École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

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École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
EPFL Logo
Established 1853, opened 1869
Type Public
Budget 790 millions CHF [1]
President Patrick Aebischer
Undergraduates 6,325 (2011) [2]
Postgraduates 2,117 (2011)
Location Écublens (near Lausanne), Vaud, Switzerland
46°31′13″N 6°33′56″E / 46.52028°N 6.56556°E / 46.52028; 6.56556Coordinates: 46°31′13″N 6°33′56″E / 46.52028°N 6.56556°E / 46.52028; 6.56556
Campus Urban
Nationalities 100+
Affiliations AUF, EUA, CLUSTER, RESCIF and TIME
Website www.epfl.ch
EPFL is located in Switzerland
EPFL
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland

The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, English: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne) is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:

  • Educate engineers and scientists
  • Be a national center of excellence in science and technology
  • Provide a hub for interaction between the scientific community and industry

EPFL is located in the French-speaking part of Switzerland; the sister institution in the German-speaking part of Switzerland is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). Associated with several specialised research institutes, the two sister institutes form the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain (ETH Domain), which is directly dependent on the Federal Department of Home Affairs. EPFL is ranked among the top universities in the world.

Contents

History [edit]

Founded in 1853 as a private school under the name École spéciale de Lausanne, it became the technical department of the public Académie de Lausanne in 1869. When the latter 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 and became a federal institute under its current name. EPFL, like ETHZ, is thus directly controlled by the Swiss federal government. In contrast, all other universities in Switzerland are controlled by their respective cantonal governments.

EPFL operates a nuclear reactor, CROCUS, a Tokamak fusion reactor, and P3 bio-hazard facilities. Following the nomination of Patrick Aebischer as president in 2000, EPFL has started to develop into the field of life sciences. It absorbed the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) in 2008.

Campus [edit]

Aerial view of the EPFL, which forms a large campus with the University of Lausanne (UNIL) at the shores of Lake Geneva.
The EPFL Learning Center.

Originally, EPFL was in the center of Lausanne. In 1978, EPFL moved to its new campus at Dorigny, in Écublens, a suburb south-west of Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva. In 2002, the department of architecture also moved to the campus in Écublens, uniting all departments of EPFL on the same site.

Together with the University of Lausanne, the EPFL forms a vast campus, welcoming about 20,000 students, at the shores of Lake Geneva. The campus is served by the Lausanne Metro Line 1 (M1) and is equipped with a bicycle sharing system[3].

Buildings [edit]

The campus consists of about 65 buildings on 136 acres. Built according to the growth of the school, the campus includes different types of architectures:

  • Late 1970s-1980s: modularized 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 Learning Center, a new library (2010)

The EPFL and the University of Lausanne also share an active sports centre five minutes away from EPFL, on the shores of Lake Geneva[4].

Facilities [edit]

Facilities are available on the campus for the students and staff:

  • Libraries: the Learning Center
  • Restaurants: Le Copernic and La Table de Vallotton
  • Cafeterias: La Coupole, Le Corbusier, Le Parmentier, Le Vinci, BMX (Bâtiment des matériaux), BC (Bâtiment des communications), L'Arcadie, Le Hodler, Le Klee, L'Ornithorynque
  • Bar: Satellite
  • Travel agencies: Swiss Federal Railways and STA Travel
  • Banks: Credit Suisse and PostFinance
  • Radio: Fréquence Banane (student radio)

Other sites [edit]

Almost all of the structures of the EPFL are located on its main campus. However, it also has a branch ("Microcity") in Neuchâtel. The creation of branches in the cantons of Valais ("Pôle EPFL Valais"), of Fribourg ("Smart Living Lab") and of Geneva ("Campus Biotech", including a Wyss Institute) are planned.

The EPFL also has a research centre in Ras al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates), EPFL Middle East[5].

Organization [edit]

EPFL is organised into seven schools, themselves formed of institutes that group research units (laboratories or chairs) around common themes.

EPFL is constituted of the following Schools:

The Tokamak à configuration variable (TCV): inner view, with the graphite-clad torus. Courtesy of CRPP-EPFL, Association Suisse-Euratom

Museums [edit]

Students and traditions [edit]

Several music festivals are held yearly at EPFL. The most important one is the Balelec Festival, organized in May. It proposes about 30 concerts and welcomes 15,000 visitors.

Other smaller festivals include Sysmic organized in April by the students of the Department of Microengineering, hosting two stages for local and national bands, and Artiphys, organized by the students of the Physics Department.

EPFL maintains several long-standing student exchange programs, such as the junior year engineering and science program with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, as well as a graduate Aeronautics and Aerospace program with the ISAE in France.

Statistics [edit]

CROCUS, the only nuclear reactor of the French-speaking part of Switzerland

In 1946, there were 360 students at EPFL. In 1969, EPFL numbered 1,400 students and 55 professors. The university continued to grow rapidly, and in 2002, there were 5,872 students enrolled.

In 2004 there were more than 9000 people at EPFL. About 6000 of these were students, with the remainder consisting of professors, assistants and even entrepreneurs located in the Parc Scientifique of EPFL. There were over 100 nationalities at EPFL, with over 50% of the teaching staff coming from outside Switzerland.

In the year 2009-2010, there were over 7000 students on the campus.

The EPFL advised on the Alinghi project, leading to success in the America's Cup in New Zealand in 2003 and in Valencia in 2007. EPFL is also developing a sun-powered plane, Solar Impulse, designed to be completely autonomous (capable of circumnavigation). Bertrand Piccard is one of the two pilots flying the plane. There is also a sensor network installed in the I&C building called SensorScope which reports live temperature and light measurements.

For teaching purposes the EPFL hosts the only nuclear reactor in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, CROCUS.

Rankings [edit]

EPFL is ranked Nr. 32 in the US News and World Report ranking of the World's Best Universities. QS World University Rankings[6] has placed EPFL 29th in their 2012 rankings. It reaches the 101 - 150 rank range of the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Jiao Tong University). According to a study conducted by Times Higher Education (THE) based on the publication and citation data provided by Thomson Reuters, EPFL is ranked Nr.1 in Europe in the field of Engineering (November, 2010).[7] Leiden Rankings also rank EPFL Nr.1 in Europe (2011-2012).[8]

EPFL is evaluated as continental Europe's #1 and world's #18 university in the field of Engineering, Technology and Computer Sciences in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2012 (Europe's #1 and world's #15 in 2009).[9] EPFL is in the heart of Europe and is one of Europe's leading institutions of science and technology and is a member of Top Industrial Managers for Europe network.

Notable alumni [edit]

Doctorates honoris causa [edit]

EPFL has awarded a doctorate honoris causa to several people:

Notable professors [edit]

Photographs [edit]

  • A view of the Piccard Avenue.

  • Inner corridors in the East Center

  • SG Place

  • SG Place

  • The "Biowall"

  • BC Building

  • Inside the BC Building

  • The Esplanade

Partner universities [edit]

The EPFL has 179 partner universities around the globe.[14]

Europe [edit]

Americas [edit]

Asia [edit]

See also [edit]

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH) Domain

2012 budget (millions of CHF)

ETH Domain

2174,4

135,1

Federal institutes of technology

1073,8
530,3

Federal research institutes

242,8
90,4
52,6
49,4
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References [edit]

  1. ^ "EPFL Annual Report 2011". EPFL. Retrieved 2012-06-18. 
  2. ^ "EPFL en ciffres". EPFL. Retrieved 2012-06-18. 
  3. ^ Campus roule, www.publibike.ch (page visited on 15 May 2013).
  4. ^ Service des sports UNIL-EPFL, sport.unil.ch (page visited on 10 May 2013).
  5. ^ About EPFL Middle East , www.epfl.ae (page visited on 9 May 2013).
  6. ^ http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011
  7. ^ "THE Top European universities in Engineering". 
  8. ^ "Leiden Ranking 2011". 
  9. ^ "2010 academic ranking of world universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University". Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2010-09-08. Retrieved 2010-09-08. 
  10. ^ epfl.ch - Manuel Castells
  11. ^ epfl.ch - News (April 15, 2008)
  12. ^ epfl.ch - News (October 20, 2009)
  13. ^ a b epfl.ch - News (October 11, 2010)
  14. ^ - partner institutions

External links [edit]
Public universities
Public universities of applied sciences
Private universities of applied sciences
Other institutions accredited by CRUS
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