Information about admission and selection

    You can apply to our courses during the semester before the course is held. One important principle is that no course is held with fewer than 8 participants and that the maximum number of participants is 24. Exceptions to this principle are shown on the course’s home page.

    Below you will find information about the admission and selection procedure.

    Previous knowledge

    Normally there are no prerequisites to take the New as a university teacher course or Basic course in higher education pedagogy. For the in-depth courses we recommend that you have taken a few courses in teaching and learning in higher education or that you have extensive teaching experience. An exception is the course Postgraduate supervision in practice where the prerequisite is that you are a new or experienced supervisor.

    Admission

    The applications for the autumn courses open 15 February and the standard application deadline is 15 April.

    The applications for the spring courses open 15 August and the standard application deadline is 15 October.

    If the application deadline is extended, the final date is 4-6 weeks before the start of the course.

    Selection criteria

    Selection to the university pedagogy courses takes place partly through distribution of the number of available places  and partly through personal selection criteria (see below).

    To be included in the selection, the approval of the head of department is required.

    In the course New as a university teacher, an inverted procedure is applied regarding point 4, i.e. priority is given to newly employed teachers or PhD students.

    1. Faculty
      Allocation of course places is proportional to the number of applicants from each faculty/equivalent. However, a maximum of 1/3 of course places may be allocated to any single faculty. Each faculty/equivalent is guaranteed at least one course place regardless of number of applications.
    2. Gender
      Course places are allocated respectively in proportion to the number of female and male applicants. At least 40% of places are allocated to the underrepresented gender.
    3. Previous applications
      In cases where applicants are deemed equal according to the above criteria preference is given to applicants who have previously applied for, but not received, a place. Applying for a third time guarantees a course place. A person who has applied for a course place and been admitted but has, for any reason, then not started the course is counted as having withdrawn his/her application. Therefore this application does not count as a previous application.
    4. Year of employment/ post-graduate credits
      Teachers are ranked according to year of employment at Umeå University and doctoral students according to number of post-graduate credits.
    5. By drawing lots
      If the above criteria cannot allocate places between two or several applicants the remaining course places are allocated by drawing lots.

    Special selection criteria

    In the course Postgraduate supervision in practice each faculty has a set number of places, regardless of how many applicants there are, and the selection is done by each faculty based on their own criteria. In the English courses, priority is given to non-Swedish speaking applicants.

    Standard admissions procedure after the application deadline (April/October) is as follows:

    If the course is full

    A selection is made from applicants based on UPL's selection criteria. Notification of admission/reserve status is sent to applicants about 2 weeks after the application deadline. Applicants are required to confirm their participation, if this does not happen before the specified date then the course place is given to the next person on the reserve list.

    If the course is not full

    If the course is not full, there are two possible outcomes:

    • The course is cancelled.
      If the minimum participation level has not been reached by the standard application deadline then the course will be cancelled. Applicants are notified one week after the application deadline.
    • The application period is extended.
      If the minimum participation level has been reached by the standard application deadline then confirmation of admission is sent to applicants approximately 2 weeks after the application deadline. Applicants are required to confirm their participation before the specified date. The course is then opened to other applicants and a new deadline is set 4-6 before the start of the course. If the course is over-applied during this second application period then applicants will be selected according to UPL's criteria.

    If fewer than the minimum number of applicants confirm their places then UPL reserves the right to cancel the course. Notification of course cancellation is sent out about 3-5 weeks before the start of the course.

    Good to know

    Admission
    Notification of admission status is sent to applicants about two weeks after the application deadline. Before you accept the course - make sure that you can participate in all course days.

    Cancel your participation
    If you would like to cancel your participation you can do that by mail to Marie Friman

    Late cancellation or no-show
    There will be an administrative fee of SEK 5000 if you cancel your participation three weeks or later before the course starts. This also applies in case of non-show without notice or early interruption of the course.

    Certificate
    To receive a certificate you must complete all parts of the course and pass all the assignments.

    UPL's courses and workshops are activities for developing competence that is not within the LADOK system. We issue certificates for all our courses where the extent (days, weeks) of the course and the content is specified. It is up to each institution to convert this time into credits (hp) if it is considered relevant.

    Marie Friman
    11/14/2023