University West

Fotograf Patrik Johäll

We offer programs in which we collaborate and cooperate closely with businesses and society, so-called work-life experiences. Through our profile – work integrated learning (WIL), students at the university gain work experience already while at the university. University West has been commissioned by the government to develop pedagogics associated to WIL. One example of WIL is the so called co-op in which studies are sandwiched with periods of paid work.

The university offers a variety of programs and courses in computing and IT, economics and leadership, healthcare, teaching and languages, media, social studies, and technology.

Engineering and social sciences are the major areas of research at University West. A smaller number of projects are carried on in the humanities, nursing and health sciences. The research is largely focused on producing results that can be of practical use, and a large portion of it is conducted in collaboration with the community. The research is also intended to strengthen the scientific level of the university’s different programs.

Attractive and modern study environment at University West
There are about 12,000 students and about 570 employees at University West. Our campus is in the heart of Trollhättan and is built with the students’ needs in focus. The open surfaces make it simple for students and teachers, and to gain work-life experiences.

Research at University West
University Wests prioritizes certain areas of research: Work Integrated Learning (LINA), Child and Youth Studies (BUV) and Production (PTV).
In these areas major conferences are organized during which the university becomes a meeting place for many interested parties.

Some 50 scientists are included in the research environment LINA, Learning in and for the new labor market where university research and integrated learning fit into the picture. LINA’s purpose is to initiate, conduct and disseminate research on learning and knowledge related to work. It involves, for example, competence in a state of flux. What happens in the new world of work today?

What are the demands on people’s skills anc competence? What is it that we learn at work? Work is defined broadly and includes various forms of work, both paid and unpaid. LINA is a multidisciplinary research environment. Researchers in the group are mainly in the areas of informatics, education, social work, business studies, cultural studies, psychology and health care sciences.

In Child and Youth Studies the focus is on the perspective of children and the voices of children are heard. Within the field, there are some 50 researchers, in the disciplines of psychology, sociology, education and culture, science, and research is focused mainly on three topics,

• Learning and education
• Development, family and living conditions
• Culture, leisure and peer relationships

The research involves a number of important social issues such as parenting in different cultures, child development and learning, social support and co-operation between social services and schools, young people’s relationships, child and adolescent Internet use, health and more. Through the expertise that exists in the discipline and through the expertise provided through national and international collaboration, research contributes to strengthen the regional capacity in responding to child and adolescent needs for the future.

Today there is about 50 research projects in these areas, both with national and international partners.

 

There are about 50 researchers in the group Production Technology West. The group’s research is particularly true of production processes in the manufacturing industry and most of the projects are intended primarily to reduce the burden on the environment. It involves, for example, changes in the production processes so that cars and airplanes weighing less can be built. This would make transport more energy efficient. The research is conducted in four sub-areas;

• flexible industrial automation
• machining and forming
• welding
• thermal spraying

A characteristic of Production Technology West’s researchers is that they work closely with the industry. The group is located at Produktionstekniskt Centrum, which is run jointly by Innovatum Technology, a technical development center, University West and the region’s manufacturing industry. In the Production Technology Center’s premises is a very well equipped workshop and a technical laboratory that the researchers and their partners use. Production Technology West is also very busy cooperating internationally and has many foreign partners.

Gustava Melins gata 2
461 32 Trollhättan
0046-520 22 30 00