Lund University has completed its largest international recruitment drive to date, resulting in 45 researchers from leading global universities joining the institution in spring 2026. The initiative originally planned for 25 positions, but the exceptionally strong field of applicants led the university to expand its recruitment significantly. Researchers from institutions such as Harvard University, the University of Oxford, Humboldt University of Berlin, ETH Zürich and the University of Cambridge will now take up roles in Lund.
In total, the university has appointed 32 visiting professors and 13 assistant professors. The budget for visiting professorships has tripled, from the initially planned SEK 10 million to more than SEK 30 million, to accommodate the high number of top tier candidates. According to Vice-Chancellor Erik Renström, the strong interest stems not only from Lund University’s academic reputation but also from Sweden’s status as a well-functioning democracy that values academic freedom, openness and equality.
Looking ahead, Lund University will launch a new round of calls in spring 2026, this time focusing specifically on assistant professorships in strategic, cutting-edge areas with a strong emphasis on sustainability. The university’s global ranking as the top institution for sustainability in 2026 is expected to shape this next phase of recruitment.
As part of this major initiative, the researcher group at IIIEE will be joined by one of the researchers from this round of the recruitment, Assistant Professor and Carbon Management Specialist Haein Cho from South Korea who will start working here this spring.
IIIEE is proud to contribute with increasing research capacity in order to contribute to Lund University’s expanding global excellence programme not least in the sustainability realm.
Read more from Lund University on the recruitment drive and the candidates here.
