The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

which go back to 1525, and a new faculty of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Currently, the university has seven faculties:

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, Human Medicine,

Economic Sciences Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

. The university offers the widest range of subjects and courses of any Swiss higher education institution.

History

The University of Zurich was founded on April 29, 1833, when the existing colleges of theology, the ''Carolinum'' founded by

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swis ...

in 1525, law and medicine were merged with a new faculty of Philosophy. It was the first university in Europe to be founded by the state rather than a monarch or church. Its Latin name is reminiscent of the Roman name for the precursor settlement of the city of Zurich, Turicum. In the university's early years, the 1839 appointment of the German theologian David Friedrich Strauss to its Chair of Theology caused a major controversy, since Strauss argued that the miracles in the Christian

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

were mythical retellings of normal events as supernatural happenings.''Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth'' by Michael J. McClymond (March 22, 2004) page 82 Eventually, the authorities offered Strauss a pension before he had a chance to start his duties. The university allowed women to attend philosophy lectures from 1847. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was added in 1901, the second-oldest such faculty in the world. In 1914, the university moved to new premises designed by the architect Karl Moser on Rämistrasse 71. The university admitted a Russian woman student, Maria Kniazhnina, to audit medicine classes in 1864, but she did not complete the course. Another Russian student, Nadezhda Suslova, audited medicine classes from 1865 and was allowed to become a registered student and graduate as a doctor of medicine in 1867. The first seven women who were awarded medical degrees at the university were known as the Zurich Seven. Including Suslova, they were: * Nadezhda Suslova (Russia) * Frances Elizabeth Morgan (England) * Louisa Atkins (England) * Maria Bokova (Russia) * Eliza Walker (Scotland) * Susan Dimock (United States) * Marie Vögtlin (Switzerland)

Campus

The university is scattered all over the city of Zurich. The main campuses are located in the city centre, Irchelpark and Oerlikon. Members of the university can use several libraries, including the

ETH Eth ( , uppercase: ⟨Ð⟩, lowercase: ⟨ð⟩; also spelled edh or eð), known as in Old English, is a letter used in Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, Faroese (in which it is called ), and Elfdalian. It was also used in Sca ...

-library, and the Zurich Central Library, with over 5 million volumes. In 1962, the faculty of science proposed to establish the Irchelpark campus on the ''Strickhofareal''. The first stage the construction of the university buildings was begun in 1973, and the campus was inaugurated in 1979. The construction of the second stage lasted from 1978 to 1983. The campus also houses the anthropological museum ''Anthropologisches Museum'', and the cantonal Staatsarchiv Zürich.

Museums

The university included 13 museums: the Anatomical Collection, the

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Collection, the Botanical Museum, the Museum of Wax Moulages, the Science Exploratorium, the Museum of Veterinary History, the Zurich Herbaria, the Museum of

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, the

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

, the

Ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

Museum, the

Paleontological Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Museum, the Veterinary Anatomy Collection and the Zoological Museum. The zoological, paleontological, anthropological and botanical museums later merged into the

Natural History Museum of the University of Zurich The Natural History Museum of the University of Zurich () is a natural history museum in Zurich, Switzerland. It was established in 2024 through the merger of several museums of the University of Zurich, namely the former Zoological Museum, Pal ...

, which opened in 2024. The Institute and Museum for the History of Medicine is also part of the university.

Academics

In the fields of bioscience and finance, there is a close-knit collaboration between the University of Zurich and the

(Federal Institute for Technology). Examples for common initiatives between the two institutions include University Medicine Zurich, the Wyss Translational Center Zurich and Life Science Zurich.

Rankings

* Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (heavy emphasis on research output – citations, Nobel prizes etc.) Ranked 59th overall as well as 5th and 10th in the subdisclipines Ecology an Human Biological Sciences respectively. *

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

(heavy emphasis on peer review) 91st overall and 56th in Medicine globally making it the highest ranked University in Switzerland for Medicine according to QS. * THE World University Rankings 2024 80th overall and ranked 42nd in the subdiscipline business & economics. The university's Department of Economics is especially strong and was ranked first in the German-speaking area by the

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. History and profile ''Handelsblatt'' was es ...

in 2017. In 2009, the faculty of Business Administration was ranked third in the German-speaking area.

Language policy

Bachelor courses are taught in

Swiss Standard German Swiss Standard German (SSG; ), or Swiss High German ( or ; ), referred to by the Swiss as , or , is the written form of one (German language, German) of four languages of Switzerland, national languages in Switzerland, besides French language, Fr ...

("Hochdeutsch"), but use of English is increasing in many faculties. The only bachelors program taught entirely in English is the
English Language and Literature
program. All Master courses at the Faculty of Science are held in English. Master courses in Economics and Finance are mainly held in English, while the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance is held completely in English.

Student life

The university's Academic Sports Association (ASVZ) offers a wide range of sports facilities to students of the university. The student body is represented through the Verband der Studierenden der Universität Zürich VSUZH which organizes events and is involved in the university administration.

Notable alumni and faculty

Politics, law and society

Economics, business and management

Science

Artur Avila Artur Avila Cordeiro de Melo (; born 29 June 1979) is a Brazilian mathematician working primarily in the fields of dynamical systems and spectral theory. He is one of the winners of the 2014 Fields Medal, being the first Latin American and lusop ...

, professor at Institut für Mathematik and

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

* Christian Beyel Swiss Mathematician * Brigitta Danuser, Medicine *

Peter Debye Peter Joseph William Debye ( ; born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije, ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Biography Early life Born in Maastricht, Neth ...

, Dutch physicist and chemist *

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, theoretical physicist who was awarded his PhD from the University of Zurich in 1905 and was appointed associate professor at the university in 1909 * Anna Fischer-Dückelmann, one of the first women to receive a medical degree in a German-speaking country * Natalie Grams, German physician, author and

science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the public awareness of and interest in sci ...

* Ravit Helled, planetary scientist, and department of astrophysics and cosmology professor * Paul Herrling (Ph.D. 1975), Swiss head of corporate research, professor *

Albert Hofmann Albert Hofmann (11 January 1906 – 29 April 2008) was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann's team also isolated, named and synthesi ...

, Swiss scientist and discoverer of LSD-25 * Max Holzmann, Swiss cardiologist * Edith Humphrey, Chemist and the first British woman to get a doctorate in chemistry * Hugo Iltis, Biologist, Biographer of Gregor Mendel * Gino Isidori, theoretical physicist * Maximilian Janisch, Swiss mathematician, youngest doctoral student in Switzerland * Rosa Kerschbaumer-Putjata, Russian

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

and Austria's first female doctor *

Alfred Kleiner Alfred Kleiner (24 April 1849 – 3 July 1916) was a Swiss physicist and Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Zurich. He was Albert Einstein's doctoral advisor or ''Doktorvater.'' Initially Einstein's advisor was Heinrich F ...

, experimental physicist * Hanna Kokko, biologist * Jean Lindenmann (1924–2015), Swiss immunologist and virologist; co-discoverer of

interferon Interferons (IFNs, ) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten ...

* Rachel Lloyd (1839–1900), American chemist * Rolf Pfeifer, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence * Diego A. Pizzagalli, Swiss neuroscientist and professor at Harvard Medical School *

Wilhelm Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; 27 March 1845 – 10 February 1923), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Roentgen ( ), was a German physicist who produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays. As ...

, physicist and engineer who discovered

X-rays An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger ( ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was an Austrian-Irish theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum field theory, quantum theory. In particul ...

, Austrian physicist who was professor from 1921 to 1927 * Heinrich Willi, Swiss pediatrician *

Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach (born 1 January 1947) is a Switzerland, Swiss biologist and was the first female director of ETH Zürich. Life and work Wunderli-Allenspach was born in 1947 in Niederuzwil in the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. ...

(born 1947), Swiss biologist and first woman director of ETH Zurich *

Gazi Yaşargil Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil (6 July 1925 – 10 June 2025) was a Turkish medical scientist and neurosurgeon. He collaborated with Raymond M. P. Donaghy M.D at the University of Vermont in developing microneurosurgery. Yaşargil treated epilepsy and b ...

, Neurosurgery’s man of the century 1950–1999, professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery (1973–1993) * Richard J. Baer, physicist.

Philosophy and theology

Eberhard Jüngel Eberhard Jüngel (5 December 1934 – 28 September 2021) was a German Lutheran theologian. He was Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology and the Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Tübingen. Lif ...

(1934–2021), German Lutheran theologian

Arts and music

* Luzia von Wyl (born 1985), Swiss composer and pianist

Nobel Prize laureates

Associated with the university are 12

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

recipients, primarily in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Associated institutions

* Corpus Córporum, digital library created and maintained by the university's Institute for Greek and Latin Philology. * Swiss National Supercomputing Centre

Notes and references

External links

Union of students' associations of the University of Zurich

The Ranking Forum of Swiss Universities
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Zurich 1833 establishments in Switzerland Chiropractic schools Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zurich Culture of Zurich Universities and colleges established in 1833 Hochschulen

Schools in Zurich