The 2021 Annual Report is out – and shows a strong and attractive university

During the meeting on 16 February, the Governing Board of the University of Borås approved the 2021 Annual Report. This is an important document that presents the University of Borås.

“I encourage everyone who works at the university to read it. It includes not only economic data, but it says an incredible amount about our activities that is good to know when meetings with others outside the university, and we can also use it to compare ourselves with other higher education institutions," said Mats Tinnsten, Vice-Chancellor.

The Annual Report contains information about the university's activities for the year 2021.

"We have focused in the Annual Report on how the university is moving towards meeting the two goals: The attractive university and Complete academic environments 2.0,” said Magnus Bergenholtz, Controller at the Vice-Chancellor's Executive Office,

Satisfied students and employees

In 2021, the number of applicants per spots in our courses remained high and surveys showed that students were satisfied with their educational programmes and also attractive in the labour market. Employees felt that the social climate is good and that the university is an attractive workplace. The Annual Report also shows that the number of employees increased during the year and that the university had the competence to conduct its work and achieve the government's goals for the university. While there have been challenges in retaining staff and in recruitment in the teacher and nursing educational programmes, despite this, the university met its graduation goals for both.

High quality of research

Regarding the goal of complete academic environments, the Annual Report shows that the university has the capacity and ability to conduct doctoral education in all five areas in which the university has rights to grant these degrees. The Annual Report also shows that the university, based on the government's indicators for reporting results, conducts education and research of high quality. For example, the University of Borås is one of the higher education institutions in Sweden that has been granted the most funding by Horizon 2020. During the year, 16 doctoral students defended their doctoral theses at the university and three more of our doctoral students presented their theses at a partner institution. In 2021, the proportion of peer-reviewed publications also increased.

Gender equality in focus

Taking responsibility for future challenges and the goals of Agenda 2030 is a matter of course for our attractive higher education institution. Equality is among these goals. The university has also been certified according to the HR Excellence in Research Award, a certification from the European Commission. This means that requirements are in place regarding gender equality and equal conditions with regard to the working environment for our researchers. For the second year in a row, the university was also named best higher education institution in the Key Performance Indicators Institute's survey of the best gender equality index in universities and colleges (JÄMIX). Despite the award, the university still has a number of challenges and the work to achieve a more equal university has continued during the year.

Collaboration with over 300 companies and organisations

Giving our students and employees a global perspective is important in order for the university to be perceived as attractive. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of incoming and outgoing students decreased. This at the same time as digital meetings, conferences, and trainings replaced work travel and contributed to more sustainable travel trends. The attractive university also conducts its activities together with external parties. The Annual Report shows that the university has had exchanges with over 300 companies and organisations.

The university’s educational programmes continue to grow

The number of applicants per spot available was high in 2020 and contributed to an increase in both the number of programme and freestanding courses, as did the number of degrees granted. This increase meant that the University of Borås reached its funding cap and the goals for the government's competence initiatives. The expansion of police education programme continued. In addition, the university had a high proportion of students at the Master's level.

Good economic situation

The university has also done well financially as the funding cap, basic appropriations, and balanced funds increased. The result amounted to SEK 47.8 million and the administrative capital increased to 13%, which is within the range of 10-14% decided by the Governing Board of the University of Borås.

Other documents decided upon at the meeting were the university's budget for 2022 and the budgetary data for 2023-2025.

Read the Annual Report

You can find the Annual Report on the website 

It can also be picked up in printed form by visiting Magnus Bergenholtz or Anna-Karin Josefsson at A7.