IUFFP Competitors

ETH Zurich – Where the future begins Freedom and individual responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness: ETH Zurich stands on a bedrock of true Swiss values. Our university for science and technology dates back to the year 1855, when the founders of modern-day Switzerland created it as a centre of innovation and knowledge. At ETH Zurich, students discover an ideal environment for independent thinking, researchers a climate which in-spires top performance. Situated in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, ETH Zurich is pioneering effective solutions to the global challenges of today and tomorrow. Some 530 professors teach around 20,500 students – including 4,100 doctoral students – from over 120 countries. Their collective research embraces many disciplines: natural sciences and engineering scienc-es, architecture, mathematics, system-oriented natural sciences, as well as management and social sci-ences. The results and innovations produced by ETH researchers are channelled into some of Switzer-land’s most high-tech sectors: from computer science through to micro- and nanotechnology and cutting-edge medicine. Every year ETH registers around 90 patents and 200 inventions on average. Since 1996, the university has produced a total of 380 commercial spin-offs. ETH also has an excellent reputation in scientific circles: 21 Nobel laureates have studied, taught or researched here, and in international league tables ETH Zurich regularly ranks as one of the world’s top universities.

The University of Lausanne is a higher teaching and research insitution composed of seven faculties where approximately 14,000 students and 2,800 researchers work and study. UNIL is focused on several academic disciplines, especially Medicine, Life Sciences, Geosciences, Environment, Business, Humanities and Social Sciences. An emphasis is placed on an interdisciplinary approach, with close cooperation between students, teaching staff, and professors.

The Academy of Geneva was officially founded in 1559 by two eminent Reformers, Jean Calvin and Théodore de Bèze, and was then renamed University of Geneva (UNIGE) in 1873. For the last four and a half centuries, the Alma mater has attracted students and researchers to Geneva from all over the world. Composed of nine faculties, – Science, Medicine, Humanities, Economics and Management, Social Sciences, Law, Theology, Psychology and Educational Sciences, and Translation and Interpreting –, the UNIGE also boasts several interfaculty centres, and offers a programme in Environmental Studies. Located at the heart of international Geneva, the UNIGE has woven a vast network with International and non-governmental organisations. These connections facilitate collaborations between scientists and researchers, including from the CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), and the WMO (World Meteorological Organisation).