Uppsala University

Founded 1477. The Nordic region's oldest university, where Linnaeus and Celsius taught.

Overview

Founded in 1477 under a papal bull from Sixtus IV, Uppsala is the oldest university in the Nordic countries. Carl Linnaeus built modern biological classification here, Anders Celsius devised his temperature scale, and Anders Jonas Angstrom studied the spectrum of light. The 17th century Gustavianum building contains an anatomical theatre beneath its cupola. The university library holds the Codex Argenteus, the Gothic Silver Bible. Student life is still organized around nations, student associations named after Swedish provinces, which run their own houses, pubs and balls.