Swedes celebrate silver at Sussex

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One of the first schemes welcoming foreign students to Sussex has just celebrated its silver jubilee.

Gothenburg University in Sweden made the initial link with Sussex in 1975 to give 20 of its students an opportunity to learn English in a British university. Now it is one of the most popular courses offered by Gothenburg, with 25 applicants for each of the 80 places.

The scheme was the brainchild of Dr David Isitt, an English lecturer at Gothenburg who was keen to make university education more international. Originally from Bexhill, Dr Isitt approached Sussex with the idea because of the University's policy of encouraging foreign exchanges.

Swedish students can take a wide range of English language and literature courses at all undergraduate levels as part of their degree studies for Gothenburg University.

At a special luncheon to mark the anniversary, Dr Ulf Dantanus, director of studies for the Gothenburg Programme at Sussex, said: "It was most definitely a unique and forward-looking project and pre-dates most other international schemes for students."

"The relationship between Sussex and Gothenburg is constantly developing and the profile of the University of Sussex in Gothenburg and the rest of Sweden has been growing as a result."

Ulf Dantanus presents Alasdair Smith with an engraved decanter to celebrate 25 years of Gothenburg University at Sussex