A semester filled with anticipation, growth and community

Regardless, it is always a pleasure to see our campuses filled with students again. It is also wonderful to reconnect with colleagues after the summer's adventures. There is something special about seeing the lunch restaurant filled with both familiar and new faces.

Welcome to Our New Students

This autumn feels particularly exciting as we welcome new students to our four campuses. Following the encouraging application numbers this spring, we have, with a certain degree of anticipation, been monitoring admissions during the two admission rounds over the summer.

Overall, the number of applicants to Swedish universities and colleges has increased by approximately 1.5 per cent, while applications to SLU's undergraduate programmes have risen by an impressive 10 per cent. Together with the Agronomy programmes, our forestry Bachelor's programmes account for the largest increase within SLU. In August 2026, nearly 1,200 students were admitted to an SLU programme.

Within the faculty leadership for undergraduate education, there was naturally some nervousness ahead of Monday, 31 August. How many of those who had applied and been admitted to our programmes would actually attend the roll call?

When Monday arrived, I was delighted to see the area outside the lecture hall in Umeå filled with eager young people, a mix of students enrolled in the new Green Foundation Year in Natural Sciences and the Forest Science programme. In total, 28 students registered for the Green Foundation Year in Natural Sciences, while 35 registered for the Forest Science programme. For the Forest Science programme, this represents more than a doubling of student numbers compared with the same time last year.

The Forest Economics programme also saw a slight increase in registrations compared with last year, with a total of 35 registered students. The Forest Management programme (55 registered students) and Forest and Landscape (32 registered students) showed a slight decrease. Late admissions are currently ongoing, so these figures may change somewhat over the coming weeks, and experience tells us that student numbers often fluctuate during the first weeks of the semester.

The Forestry Foundation year for Future Forest Managers has also recorded strong registration figures, with 49 students registered when the programme began a couple of weeks ago.
For the Master's programmes, the overall picture is similar to last year. A total of 68 students have registered (compared with 74 last year), with the Forest Bioeconomy programme in Uppsala showing the largest increase, registering five more students than in autumn 2025.

In addition to our concern for our own forestry programmes, we were also curious, together with the Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, about how the new Bioresource Systems Engineering would perform. Responsibility for the programme is shared between our faculty and the Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. On registration day, 32 enthusiastic students enrolled, meaning the programme reached full capacity immediately. This is fantastic news, and it will be exciting to follow both new and returning students throughout their pursuit of knowledge this autumn.

Why has there been such a significant increase this year? We are currently analysing the reasons, but I believe it is a combination of more students choosing higher education and the result of persistent, long-term efforts in student recruitment. Forests are important, forestry education leads to rewarding careers with competitive salaries, and our message is beginning to reach a wider audience.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed, in ways large and small, promoting our programmes and participating in student recruitment activities.

The faculty will continue to work actively with student recruitment, and there will be many opportunities to get involved this autumn and next spring. Planning for the Upper Secondary School Day in Umeå is well underway, as is our participation in education fairs and open-house events in Uppsala, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.

In spring 2027, we will once again conduct our popular upper secondary school tour. The tour will expand to include more cities and schools, and its content will continue to be refined. If you have ideas on how we can further develop student recruitment, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I would also like to thank everyone who has contributed to welcoming our new students.
If you have questions about our programmes or suggestions for improvement, please contact our Programme Directors of Studies.

• Contact details to our Programme Directors of Studies.

Faculty Teaching Meeting at Ultuna

Ahead of the autumn semester, approximately 40 teachers from the Faculty of Forest Sciences met in Uppsala for an afternoon of discussions, inspiration and shared experiences.

The theme of the meeting was how value-laden and polarised issues can be addressed in education and how we support students in developing a professional approach for their future careers. We also shared experiences through workshops on practical examinations, reflective assessment and difficult conversations within the context of a complex forestry sector.

We also presented the results of the faculty teaching survey conducted in 2025. Some key findings included:

• Faculty teachers are primarily motivated by the joy of sharing knowledge and interacting with students, which they describe as their greatest source of motivation and job satisfaction.
• Many highlighted close collaboration with colleagues as important for inspiration, learning and support.
• At the same time, there is widespread concern regarding insufficient resources, particularly time and funding, making it difficult to further develop teaching and pedagogy.
• Teachers also feel that teaching is valued less highly than research within academia. As a result, they call for greater recognition of teaching efforts, improved opportunities for pedagogical development, and clearer career pathways for skilled educators.

We are currently finalising the report, which will be distributed as soon as it is completed.

Quality Evaluation of Bachelor's Programmes

This autumn, we will receive the results of the first quality evaluation of two of our Bachelor's programmes: the Forest Science programme and Forest and Landscape. These are the first programmes to be assessed under SLU's new model for educational quality evaluation.

External reviewers are currently examining our self-evaluation report, and later this autumn they will present their findings.

Looking Forward to the Faculty Days This Autumn

Throughout the autumn, we look forward to continuing our work within the Programme Committee to further develop our educational programmes. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions or thoughts about our programmes.

I am also looking forward to this autumn's Faculty Days, which will provide valuable opportunities to discuss undergraduate education. Remember to register!

Finally, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the faculty's teachers who contribute to our foundation year, Bachelor's and Master's programmes. Your efforts are invaluable.

Camilla Widmark
Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education
Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)