Chalmers University of Technology (Swedish: Chalmers tekniska högskola, abbreviated CTH, often shortened to Chalmers), is a university in Gothenburg, Sweden, that focuses on research and education in technology, natural science and architecture. The THES (2005) ranking classified it as the top university in Sweden and among the top research schools in Europe. However, by the ranking of 2008 it has fallen to a number 3 position in Sweden. The University has very strong Environmental Science, Nanotechnology, IT, Bioengineering, Industrial Design, Management and Architecture departments.
History
The University was founded in 1829 following a donation by William Chalmers, a director of the Swedish East India Company, whose ships sailed across the world to supply Europe with goods from the East. He donated some of his fortune for the establishment of an “industrial school”. Chalmers was run as a private institution until 1937, when the institute became a state owned university. In 1994, the school once again became a private institution, owned by a foundation. Chalmers is the only university in Sweden named after a person.
Campuses
In 1937, the school moved from the city center to the new Gibraltar Campus, named after the mansion which owned the grounds, where it is now located. The Lindholmen College Campus was created in the early 1990s and is located on the island of Hisingen. Both campuses are connected by bus line number 16, but there have been numerous complaints that the campuses are too isolated from each other.
Ties and Partnerships
Chalmers has partnerships with major industries mostly in the Gothenburg region such as Ericsson, Volvo and SKF. The University has general exchange agreements with many European and US universities and maintains a special exchange program agreement with National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan where the exchange students from the two universities maintains offices for, among other things, helping local students with applying and preparing for an exchange year as well as acting as representatives (NCTU Europe - NCTU students at Chalmers, Chalmers Asia - Chalmers students at NCTU). It contributes also to the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) network.
A close collaboration between the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Chalmers and ICVR at ETH Zurich is being established.
Research
Research work at Chalmers covers everything from mathematics and natural sciences through technology to industrial sciences to social structures.
Many inventions and innovations that we meet daily come from Chalmers, for example the rear-facing child seat, crash-car dummies used by Volvo, SAAB and others, and the ink-jet printer.
Research takes place in 16 different departments, divided into research divisions and teams.
Library
Chalmers Library is a strategic resource centre for teaching and research at Chalmers. It is essential for an active research environment to have information support and dissemination services.
The library combines a physical learning environment with a digital one. The digital library with its rich offering of electronic information resources is accessible to the entire Chalmers campus including Lindholmen campuses. At the library there are attractive reading rooms (including silent reading rooms), a studio with reading aids for handicapped people, group meeting rooms, a café and a lunchroom for students.
The library gives priority to Chalmers students, researchers, teachers and other staff. It is also a public library, open to all who need to use our collections and the combined skills offered by our librarians.
The Chalmers Library comprises three entities: the Main and Architecture Libraries at the Johanneberg campus and the Lindholmen Library at the Lindholmen campus. The latter also provides library services to the IT University.
EU projects
In 2006 Chalmers participated in 144 EU-funded research projects. Chalmers is the coordinator in 17 of those projects. Our revenues for these projects were 10 Million Euros.
The majority of the projects are industry-oriented, in which the participants in most cases are both universities and companies. Of the EU projects in which Chalmers participates, a large portion are funded from the Sixth Framework Programme. Chalmers has its most frequent participation in the priority areas "Sustainable Development" and "Information Society Technologies" with approximately 30 projects in each area.
Departments
The implementation of education and research is taking place within 17 departments in research groups of varying size.
Applied Information Technology
Applied Mechanics
Applied Physics
Architecture
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Computer Science and Engineering
Energy and Environment
Fundamental Physics
Materials and Manufacturing Technology
Mathematical Sciences
Microtechnology and Nanoscience
Product and Production Development
Radio and Space Science
Shipping and Marine Technology
Signals and Systems
Technology Management and Economics
In the departments, a departmental advisory team exists made up of external and internal members and equipped with an external chair to be consulted on issues of strategic importance. Department heads are responsible for for providing departmental operational leadership. A pro- and a deputy head of department, as well as an administrative head, render assistance to department heads.
Chalmers University of Technology was ranked 162th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking.
To ensure that KTH’s research remains competitive internationally and that future research strategies are developed in a global perspective, KTH set itself the challenge of conducting an international review of its entire research base in 2008. In June 2008, some 80 international Experts, from both universities and industry, visited KTH, evaluating almost 50 research areas. KTH also conducted a bibliometirc analysis.
