Paula Crabtree began her appointment as Vice Chancellor of Stockholm University of the Arts in late April 2014. Stockholm University of the Arts was on January 1, 2014 and is a merger between DOCH, School of Dance and Circus, the University College of Opera, and Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. Prior to moving to Stockholm, she was Rector at Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Bergen, Norway. Crabtree has worked in higher arts education in the Nordic countries and in Europe over many years. She is presently Vice President of the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA), which is a network organisation for higher arts education with over 300 members in 47 countries. She is co-artistic director of the NEU/NOW Festivals, a festival platform for graduating artists from Higher Arts Institutions and Universities across Europe and beyond and which has been held in Vilnius 2009, Nantes 2010, Tallinn 2011, Porto 2012, Amsterdam 2013 and Glasgow 2014. Crabtree is also a member of the Austrian Advisory Board of the Programme for Arts-based Research (PEEK) – part of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
