About the Institute for Education Law

The board

IfU is part of the Faculty of Law at Uppsala University. The Faculty Board has appointed the following persons to the Board of the Institute for Education Law, IfU, for the period 24 January 2023 - 31 December 2025:

Maja Elmgren Associate Professor in Chemistry

Victoria Enkvist Associate Professor of Constitutional Law

Esbjörn Larsson Professor of Education

Lotta Lerwall Professor of Administrative Law (Chair)

Daniel Nordholm Senior Lecturer in Education

Judit Novak Senior Lecturer in Education

Sverker Scheutz Senior Lecturer in Public Law

Rebecca Thorburn Stern Professor of international law

Management team

Hans Eklund (Faculty of Law, Uppsala University)

Victoria Enkvist (Faculty of Law, Uppsala University)

Stina Hallsén (Faculty of Education, Uppsala University)

Lotta Lerwall (Faculty of Law, Uppsala University)

Judit Novak (Department of Educational Sciences, Mid Sweden University)

Maria Refors Legge (Faculty of Law, Uppsala University)

The Institute for Education Law, IfU, aims to inspire and support research and education in the field of education law in the broadest possible way. Based on the broad scientific university environment, the Institute promotes research and research co-operation between law and other scientific disciplines.

A central part of the Institute's activities is co-operation with authorities and with civil society. The Institute's activities are therefore aimed at researchers in all scientific disciplines, as well as employees of government agencies, representatives of interest organisations and employees in the field of education.

The research will lead to new knowledge about the conditions of schools and higher education institutions. The results of the research are expected to lead to changes in legislation and thereby contribute to the development of the law. The research results are also used in the school system and higher education programmes in Sweden and thus reach principals, teachers and other users. In short, the activities at IfU can be said to contribute to raising the quality of Sweden's education system.

The Institute for Education Law is the most important centre for education law in Sweden. The Institute aims to become the most important centre for education law in the Nordic region and, in the long term, to become an important collaborative partner for education law research in Europe.

The concept of education law captures all legally interesting issues concerning all education, both education regulated by the Education Act and the Higher Education Act and other education. The IfU has adopted the following definition of education law. As can be seen, it includes many scientific approaches and disciplines.

Education law means understanding and analysing

• all the rules governing the objectives, content, organisation, management, supervision and accountability of education
• the rationale and perceptions underlying these rules; and
• the rationale and beliefs in the field of education that have not been recognised or otherwise expressed in written rules.

Education law is a dynamic field influenced by international trends and multidisciplinary analyses.