on Campus Umeå, Umeå Arts Campus or Campus Örnsköldsvik, you will need a UmU card. The card has the following functions:
To get the card, you need to apply for it. Here’s how to apply for the UmU card.
Join a student union
There are three student unions at Umeå University:
They are actively involved so that fellow students have a high quality of education, good working environment, and fun leisure time.
Access to Microsoft Office 365
Students at Umeå University have free access to the programmes of Microsoft Office 365. This means that you have access to Teams, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Whiteboard Forms, your student email and other services which can facilitate your studies and your collaboration with other students. To access Office 365 you need to activate your UmU-id.
Learn more about Office 365 and how to install it on your computer