Johan Schnürer new vice-chancellor of Örebro University

“Coming from a natural science university, I am excited about joining such a broad-based higher education institution as Örebro, where there is also an ambition to collaborate across disciplines,” he says.

“I welcome the decision to appoint Johan Schnürer as vice-chancellor and am looking forward to a fruitful collaboration,” says Helene Hellmark Knutsson, Minister for Higher Education, in a Government press release.

Johan Schnürer is Professor of Microbiology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, in Uppsala. He has had the role of pro-vice-chancellor for collaboration for six years, and prior to that, he spent 14 years as head of department. He will take up the role as vice-chancellor of Örebro University on 1 July this year, with his term running until the end of March 2022.

Johan Schnürer sees a future for research and education where collaboration in particular will be required to an increasing extent, across the humanities, social sciences, science, medicine and technology.

One of his first priorities as the vice-chancellor of Örebro University will be to set up a “vice-chancellor’s research advisory board”:

“I want to bring together prominent researchers from different fields in an advisory capacity with the aim of assisting the University’s senior management. It will enable them to contribute to the strategic development of research at Örebro University,” he says.

Johan Schnürer has been at SLU for 30 years. His research has focused on the microbiology of food and animal feed. He has also been involved in starting up businesses within his field of research.

He was born in 1957, grew up in Örebro, is married and has three children. Johan Schnürer will commute weekly to Örebro from his home in Uppsala.

Text: Maria Elisson
Photo: Kicki Nilsson, Icon
Translation: Charlotta Hambre-Knight