Linnaeus University (LNU) (Swedish: Linnéuniversitetet) is a public university in the Småland region of Sweden. It has two campuses, one in Växjö and one in Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University and Kalmar University College (Swedish: Högskolan i Kalmar), and has been named in honour of Carl Linnaeus. Växjö University was initially a department of Lund University that was founded in 1967 in Växjö. In 1977 this department became an independent university college. The college was then granted university status by the Government of Sweden in 1999. Kalmar University College was a högskola founded in 1977. Since 1999 it had been entitled to issue doctoral degrees in the natural sciences. The symbol consists of a stylized tree. The origin is a Linnaeus drawing taken from his "Örtabok". While the tree is said to be a symbol for the month of May and to represent the power of growth, it also symbolize LNU's ambition to be a global university with the region as its base and the world as its arena. There are two campuses, one in Växjö and one in Kalmar. Kalmar is a medium-sized town, with ideal settings for student life.