In the first week of September in Sweden, you’ll see groups of nollor, or freshers, milling around every university town in Sweden, many of them dressed in overalls, white lab coats, or other costumes.

Lund University and Uppsala University, where the traditions, ancient societies, and outdated terminology rival what you might find in the older Oxford and Cambridge colleges, tend to have more elaborate and tradition-filled weeks, while new universities, like Malmö University, tend to have more stripped down affairs. 

What’s Freshers’ Week called in Sweden? 

Freshers’ Week in Sweden is called nollningen, which literally means “the setting to zero”, and has traditionally involved a process called nollning, where older students haze new students, sometimes in humiliating and quite extreme ways. 

Many universities have officially dropped the term nollningen, due to its association with bullying, calling Freshers’ Week something like Välkomstveckan, or “welcome week”, instead.  

At any rate, the welcoming events are normally nowadays just good-natured fun, with only occasional reports of abuse taking place. There are games and activities designed to break the ice and help new students meet older students, get to know the university, and get to know one another.

At the two oldest universities, Lund and Uppsala, and to a lesser extent at Stockholm University and Gothenburg University, there’s often different terminology used for Freshers’ Week.

At Lund, freshers are often called novischer (from novitie, the Latin word for a college freshman), the welcome week is called Novischveckan, and the group of older students organising the activities is called Novischeriet. 

At Uppsala University, at the law faculty at Stockholm University, and in parts Gothenburg University, meanwhile, the word recce is used, which is short for recentior, which means “a new arrival” in Latin. Göta studentkår, the student union at Gothenburg University, refers to Freshers’ Week as RePe, short for Recentiors Perioden, or “the new arrivals’ period”. 

What happens at Freshers’ Week in Sweden? 

Costumes vary depending on university and faculty. Freshers studying technical subjects, such as engineering,have to wear boilersuits in colours which indicate which course they are studying. Medical students have to wear white coats. Students studying other subjects tend to be given some kind of ad hoc costume, normally with a funny hat or a t-shirt printed with a slogan.   

At most universities events are primarily organised by faculties or by the student unions. For example, Stockholm University has a welcome fair with fika, speed dating, and an introduction to the various sports clubs. 

At Lund and Uppsala though, the events are more often organised by the “Nations”, the student societies that are responsible for much of student social life, and which also offer some accommodation.   

Freshers’ Week activities will normally be organised around a theme, allowing older students to let their imaginations run wild. 

Kalmar Nation in Lund, for instance, is this year setting it in a postapocalyptic world where Lund has been destroyed, setting the scene for a battle between vetenskapsmännen, lovers of science, who want to return the world to what it was, apokalyptikerna, who want to continue the choas, utopisterna, who want an ideal world of peace, and mullvadarna, the moles, who come from the underworld. 

They will also normally include a busy programme of events. At Lund’s Malmö Nation, for example, all new members are assigned a group, which combines freshers with two or three older students, who act as mentors (rather than tormentors as they might have done in the past). Events are then spread out over several weeks.  

They include a novischpub night, with food and quizzes, where freshers are introduced to what the nation is and how to sign up for various responsibilities and other activities. Then there are daytime activities with games and challenges arranged by the nation where the groups compete with one another.

The day is finished up with a fulsittning – a dinner party with fun outfits, simple food, and lots of drinks. After the dinner the Nation’s nightclub is open for all of the freshers. The novisch period ends with a large dinner at the student union, with white linen, silver cutlery, and formal attire.

At the dinner, nation members will be expected to sing snapsvisor (traditional drinking songs) and make and hear speeches and toasts. 

At Uppsala, this formal dinner, called recentiorsgasque, or reccegasque is held at the various nations. 

What about the more formal university business? 

It’s not all about the revelry. New students also have a lot of practical business on their plates in the first few weeks. Arrival Day for new students to come to Lund University this year is August 20th, and to Uppsala University is August 21st and August 22nd.

Stockolm University has its arrival service on August 24th and 25th. Gothenburg University has its arrival service on August 22nd or August 24th. 

On arrival, you will need to formally register, and check into whatever accommodation you have managed to arrange. If you haven’t received details on how to register, you should contact your programme or course coordinator for details. 

You will need a piece of photo id, such as a passport, and if your registration is conditional on completing a bacherlor’s degree or other exam, you may need to bring evidence that you have done this.  

Most universities arrange a busy schedule of orientation seminars, with a general welcoming meeting for all students, an introduction to the library, and seminars on study skills, health and wellbeig and Swedish culture.