École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne
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The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) 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 ...
in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution
ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
, EPFL is part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain which groups several universities and research institutes under the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. As of 2024, EPFL enrolled 14,012 students from over 130 countries. EPFL has an urban campus that extends alongside
Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
, and includes the EPFL Innovation Park as well as university research centers and affiliated laboratories.


History

The roots of modern-day EPFL can be traced back to the foundation of a private school under the name ''École spéciale de Lausanne'' in 1853 at the initiative of Louis Rivier, a graduate of the and John Gay, the then professor and rector of the ''Académie de Lausanne''. At its inception it had only 11 students and the offices was located at Rue du Valentin in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
. In 1869, it became the technical department of the ''Académie de Lausanne''. When the Académie was reorganized and acquired the status of a university in 1890, the technical faculty changed its name to École d'ingénieurs de l'Université de Lausanne. In 1946, it was renamed the École polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne (EPUL). In 1969, the EPUL was separated from the rest of the
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
and became a federal institute under its current name. EPFL, like
ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
, is thus directly controlled by the
Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...
. In contrast, all other universities in Switzerland are controlled by their respective
cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...
governments. Following the nomination of Patrick Aebischer as president in 2000, EPFL has started to develop into the field of
life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, ...
. It absorbed the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) in 2008. In 1946, there were 360 students at EPFL. In 1969, the university had grown to 1,400 students and 55 faculty members. In the past two decades, EPFL has grown rapidly in reputation and size. As of 2023, EPFL has more than 13,000 full-time students. The environment at modern day EPFL is highly international with the school attracting students and researchers from all over the world. More than 125 countries are represented on the campus and the university has two official languages, French and English.


Academics


Admission

Holders of a Swiss " maturité gymnasiale" are directly accepted with no other condition in the first year of their Bachelor's program of choice. Holders of a Swiss Professional "Maturité" or a Swiss specialised "Maturité" are accepted in the ''Cours de mathématiques spéciales'' within the places available. As such, EPFL is not selective in its undergraduate admission procedure for Swiss residents. However, international students are required to have a final grade average of 80% or above of the maximum grade of the upper secondary school national system. The real selection process happens during the first year of undergraduate studies. This period is called the ''propaedeutic cycle'' and the students must pass a block examination of all the courses taken during the first year at the end of the cycle. If the weighted average is insufficient, a student is required to retake the entire first year of coursework if they wish to continue their studies at EPFL. Roughly 60% of students fail the first year at EPFL all majors combined, and many choose to drop out rather than to repeat the ''propaedeutic cycle''. The failure rate differs between majors, it is higher for Life Sciences Engineering, Physics, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering where only 30–40% of students pass the first year. For foreign students, the selection procedure towards the undergraduate program is rather strict, and since most undergraduate courses are taught in French, foreign students must provide documentation of having acquired a level B2 proficiency in French as measured on the CEFR scale, though C1 proficiency is recommended. The usual time till graduation is six semesters (3 years) for the
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree and four additional semesters (2 years) for the
Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
degree with the final semester dedicated to writing a thesis. Though only 58% of the students who manage to graduate are able to graduate within this time-period. The possibility to study abroad for one or two semesters is offered during the 3rd year of studies as EPFL maintains several long-standing student exchange programs, such as the junior year engineering and science program with
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, as well as a graduate Aeronautics and Aerospace program with the ISAE in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Entrepreneurship is actively encouraged at EPFL, as evident by the EPFL Innovation Park being an integral part of the campus. Since 1997, 12 start-ups have been created per year on average by EPFL students and faculty. In the year 2013, a total of 105 million CHF was raised by EPFL start-ups.


Rankings

In 2023, the ''
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 ...
'' ranks EPFL 16th worldwide across all fields, and among the 10 best universities in several engineering disciplines. ''
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'' ranks EPFL as the world's 19th best school in the world for Engineering and Technology. EPFL typically scores high on faculty to student ratio, international outlook and scientific impact. The CWTS Leiden Ranking that "aims to provide highly accurate measurements of the scientific impact of universities" ranks EPFL world 13th, and 1st in Europe in the 2013 rankings for all the sciences. The ''Times'' 100 Under 50 Rankings is a ranking of the top 100 universities in the world under 50 years old. Since EPFL in its current form was formed in 1969, it is included in this ranking, and was ranked 1st in the world for three years in a row in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and 2nd in the world in 2018 and 2019. ''
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'' also ranked EPFL as the most international university in the world two years in a row 2014 and 2015.


Campus

The ''École d'ingénieurs de l'Université de Lausanne'', from which EPFL in its modern-day form originates, was located in the center of
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
. In 1974, five years after EPFL was separated from
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
and became a federal institute under its current name, the construction of a new campus at Dorigny in Écublens, began. The inauguration of the first EPFL buildings of the new campus took place in 1978. The EPFL campus has been evolving ever since. The first stage of development, with a total budget of 462 million Swiss francs, was completed in 1984; the second in 1990. Construction of the northern parts of campus began in 1995 with the Microtechnology building (BM), completed in 1998, and the architecture building (SG), completed in 2000. In 2002, the department of architecture also moved to the campus in Écublens, uniting all departments of EPFL on the same site. The latest addition to the EPFL campus is the Rolex Learning Center completed in February 2010. The Rolex Learning Center is the main campus library and includes areas for work, leisure and services and is located at the center of the campus. The campus has also been expanded with the construction of the SwissTech Convention Center inaugurated in March 2014. As of 2022, RTS began the construction of a regional production center on campus in collaboration with EPFL. Together with the
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
, EPFL forms a vast campus complex at the shores of
Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
with about 20,000 students combined. The campus is served by the Lausanne Metro Line 1 (M1) and is equipped with an electric
bicycle sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bo ...
. Since 2012, only electricity from certified hydroelectric generation is being bought by EPFL to power its campus. The university was the first campus to receive the ''International Sustainable Campus Excellence Award'' by the ''International Sustainable Campus Network''. Of the 14,000 people that work and study at the campus, roughly 9.300 are students in either Bachelor, Master or Doctoral programs, the remaining 4,700 being administrative staff, scientists, technical staff, professors and the entrepreneurs located in the Science Park EPFL7. More than 125 nationalities are represented on campus with 48% of the student population being foreign nationals. Almost all of the structures are on its main campus. However, it also has branches in
Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...
("Microcity"), in Sion ("Pôle EPFL Valais"), in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
( Campus Biotech, including the Wyss Center for Bio- and Neuro-engineering) and in
Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...
(" Smart Living Lab"). There was also a research centre in
Ras al-Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...
(
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
), EPFL Middle East, between 2009 and 2022.


Buildings

The campus consists of about 65 buildings on . Built according to the growth of the school, the campus includes different types of architectures: * Late 1970s–1980s: modularised building, used today by the Schools of Basic Sciences and Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. * 1990s: buildings with institutes from the Schools of Engineering Sciences and Techniques, Computer and Communication Sciences, and the Scientific Park (PSE). * Modern: new buildings (2002–2004) with Microengineering, Communications and Architecture institutes, the School of Life Sciences and the College of Management. * The Rolex Learning Center, a new library (2010). * 2014: The SwissTech Convention Center and the "Quartier Nord" (convention center, student accommodation, shops...). * The EPFL-Pavilions building (previously Artlab), designed by Japanese architect
Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolif ...
, was opened in November 2016; it includes three spaces opened to the public. The first one hosts archives from the Montreux Jazz Festival; the second is a space for museum experimentations. The third space, named ''DataSquare'', hosts an exposition on
Big data Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...
, illustrated by two scientific projects from EPFL: the Human Brain Project and the Venice Time Machine. *Museums: Musée Bolo, Archizoom (EPFL). The EPFL and the
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
share an active sports centre on the shores of
Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
, away from EPFL, about five minutes by car.


Associated campuses

Beyond its main campus, EPFL operates a network of associated campuses in Western Switzerland, often sharing these spaces with partner academic institutions and hospitals: *
Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...
: Smart Living Lab *
Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...
: Microcity *
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
: Campus Biotech * Sion: EPFL Valais/Wallis


Language Centre

The Language Centre offers language and communication modules for French, German, Italian and English (
CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated in English as CEFR, CEF, or CEFRL, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingl ...
levels A1 to C2) to enable learners to participate more effectively in academic, professional and social situations in an internationalized multilingual and multicultural context. These modules are reserved for EPFL students, staff members and for their spouses. Tandems are also organized and set up within the framework of the Tandem Program of the Faculty of Arts/EFLE of the
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
. This concept includes two people of different first languages meeting regularly to teach each other their respective language.


Students and traditions


Student body

The number of students attending studying at EPFL has been rising heavily since EPFL was formed in 1969 under its current name. In 1969 EPFL had roughly 1400 students; that number had grown to 2367 by 1982, 4302 by 1997, 9921 students in 2014, and 10,536 students at the end of 2016. Within the student body, 112 different nationalities are represented. In the period from 1982 to 2014 the female proportion of the student body has increased from 12% to 27%. The proportion of female students is lowest at the School of Computer Science and Communication (15%) and highest at the School of Life Sciences (49%).


Clubs

The school encourages the formation of associations and sports activities on campus. As of 2023, there are nearly a hundred clubs and associations on campus for recreational and social purposes. In addition, the school has its own monthly newspaper, ''Flash''. Included in the 79 associations are * AGEPoly is the Student's Association. Its purpose is to represent the EPFL's students, defend the general interests of the students and inform and consult its members on decisions of the EPFL Direction that concern them. * The Forum is a student association responsible for organization of the Forum EPFL. The Forum was founded in 1982 as a platform for exchange and meeting between the academic and professional communities. Today, it is one of the largest recruiting events in Europe, and the largest in Switzerland. * UNIPOLY is the EPFL Association for Ecology, the Association works to create awareness of ecology on campus and in western Switzerland. UNIPOLY is part of the World Student Community for Sustainable Development, an international network of student organizations for sustainable development consisting of EPFL,
ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
,
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
,
University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
,
University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...
,
University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...
, Chalmers, and University of Yaounde. * The Anime and Manga club, PolyJapan, schedules viewings of seasonal anime on a regular basis. * Polympiads is promoting mathematics and informatics through competitions. They organise the Helvetic Coding Contest, Switzerland's biggest programming competition.


Music festivals

Several music festivals are held yearly. The largest one is the Balélec Festival, organized in May each year since 1981. The festival welcomes 15,000 visitors to around 30 concerts.


Archimedean Oath

EPFL was the birthplace of the Archimedean Oath, proposed by students in 1990. The Archimedean Oath has since spread to a number of European engineering schools. The Archimedean Oath is an ethical code of practice for engineers and technicians, similar to the Hippocratic Oath used in the medical world.


Harassment and sexism

In 2020, the student association Polyquity published numerous testimonies from students via an Instagram account @payetonepfl denouncing cases of sexual, homophobic and racist harassment as well as cases of rape within the associations present on campus but also within the teaching staff. The student association denounces serious failings of the institution that is supposed to manage harassment.


Scientific partners

* EPFL is the official scientific advisor of Alinghi, twice winners of the America's cup 2003 and 2007. * Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range solar powered aircraft project developed at EPFL, the project has now achieved the first circumnavigation of the world using only solar power. * The Hydroptère, is an experimental sailing hydrofoil that in 2009 broke the world speed sailing record, sustaining a speed of 52.86 knots (97.90 km/h; 60.83 mph) for 500m in 30 knots of wind * EPFL contributed to the construction of SwissCube-1. It is the first satellite entirely built in Switzerland. It was put into orbit on 23 September 2009 by the Indian launcher PSLV. * To better understand the relationship between nutrition and the brain, EPFL and the
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
research center has signed a five-year agreement providing 5 million CHF each year for the creation of two new chairs at the EPFL Brain Mind Institute. * Logitech and EPFL has announced the creation of the EPFL Logitech Incubator that will provide financial, educational and operational support in entrepreneurship to researchers and students. * '' Breitling Orbiter 3'' became the first balloon to circumnavigate the Earth non-stop in March 1999. The balloon was piloted by
Bertrand Piccard Bertrand Piccard Royal Scottish Geographical Society, FRSGS (born 1 March 1958) is a Swiss explorer, psychiatrist and balloon (aircraft), environmentalist. Along with Brian Jones (aeronaut), Brian Jones, he was the first to complete a non-stop b ...
and
Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...
. * '' Solar Impulse 2'' completed the first
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...
of the Earth by a piloted
fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...
using only
solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...
. The plane was piloted (alternatively) by André Borschberg and
Bertrand Piccard Bertrand Piccard Royal Scottish Geographical Society, FRSGS (born 1 March 1958) is a Swiss explorer, psychiatrist and balloon (aircraft), environmentalist. Along with Brian Jones (aeronaut), Brian Jones, he was the first to complete a non-stop b ...
. * The Human Brain Project is the successor of the EPFL Blue Brain Project. The project is directed by EPFL and involves 86 institutions across Europe. The total cost is estimated at 1.190 billion euros. * EPFL has hosted the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Chair in Technologies for Development since 2007, where notable papers are presented by experts in the field. In 2014, ''Mobile Financial Services in Disaster Relief: Modeling Sustainabilit''y was presented by technology analyst, David Garrity.


Schools & Colleges

EPFL is organised into eight schools and colleges, themselves formed of institutes that group research units (laboratories or chairs) around common themes: * School of Basic Sciences (SB, Paul Joseph Dyson) ** Institute of Mathematics (MATH,
Maryna Viazovska Maryna Sergiivna Viazovska (, ; born 2 December 1984) is a Ukrainian mathematician known for her work in sphere packing. She is a full professor and Chair of Number Theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to ...
) ** Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC, Kevin Sivula) ** Institute of Physics (IPHYS, Harald Brune) ** European Centre of Atomic and Molecular Computations ( CECAM, Ignacio Pagonabarraga Mora) ** Bernoulli Center (CIB, Martin Hairer) ** Biomedical Imaging Research Center (CIBM, Rolf Gruetter) ** Interdisciplinary Center for Electron Microscopy (CIME, Cécile Hébert) ** Max Planck-EPFL Centre for Molecular Nanosciences and Technology (CMNT, Thomas Rizzo) ** Swiss Plasma Center (SPC, Paolo Ricci) ** Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO, Jean-Paul Kneib) * School of Engineering (STI, Ali Sayed) ** Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEL, Giovanni De Micheli) ** Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IGM, Thomas Gmür) ** Institute of Materials (IMX, Michaud Véronique) ** Institute of Microengineering (IMT, Olivier Martin) ** Institute of Bioengineering (IBI, Matthias Lütolf) ** Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE Center, Interdisciplinary between STI, SB, and IC) * School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC, Katrin Beyer) ** Institute of Architecture ** Civil Engineering Institute ** Environmental Engineering Institute * School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC, Rüdiger Urbanke) ** Algorithms & Theoretical Computer Science ** Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning ** Computational Biology ** Computer Architecture & Integrated Systems ** Data Management & Information Retrieval ** Graphics & Vision ** Human-Computer Interaction ** Information & Communication Theory ** Networking ** Programming Languages & Formal Methods ** Security & Cryptography ** Signal & Image Processing ** Systems * School of Life Sciences (SV, Andrew Oates) ** Bachelor-Master Teaching Section in Life Sciences and Technologies (SSV) ** Brain Mind Institute (BMI, Carmen Sandi) ** Institute of Bioengineering (IBI, Melody Swartz) ** Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC, Douglas Hanahan) ** Global Health Institute (GHI, Bruno Lemaitre) ** Ten Technology Platforms & Core Facilities (PTECH) ** Center for Phenogenomics (CPG) ** NCCR Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases (NCCR-SYNAPSY) * College of Management of Technology (CDM) ** Swiss Finance Institute at EPFL (CDM-SFI, Damir Filipovic) ** Section of Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship (CDM-PMTE, Daniel Kuhn) ** Institute of Technology and Public Policy (CDM-ITPP, Matthias Finger) ** Institute of Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship (CDM-MTEI, Ralf Seifert) ** Section of Financial Engineering (CDM-IF, Julien Hugonnier) * College of Humanities (CDH, Thomas David) ** Human and social sciences teaching program (CDH-SHS, Thomas David) In addition to the eight schools there are seven closely related institutions: *
Swiss Cancer Centre The Swiss Cancer Center - Leman (SCCL) is an alliance against cancer forged between several academic and clinical institutions: the University Hospital of Lausnne  (CHUV), the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), the University of Lausanne, ...
* Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM) * Centre for Advanced Modelling Science (CADMOS) * École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) * Campus Biotech * Wyss Center for Bio- and Neuro-engineering * Swiss National Supercomputing Centre


Notable people


Presidents

The school had directors from 1853 to 1969. In 1969, the school was separated from the rest of the
University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
and became a federal institute. The presidents are: * Maurice Cosandey (1969–1978) * Bernard Vittoz (1978–1992) * Jean-Claude Badoux (1992–2000) * Patrick Aebischer (2000–2016) * Martin Vetterli (2017–2025) * Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (2025–)


Professors


Alumni

* Guy Berruyer (chief executive of
Sage Group The Sage Group plc, commonly known as Sage, is a British Multinational corporation, multinational enterprise software company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. it is the UK's second largest technology company, the world's third-largest ...
) * Mattia Binotto (former team principal of
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...
) * Aart de Geus (chairman, founder and CEO of
Synopsys Synopsys, Inc. is an American electronic design automation (EDA) company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that focuses on silicon design and verification, silicon intellectual property and software security and quality. Synopsys sup ...
) * George de Mestral (electrical engineer, inventor of
Velcro Velcro IP Holdings LLC, trading as Velcro Companies and commonly referred to as Velcro (pronounced ), is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of ho ...
) * Eric Favre (inventor of Nespresso, the first single-serve coffee container) *
André Gorz Gérard Horst (; , ; 9 February 1923 – 22 September 2007), more commonly known by his pen names André Gorz () and Michel Bosquet (), was an Austrian-French social philosopher and journalist and critic of work. He co-founded '' Le Nouvel Ob ...
(Austrian-French philosopher and economist) * Daniel Borel (co-founder of Logitech) * Franck Riboud (CEO of Danone) * André Kudelski (CEO of Kudelski) * Jean-Daniel Nicoud (Swiss computer scientist) * Othman Benjelloun (Moroccan businessman) * Daniel Brélaz (Swiss Mathematician, Politician and Environmentalist) *
Stefan Kudelski Stefan Kudelski (27 August 1931 – 26 January 2013)
Nagra
was a Polish audio engineer known for creating ...
(Industrialist, inventor of the
Nagra Nagra is a brand of portable audio recorders produced from 1951 in Switzerland. Beginning in 1997 a range of high-end equipment aimed at the audiophile community was introduced, and Nagra expanded the company's product lines into new markets. O ...
) * Luc Recordon (Swiss politician) * André Borschberg (businessman and pilot, founder of the Solar Impulse project) * Jacques Dubochet (laureate of the 2017
Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...
) * Guillaume Pousaz (founder of Checkout.com) * Alexandra Ros (German analytical chemist)


Gallery


Buildings and campus

File:EPFL aerial.jpg, An aerial view of campus File:SwissTech convention center 03.jpg, Swiss Tech Convention Center File:Allée microtéchnique, SG EPFL.jpg, The BM and BP buildings File:EPFL BC.jpg, The BC building File:EPFL Esplanade.jpg, The Esplanade File:EPFL-p1010367.jpg, The CO building File:EPFL-vaisseau-spatial.jpg, The Odyssea building File:Flowers next to the ArtLab building at EPFL.jpeg, Artlab File:EPFL Polydome 2.jpg, The Polydôme


Projects and partnerships

File:Crocus - EPFL.jpg, The
CROCUS ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennial plant, perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stem ...
research reactor File:Breitling Orbiter 3 aloft.jpg, '' Breitling Orbiter 3'' achieved the first non-stop
balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...
. File:L'Hydroptère.JPG, The Hydroptère File:Alinghi Valence 2007 SUI 91 et SUI 100.JPG, Boats of Alinghi File:Biowall 2.jpg, The Biowall File:Musee Bolo-IMG 1580.jpg, The Musée Bolo File:SwissCube EPFL.jpg, Swiss Cube 1, the first Swiss
satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
File:Flea Hop HB-SIA - Solar Impulse.jpg, '' Solar Impulse'' achieved the first round-the-world solar flight.
* Human Brain Project: a large 10-year scientific research project, established in 2013, coordinated by Henry Markram (EPFL) and largely funded by the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. It aims to provide a collaborative informatics infrastructure and first draft rodent and human whole brain models within its 10-year funding period. It includes 112 research partners in 24 countries in Europe as well as outside Europe.


See also

*
Science and technology in Switzerland Science and technology in Switzerland play an important role in the Swiss economy, which has very few natural resources that are available in the country. The Swiss National Science Foundation, mandated by the Federal government, is the most ...
* Swiss Electromagnetics Research and Engineering Centre * Top Industrial Managers for Europe * Green building on college campuses * '' Technologist'', magazine published by EuroTech Universities Alliance


Notes and references


Bibliography

* ''Histoire de l'École polytechnique de Lausanne : 1953-1978'',
Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes The EPFL Press, formerly ''Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes (PPUR)'', is a Switzerland, Swiss independent Scientific literature, scientific publishing house and a university press affiliated with the École Polytechnique Fédéra ...
, 1999 (). * Michel Pont, ''Chronique de l'EPFL 1978-2000'', Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2010 (). * Libero Zuppiroli, ''La bulle universitaire. Faut-il poursuivre le rêve américain ?'' he academic bubble. Should we pursue the American dream? Éditions d'en bas, 2010, 176 pages (). The first part, entitled "Le parcours exemplaire du Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne" he exemplary path of the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne is about the change of the EPFL after the appointment of Patrick Aebischer as president. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne ETH Domain Technical universities and colleges in Switzerland Universities and colleges established in 1853 Architecture schools in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Lausanne Engineering universities and colleges in Switzerland 1853 establishments in Switzerland Schools in Lausanne