The university is unique in the sense that it is the only higher educational institution in Sweden that teaches and researches philosophical schools such as German idealism, existentialism, deconstruction as well as critical theory and other views which are excluded from the traditional Anglo-Saxon analytical philosophy.

The background was that the transition to higher education was low in the southern parts of Stockholm, unemployment was high and segregation problems tended to be large.

On 1 July 2010, the Swedish Higher Education Authority granted Södertörn University the right to award doctoral degrees in the areas of Historical Studies,[7] Critical and Cultural Theory,[8] Environmental Studies[9] and Politics, Economy and the Organisation of Society.

[10] At the end of 2013 Södertörn University was awarded the task of providing the basic training programme for the police.

It will run as contract education and will cover five semesters of full-time studies, including a six-month traineeship at a police authority.

[18] The primary purpose of the research centres is to bring academic added value by focusing on scientifically interesting fields that lie at the intersections of traditional disciplines.