Åbo Akademi University

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Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi


Established	1918
Type	Public
Rector	Prof. Jorma Mattinen
Chancellor	Dr. Christoffer Taxell
Staff	1127
Students	7941
Location	Turku, Finland
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	Coimbra Group
Website	http://www.abo.fi

For the historical Åbo Akademi, now known as University of Helsinki, see Royal Academy of Åbo.

Åbo Akademi University is a Swedish language university in Turku, Finland (Åbo is the Swedish name for Turku). The university was founded in 1918, and is the oldest of the three universities in the city, the other two being the University of Turku and the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration. As of 2004, there are 7 941 students and a staff consisting of 1125 people. The university has activities not only in Turku, but also in Vaasa, Jakobstad, Helsinki and on Åland. Åbo Akademi was a private institution until 1981, when it was turned into a public institution.

Åbo Akademi should not be confused with the Royal Academy of Åbo, which was founded in 1640, but moved to Helsinki after the Turku fire of 1827 and is today known as the University of Helsinki.

The university has a policy that non-Swedish speaking applicants from the Nordic countries are required to participate in a Swedish language test, in order to prove their ability to successfully study in Swedish. Applicants from non-Nordic countries can, however, choose between Swedish or English language tests.

[edit] Organisation

The university consists of seven faculties:

Arts
Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Economics and Social Sciences
Technology
Theology
Education (located mainly in Vaasa, with one institution in Jakobstad)
Social and Caring Sciences (located in Vaasa)

In addition, there are several other units and joint programs, such as:

MediaCity (located in Vaasa)
Language Centre
Centre for Continuing Education
Institute of Human Rights
Turku PET Centre (jointly run by Turku University, Åbo Akademi and the Turku University Hospital)
Turku Centre for Computer Science (TUCS) (in co-operation with Turku University, among others)
Turku Centre for Biotechnology (in co-operation with Turku University, among others)