“Collaboration within Europe is an important piece of the puzzle”
Professor Anna Sobek. Photo: Karin Persson
“On our interdisciplinary master’s programme TRACEE, students get to live and study in three different European countries during their education. In addition to subject knowledge, they learn to see things from vastly different perspectives. Hopefully, that creates humility and diversity,” says Anna Sobek, Professor and Head of the Department of Environmental Science.
TRACEE, an acronym for the programme’s English name Transdisciplinary Studies of Climate, Environment and Energy, is the result of an educational collaboration within the European university alliance CIVIS. All eleven universities in the alliance participate in TRACEE, and Stockholm University serves as the host institution for the programme. The autumn semester of 2025 marked its first launch. All students complete the first semester in Stockholm before choosing a specialisation and continuing their studies in places such as Salzburg, Lausanne or Glasgow.
Anna Sobek sees great value in European collaborations.
The programme combines the disciplines of natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and law, with the aim of preparing students for some of the world’s greatest challenges: climate change, energy transitions and environmental crises. Anna Sobek herself teaches one of the programme’s courses “Climate, Environment and Energy:a transdisciplinary perspective.”
“Exactly the kind of students we dreamed of”
“We have thirteen students, both from Europe and outside Europe, in this first cohort. Right now, we are in the middle of the selection process for autumn 2026 and are planning to admit between twenty and thirty people to the second cohort of TRACEE. The students who started last autumn are absolutely fantastic: curious, motivated and engaged. They are exactly the kind of students we dreamed of when we planned the programme,” says Anna Sobek enthusiastically.
When the TRACEE students disperse to different European countries, depending on their respective study paths, she and her colleagues at Stockholm University as well as at the other CIVIS universities continue to support them. They remain in close contact online and meet regularly in digital settings.
Some of the TRACEE students at the start of the programme in autumn 2025. All completed the first semester at Stockholm University.
Unique focus on education
At the Department of Environmental Science, European and other international collaborations are part of everyday life. What makes CIVIS and TRACEE unique, according to Anna Sobek, is that eleven universities jointly offer a master’s programme that is open to all students with a bachelor’s degree in any subject.
Within CIVIS, Stockholm University is responsible for building hubs for joint education, research collaborations and engagement around different societal challenges. It was within the hub for climate, environment and energy that the idea and vision for TRACEE was born. One of the driving forces behind the programme is Professor Alasdair Skelton.
“Considering the troubled times we are living in right now, with war in Europe and the Middle East, this type of collaboration is especially important,” says Anna Sobek.
“We are all affected by what is happening in one way or another, regardless of national borders, and that means we need to try to handle the situation by acting, changing and developing. Collaboration within Europe is an important piece of the puzzle.”
Some of the TRACEE students of the first cohort. Photo: Karin Persson
Last updated: 2026-05-11
Source: Department of Environmental Science