University of Lausanne

   

Together with the Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) the university forms a vast campus at the shores of Lake Geneva.

The Academy, forerunner of the UNIL, was founded in 1537. Its vocation at that time was to train ministers for the church. The university enjoyed a certain renown due to the fact that it was the only French language Protestant school of theology.

As the centuries passed, the number of faculties increased and diversified until, in 1890, the Academy received the name and status of a university. From 1970, the university moved progressively from the old centre of Lausanne, around the Cathedral and Château, to its present site at Dorigny. The end of the 20th century witnessed the beginnings of an ambitious project aiming at greater co-operation and development among the French-speaking universities of Lausanne, Geneva, and Neuchâtel, together with the EPFL. In 2003 two new faculties were founded concentrating on the life and human sciences: the Faculty of biology and medicine; and the Faculty of earth science and environment.

The University of Lausanne comprises 7 faculties:

Faculty of Arts

Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM)

Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), also called HEC Lausanne

Faculty of Geosciences and Environment (GSE)

Faculty of Law and Criminal Justice

Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (SSP)

Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies

The University of Lausanne also comprises schools and different sections:

School of Criminal Justice (ESC)

School of French as a Foreign Language (EFLE)

Vacation Courses (CVAC)

Section of Pharmacy