The University of Lausanne (UNIL) was founded in 1537 as an academy and became a comprehensive university in the 19th century. In 2003, the UNIL decided to transfer the basic sciences to the neighbouring Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, with which the UNIL maintains a very close cooperation. This strong move made additionnal resources available to reinforce the life and human sciences departments, giving the UNIL the clear identity it can rely upon now.
The UNIL comprises nowadays seven faculties where approximately 11,000 students and 2,600 researchers work and study.
Location
Lausanne is situated in the heart of the French-speaking region of Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. The UNIL main campus is located in an exceptionally green and spacious lakeside setting on the western part of the city. An excellent public transport network (subway, bus) allows to reach downtown Lausanne in just a few minutes.
Faculties
The UNIL is composed of seven faculties:
- Theology and Religious Studies
- Law and Criminal Justice
- Arts
- Social and Political Sciences
- Business and Economics
- Geosciences and Environment
- Biology and Medicine
Research and teaching
The UNIL is active in research and teaching: all professors are researchers and students benefit immediately from the latest developments in their field. The quality of the research is reflected by the UNIL's desirable position in various citation indexes and rankings. The UNIL is especially strong in Finance, Forensic Science, Social Sciences, Environmental Sciences (Geochemistry, Industrial Ecology), and life sciences (Immunology, Neurosciences, Genomics, Evolutionary Biology).
The UNIL offers Bachelor, Master, postgraduate, PhD and continuing education programmes. The programmes are attractive: more than 50% of the Master's students in Business and Economics hold a degree from another university.
Quality
Quality is a priority of the institution. The UNIL has developped an original quality evaluation process initially focused on teaching, then extended to research and recently to the administrative management. The Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance of the Swiss Universities has praised this quality evaluation process.
Teaching language
Courses are taught in French, and several Master's programmes in Business, Economics, and Biology are taught entirely in English, as is also the case for some executive programmes.
An international environment
The UNIL attracts researchers and students from the five continents: more that 30% of the teaching staff and 20% of the students come from abroad. The UNIL actively encourages exchanges by establishing cooperation agreements with partner universities all over the world.
Sustainable development
For more than 20 years the UNIL has been taking concrete and effective measures to reduce its impact on environment. Original solutions have been implemented, such as, among many others, the use of the water of the nearby lake to cool down the buildings in summer. To reinforce this policy and make it more visible, the UNIL is currently setting up an "Agenda 21" for the management and maintenance of the campus.
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