Åbo Akademi University

The Åbo Akademi University, Swedish Åbo Akademi (abbreviation ÅA), is a Swedish-speaking university, based in the city of Åbo (in Swedish) or Turku (in Finnish), in Finland. It was founded in 1918. Today, it has seven faculties and several separate research institutes. It has about 7,200 students and a staff of 1,300 people. Åbo Akademi University is a member of the Coimbra Group of European Universities.

To start undergraduate studies you have to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the Swedish language. Instead, master's degrees are offered in Swedish, English and even German. In addition, Åbo Akademi University receives students from all over the globe year after year. This is because the university is part of many exchange programs, including with universities in South America.

Main building of Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland.

HISTORY

A building from Åbo Akademi University.

The Åbo Akademi University was founded in 1918, is the oldest in Turku and also the second oldest university founded on Finnish soil. The Swedish language was until the middle of the century XIX The language most used by academics in Finland. It was only in the century XIX , when this changed. Little by little, the Finnish won ground in academic life and the Swedish was consequently losing in importance. A reaction from the Finea Swedish minority was the foundation of the University of Swedish Language Åbo Akademi in the city of Turku (Åbo in Swedish). The university was private until 1981, it is now in the hands of the Finnish state.

Faculties

There are seven faculties today at the Åbo Akademi University , of which two are not in Turku, but in Vaasa:

• Faculty of Humanities (founded in 1918)
• Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (1918)
• Technical Faculty (1920)
• Theological Faculty (1924)
• Faculty of Education (1974), Vaasa
• Faculty of Economics and State Sciences (1980)
• Faculty of Social Science (1992), Vaasa

Åbo Akademi University Observatory.

Bilateral Academic Agreements

The Åbo Akademi University has an agreement with many prestigious universities around the world, including some are:

• Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt
• Technical University of Munich
• Universidad de Salvador
• University of São Paulo
• KU Leuven
• University of Victoria
• Universidad Diego Portales
• Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
• University of Copenhagen
• University of Edinburgh
• Complutense University of Madrid
• University of Barcelona
• University of Valladolid
• University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne
• Catholic University of the Sacred Heart
• University of Milan
• University of Oslo
• Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
• University of Cambridge
• University of Oxford
• Stellenbosch University
• University of Stockholm
• University of Lund
• University of the Republic
• Universidad Simón Bolívar

Links of interest

• Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category University Åbo Akademi.
• University Website Åbo Akademi