University of Geneva

Founded in 1559 by Jean Calvin, the University of Geneva (UNIGE) is dedicated to thinking, teaching, dialogue and research. With 14 490 students of more than 140 different nationalities, it is Switzerland’s second largest university, after Zurich’s. It also has the highest rate of female enrolment (61% as against a national average of 50.1%). UNIGE’s buildings are spread across the city, thus ensuring a strong link between student and city life, and certain research centres are located in the country or near the lakeshore.

UNIGE is composed of seven faculties (Sciences, Medicine, Arts, Social Science and Economics, Law, Psychology and Educational Sciences, Theology) and the School of Translation and Interpretation. There are also several Interdisciplinary Centres (informatics, neurosciences and environment). UNIGE offers more than 280 types of degrees and more than 250 Continuing Education programmes covering an extremely wide variety of fields : exact sciences, medicine and humanities.

UNIGE develops its priorities along six axes : life sciences (from gene to patient), physical sciences (from atoms to galaxies), neurosciences (from neurone to philosophy), historical sciences, environmental sciences and finance and society. UNIGE is host to four National Centres of Competence in Research : Frontiers in Genetics, Materials with Novel Electronic Properties (MaNEP), Chemical Biology and Affective Sciences.

Through its participation in the League of European Research Universities (LERU), UNIGE stands out as one of the 20 best research universities in Europe. It is also a member of other international networks : the International Forum of Public Universities (FIUP), which brings together some twenty universities, that are recognized within their country for the importance they give to research and their sound contribution to the development of society, and the Coimbra Group, an association of long-established European multidisciplinary universities meeting high international standards and committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society.

UNIGE is active in the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, and regularly collaborates with institutions such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a European organization for research in astronomy, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the NASA. Moreover, it maintains a privileged connection with the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Based on its unique international presence in Europe, UNIGE has continuously strengthened its ties with the international and nongovernmental organizations established in Geneva, such as the United Nations Organization (UNO), the World Health Organization (WHO) the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

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