The Operational Plan of the Board of the Faculty of Languages for 2024
SUMMARY OF
THE OPERATIONAL PLAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FACULTY OF LANGUAGES FOR 2025
On 7 November 2024, the board of the Faculty of Languages decided its operational plan for 2025. The plan allocates funds for each department’s ongoing work including its quality-enhancing work. In addition, funds are set aside for faculty-wide initiatives.
As a result of the faculty’s strategic initiatives, the educational mission is laid out in terms of full-year students (HÅS) 2024. The distribution of HÅS is determined by the bidding of the subjects in each department. The amount received by the departments for their work is partly based on student completion rate in recent years. This new way of calculating brings a clearer focus on each department’s subject areas and is intended to encourage initiatives that bring increased performance.
The 2025 operational plan in its entirety (in Swedish) can be found here.
FINANCES IN BRIEF
The Disciplinary Domain Board is awarding the faculty 203 million kronor in state grants for operations in 2025. Of this, 90 million kronor are earmarked for education at bachelor and master levels and 113 million kronor to research and education at postgraduate level. These funds must also finance joint projects at the university and disciplinary domain level totaling 53 million kronor (overhead).
The corresponding sums for 2024 were 85 million kronor for education and 110 million kronor for research. The increased funding cap goes to the Department of Scandinavian Languages for qualifying courses in Swedish. Previously these funds were allocated directly from the University Board. To be clear, it is a new form of financing and not an increase in funds. The increased research appropriation is essentially an inflation adjustment.
In addition to grants for education and research, the vice-chancellor also allocates special funds for training available to the university as a whole such as the Language Workshop and staff language courses in Swedish and English. In total, the faculty receives 15 million kronor for these activities.
Finally, the faculty receives a total of 717 thousand kronor for each language for which we have national subject coordination responsibility, a total of 7 million kronor.
Thus, the faculty receives in full just over 225 million kronor for its 2025 operations.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AND IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 2025
Every year, the board decides on initiatives in strategic development areas. These usually have a three-year horizon.
Operational Plan of the Board of the Faculty of Languages
Strategic plan. The work to formulate a clear vision for the faculty’s future operations in research and education and also to propose concrete measures to achieve this vision will be completed in 2025.
Faculty open forums. Two faculty open forums are planned for 2025. The forums aim to foster links between the faculty’s departments as well as different staff categories.
EDUCATION INITIATIVES AT BACHELOR AND MASTER LEVELS
Bachelor’s Programme in Languages. In 2024, a working group commissioned by the Faculty Board, reviewed the programme to give it a clearer profile. Students will be admitted to the revised programme in the autumn of 2025.
Master programmes. In 2025, a working group will be tasked with reviewing all second cycle programmes.
Professional connections, alumni and student recruitment. The board has identified strengthened links to working life as an important way to improve the faculty’s relatively low throughput and retention. Funds will therefore continue to be allocated for an alumni network as well as professional activities.
Collegium for Language Education. In 2025, this will include capacity-building activities in distance learning.
Assyriology. As of 2025, this discipline will move to the Faculty of Arts.
Conference participation. The departments have been given the task of supporting participation at academic conferences for masters students as well as teachers participating in educational conferences.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INITIATIVES AT POSTGRADUATE LEVEL
Admission of doctoral students. In January 2025, all departments will be involved in a joint call for eleven doctoral positions. The aim is to raise the profile of the faculty's doctoral education and to create better conditions for faculty-wide doctoral student activities.
KoF 2024. The evaluation of research and postgraduate education was completed in 2024. In spring 2025, the faculty board will decide on actions to be taken in response to the evaluation.
Faculty Research School in Digital Philology. Since 2023, the faculty hosts the research school in digital philology financed by the Swedish Research Council. The school accepts a total of eleven doctoral students, of whom four are based at Uppsala. The research school requires yearly cofinancing of 1,2 million kronor.
Research environment. The board sets aside 450,000 kronor to support the faculty research networks Language and Learning as well as Historical Linguistics (SPHINX).
Funding for research environment building. The board allocated money to stimulate interdepartmental research activities. You can apply for these here.
Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS). In 2025 the board of the disciplinary domain earmarks certain funding for SINAS. In addition to this, the Faculty Board has also earmarked funding.
Distribution of research grants. Following a review of the Faculty's model for allocating research grants, the Board decided that the departments' publication points should have increased weighting.