Recruitment of vice-chancellor

Peter Aronsson’s appointment as vice-chancellor of Linnaeus University runs until 30 September 2026, and he has announced that he will not be available for reappointment. On this page, you can follow the process of recruiting a new vice-chancellor.

Under the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, vice-chancellors are appointed by the government, based on a proposal from the university board. The appointment is for six years and may be renewed twice, for a maximum of three years at a time. This means that a vice-chancellor can serve at a higher education institution for a maximum of twelve years.

Linnaeus University’s local regulations for the recruitment of a vice-chancellor allow for recruitment either by reappointment or through open competition. The current vice-chancellor, Peter Aronsson, is in post until 30 September 2026, and he has announced that he will not be available for reappointment. Therefore, on 8 April 2025, the Linnaeus University board decided to initiate a recruitment process through open competition. At the same time, the board also decided on the composition of a recruitment group and an overall timeline for the recruitment process.

As part of the recruitment process, teaching staff, students and other employees are to be consulted. This is normally done through consultation groups.

Recruitment group

The task of the recruitment group is to coordinate the recruitment process and propose a candidate for vice-chancellor to the university board. The group consists of:

Maria Larsson, chair of the university board (convener)
Karin Röding, external member of the university board
Jarone Pinhassi, academic staff representative on the university board
Oscar Borgström, The chair of the Linnaeus Union
Jan Andersson, representative of the staff organisations (rights to attend and speak)

Person specification

At the meeting of the University Board on 9 June, the person specification for the recruitment of a new vice-chancellor for Linnaeus University was approved. Read it here.

Consultation groups

Teaching staff

Lina Aldén, FEH
Iva Josefsson, FEH
Ola Nilsson, FEH
Christina Öberg, FEH
Anna Augustsson, FHL
Per Enarsson, FHL
Viktor Kaldo, FHL
Cornelia Witthöft, FHL
Anna-Karin Arvidsson, FKH
Johanna Rosenqvist, FKH
Claes Ohlsson, FKH
Marie Källkvist, FKH Rickard Ulmestig, FSV
Disa Bergnehr, FSV
Graham Butler, FSV
Susanne Alldén, FSV
Ann-Charlotte Larsson, FTK
Bengt Nilsson, FTK
Cecilia Holmqvist, FTK
Magnus Boström, FTK

Administrative staff

Emmelie Hedin Ekholm, FEH
David Petersson, FHL
Helena Rydén, FKH
Magdalena Nordfjell, FSV
Lovisa Dahl, FTK
Eva H Eriksson, NLU
Helena Wickenberg Juhlin, UB
Charlotte Kipowski, universitetsförvaltningen
Pär Igevik, universitetsförvaltningen
Linus Karlsson, universitetsförvaltningen

Student group

Oskar Borgström
Stefan Sjöberg
Mattias Eriksson
My Fagergren
Ata Abbas
Fabian Seluska
Noa Cluer
Mohamed Hussein
Gage Malanoski
Rebecka Löfgren

Overall timeline

8 April 2025
The board approves the process, appoints the recruitment group and sets the overall timeline.

9 June 2025
The board approves the candidate specification.

June–Sept 2025
Call for applications and opportunity to nominate candidates.

Oct 2025
Interviews.

Dec 2025
Consultation.

19 Feb 2026
The board suggests new vice-chancellor.