Information from Örebro University on the coronavirus

We are following the recommendations issued by authorities such as the Public Health Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are regularly making our own decisions, for example concerning business travel and student exchanges.

We are cancelling all international business travel and advise against business travel within Sweden.

We recommend students and staff to minimise their travel nationally and internationally.

All conferences at the university with international guests are cancelled.

Also a number of other large-scale meetings will be cancelled, postponed or held digitally. 

International visits by any larger groups are cancelled.

All members of staff and students have been urged to wash their hands very carefully, not to cough and sneeze without covering their mouths or into their hands, and to stay at home if they are ill.

Örebro University is following advice from governmental authorities in Sweden, that have permitted certain higher education activities in Sweden to continue.

We appreciate that most countries around the world have taken drastic action to prevent further spread of coronavirus, and Sweden's approach can be seen as limited in comparison.

However, the Swedish authorities and health services have developed a strategy that is supported by most Swedes - it is designed to provide a balance between preventing spread and respecting the civil liberties of individuals.

For our university specifically, we believe that fully closing the university would have wide-ranging consequences for our students and faculty.

However, we have taken stronger decisions than required to safeguard our students within the Swedish regulations, and we will continue to closely monitor developments.

The Örebro Student Union has also taken measures and is following university recommendations.

Access to the premises will be limited, but the university will not fully close any of its campuses. Students may continue to use our study places on our campuses, but the opening hours will be limited to 07:00-18:00. The School of Music, School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science, and Gymnastikhuset will to some extent be exempted from this.

The University Library will close as a study environment. It will, however, be possible to reserve books and to collect these at 11:00-13:00.

Proprietors of campus amenities - shops, restaurants - will make individual decisions about how they will operate.

All international conferences organised by the university in the near future are cancelled.

All larger meetings will be cancelled, postponed or held digitally. 

International visits by any larger groups are cancelled.

The Örebro Student Union has also taken measures and is following university recommendations.

Plans are underway to partially start up teaching activities on campus from the Autumn semester. Some teaching will take the normal format, some will be online. We need to make sure that there are not too many people on campus at the same time.

Six out of seven international master's programmes will be taught online, and exchange programs (incoming and outgoing) are cancelled. Decisions about the Spring semester will be made later this year.

Ultimately, Örebro University will always follow the recommendations of the Public Health Authority. If required, we are prepared to quickly go back to 100% remote teaching to reduce the transmission of the virus.

Information is provided regularly on ORU.se for active students - we will update this page regularly with new information when it becomes available.

Due to the corona pandemic, the pre-semester re-examinations in August will take another examination format. Most of them will be offered as digital take-home exams. Exceptions will be made for laboratory work and other examination components that require students to be on campus.

If you are planning to take a pre-semester re-examination in August and have some questions, contact the study administration at the school in question.

If your re-examination is moved online and you have any questions about your campus accommodation, you can contact the Housing Office via email - .

Email address to the study administration at Örebro University School of Business

Email address to the study administration at the School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences

Email address to the study administration at the School of Health Sciences

Email address to the study administration at the School of Law, Psychology and Social Work

Email address to the study administration at the School of Medical Sciences

Email address to the study administration at the School of Music, Theatre and Art

Email address to the study administration at the School of Science and Technology

Email address to the study administration at the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science

The university is in discussion with individual faculties about how the autumn semester will be structured. This is because the admissions process is still underway and the university has a responsibility to ensure teaching can be offered effectively to all students.

Decisions about international master's programmes have already been made:

• Six out of seven programmes beginning in September 2020 will be taught online
• Students entering their second year of learning should plan to be taught on campus (in line with the university decision to "gradually reopen campus")

If you are already enrolled for programmes/courses starting in the autumn semester and have an urgent need, we advise monitoring this page for further updates and contacting to request more information.

Contact your programme supervisor/study advisor urgently so you can solve the problem together. The university can help provide access to a computer in one of the university’s computer rooms to help you continue studying.

Please remember to contact the school well in advance.

The personal injury insurance that students are covered by during school hours/placement hours does not apply if you study or participate in online teaching activities at home. In the event of an accident/personal injury at home, students are referred to the cover provided by their own home insurance. 

For students covered by any of the following insurance policies – Student IN/FAS/FAS plus – and who are opting to stay in Sweden and participate in distance teaching activities, the insurance cover applies without any changes. If the student wishes to interrupt their studies or participate in distance teaching activities from their home country, any costs for travel back to their home country will not be reimbursed via the insurance. Nor is the student covered by any of these insurance policies from the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet) in their home country, even if they participate in distance teaching activities at a Swedish higher education institution. 

More information about insurance: www.kammarkollegiet.se/engelska/start

Remote examinations will apply until 31 October. What happens after that will be decided in the autumn. A few exceptions may be made, for instance for laboratory work that cannot be completed remotely.

No, unfortunately not. Exchange studies – both incoming and outgoing – along with international placements have been postponed for the autumn semester. There is too great a risk that it will not possible for you to complete your studies. We do not know how the corona pandemic will continue to spread across the globe and what measures different countries will take.

We do not know whether it will at all be possible to travel in the autumn. To ensure students can study, teaching will be conducted online on six out of seven Master’s programmes. The same applies to exams – they will be conducted remotely.

There is one exception: the Master’s Programme in Experimental Medicine, where online teaching cannot be offered. Students on this programme will be contacted separately about this, and measures will be put in place to ensure student safety on campus.

If you have been newly admitted to a Master’s programme, please contact with any questions about how these decisions affect your studies.

The Centre for Academic Development has prepared a webpage with information on online teaching.

Information on online teaching

On Inforum (the intranet), there is a page with information on handling examinations.

Information on handling examinations (Inforum for employees)

For members of staff, there is a page on Inforum (the intranet) with information on equipment and software that you may need in order to work from home.

Information on working from home (Inforum for employees)

If anyone at home is showing possible symptoms or is ill, you need to stay at home. Either you will then work from home, alternatively, if you have a job that cannot be done from home, you will be at home with pay.

We urge anybody who is experiencing symptoms to stay at home.

Common symptoms are a cough, other respiratory symptoms and a fever.

For more information, visit the Public Health Agency of Sweden's website.

You can now call a national information number 113 13 – if you have questions about COVID-19.

This is the advice issued by the Public Health Agency:

A general precautionary measure against respiratory infections is to avoid touching your face and eyes, and to avoid close contact with persons who are ill.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water – before meals, when handling food and after visiting the toilet. If there are no hand washing facilities, using hand sanitiser is an alternative.

By coughing and sneezing into your elbow or a tissue, you prevent the virus from spreading around you and from contaminating your hands.

Stay at home when you are ill to avoid infecting people on the bus, at work or in any other situation where you are close to others.

Contact medical services and follow their instructions.

New rules have been introduced concerning the doctor’s certificate for sick leave. A doctor’s certificate is now not required until day 14 and onwards.

According to the Public Health Authority, the following applies:

“Most people with mild symptoms of infection get well within a couple of weeks, but for some it may take significantly longer to recover – it may take weeks or even months before they feel well again.

For people who have been severely ill and in need of hospital care, it usually takes a long time before they have recovered completely.

The disease affects people in very different ways and it seems that in some, vague symptoms may persist for a long time. For those with more severe infections, feeling very tired for a long time is common – even after the illness.

COVID-19 is probably the most infectious in connection with onset and at the beginning of the disease. Stay at home for at least seven days after you were taken ill. You must also have been well and without symptoms for two days.”

The university strongly recommends students and employees who are abroad for an exchange, placement or similar, to return to Sweden. The university will do everything we can to aid the situation for returning students and faculty.

To the best of our ability, we will work to admit students to courses that will reasonably fit into their study programmes.

If you are seconded abroad for a longer period of time, you may of course consider and decide to stay in your host country.

No international business travel is permitted until January 2021. This includes travel that has already been booked.

Travel within Sweden is not advised. (Travelling between the university and your home is not covered by this recommendation.)

Students and employees should aim to stay within the Örebro region where possible - digital meetings are recommended.

If you are concerned about the situation in Sweden and wish to consider returning to your home country, we advise that you contact your embassy representative to discuss options.

Many countries have taken measures to repatriate their citizens, but there is no clear guidance that applies worldwide.

International students are welcome to discuss the possibility of continuing study in the home country with their study advisors. International employees are welcome to discuss their individual situations separately with their supervisors.

COVID-19 is still spreading around the world. Virtual conferences will take place instead for the time being. Travel to and from other countries is advised against until further notice.

The is now a national information number 113 13 – if you have questions about COVID-19.

You can find more information on the following pages:

• Information from the healthcare hotline 1177 about COVID-19 (in Swedish but based on the information from the Public Health Agency)
• The most recent local information from medical services at Region Örebro County (in Swedish)
• Emergency information from Swedish authorities (krisinformation.se)
• Questions and answers about the coronavirus on the Public Health Agency's website
• Up-to-date information about the spread of the coronavirus on the Public Health Agency's website (in Swedish)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommendations (in Swedish)
• Up-to-date information about the coronavirus on WHO's website
• Updates from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

No international placements are permitted for the Autumn semester. We advise you to contact the person(s) in charge of your programme if you have a placement scheduled. The university is in constant dialogue with our placement partners, such as healthcare organisations and schools.

The university has, for security reasons, opted to apply summer opening hours on campus. There are relatively few people on the premises and we would like to reduce the risk of, for instance, thefts or damage to property.

You can send your question to: