Location: Lausanne, Switzerland The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. EPFL is ranked as Europe's number 1 and world's number 15 university in the field of "Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences" in the academic ranking of world universities (ARWU) by Shanghai Jiao Tong University [1]. The EPFL is in the heart of Europe and is one of Europe's leading institutions of science and technology. EPFL is often cited as Europe's MIT due to its scientific and technological research advances.[2][3] 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
The sister institution in the German-speaking part of Switzerland is the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich or ETHZ). Associated with several specialised research institutes, the two sister institutes form the ETH Domain, which is directly dependent on the Federal Department of Home Affairs. [edit] History 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. The EPFL, like the ETHZ, is thus directly controlled by the Swiss federal government. In contrast, all other universities in Switzerland are controlled by their respective cantonal governments. The 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 has absorbed the ISREC (Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research) since 2008. [edit] Campus  Aerial view of the EPFL campus Originally, the EPFL was in the center of Lausanne. In 1978, the EPFL moved to its new campus in Ecublens, a suburb south-west of Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva. In 2002, the department of architecture also moved to the campus in Ecublens. This united all departments of the EPFL on the same site. [edit] Buildings 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 70s-80s: modularized building, used today by the Schools of Basic Sciences and Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
- 90s: 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 and the School of Life Sciences
The EPFL and the nearby University of Lausanne share an active sports center five minutes away from the EPFL campus on the shores of the Lake Geneva. [edit] Facilities Facilities are available on the campus for the students and staff: - Libraries:
- Central Library (EPF-BC)
- Architecture (EPF-DA)
- Centre de documentation sur l'environnement construit (EPF-CEDEC)
- Centre de recherches en physique des plasmas (EPF-CRPP)
- Center of Research and Support of Training and its Technologies (EPF-CRAFT)
- Chemistry (BISCOM)
- Computer and Communication Sciences (EPF-IC)
- Laboratoire de Topométrie (EPF-TOP)
- Laboratory for Intermodality, Transport and Planning (EPF-LITEP)
- Rolex Learning Center
- Materials Sciences (EPF-BIMX)
- Mathematics (EPF-DMA)
- Physics (EPF-PHY)
- Restaurant:
- Cafeterias:
- La Coupole
- Le Corbusier
- Le Parmentier
- Le Vinci
- BMX (Bâtiment des Matériaux)
- BC (Bâtiment des Communications)
- L'Arcadie
- Bar:
- Travel agencies
- Swiss Federal Railroad
- STA Travel
- Banks:
- Radio
- Fréquence Banane Student radio
[edit] Organization The EPFL is organised into seven schools, themselves formed of institutes that group research units (laboratories or chairs) around common themes. The EPFL is constituted of the following Schools: - Basic Sciences (SB, Thomas Rizzo) mathematics, physics and chemistry
- Institute of Analysis and Scientific Computing (IACS, Jacques Rappaz)
- Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC, Paul Dyson)
- Institute of Mathematics (IMA, Stephan Morgenthaler)
- Institute of Geometry, Algebra and Topology (IGAT, Jacques Thévenaz)
- Institute of Physics of Energy and Particles (IPEP, Minh Quang Tran)
- Institute of Condensed Matter Physics (IPMC, Wolf-Dieter Schneider)
- Institute of Physics of Biological Systems (IPSB, Giovanni Dietler)
- Institute of Physical Sciences (SPH-GE, Jean-Philippe Ansermet)
- Institute of Quantum Electronics and Photonics (IPEQ, Benoît Deveaud-Plédran)
- Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP, Alfonso Baldereschi)
- Institute of Computational Condensed Matter Physics (IRRMA, Alfonso Baldereschi)
- Institute of Mathematics B (IMB, Eva Bayer Fluckiger)
- Interdisciplinary Center for Electron Microscopy (CIME, Cécile Hébert)
- Center for Research In Plasma Physics (CRPP, Minh Quang Tran)
- PRN Quantum Photonics (PRN-QP, Benoît Deveaud-Plédran)
- Bernoulli Center (CIB, Tudor Ratiu)
- School of Engineering (STI, Demetri Psaltis) Electrical Engineering, Mechanical engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Microtechnology, Bioengineering
- Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC, Marc Parlange) architecture, civil engineering, Environmental Sciences and Engineering (agronomy)
- Institute of Architecture (IA, Bruno Marchand)
- Structural Engineering Institute (IS, Aurelio Muttoni)
- Institute of Urban and Regional Planning & Design (INTER, Jacques Lévy)
- Institute of Infrastructures, Resources and Environment (ICARE, Jean-Louis Scartezzini)
- Environmental Sciences and Technologies Institute (ISTE, Marc Parlange)
- Computer and Communication Sciences (I&C, Willy Zwaenepoel) computer science and telecommunications
- Laboratory for Computer Communications and Applications (LCA)
- Laboratory of Nonlinear Systems (LANOS)
- Institute of Core Computing Science (IIF)
- Institute of Computing and Multimedia Systems (ISIM)
- Institute of Communication Systems (ISC)
- Center of Mobile Information and Communication Systems (MICS, Karl Aberer)
- Center for Advanced Digital Systems (CSDA, Paolo Ienne)
- Center for Neural Information Processing (CTIN, Wulfram Gerstner)
- Center for Global Computing (CGC, Martin Rajman)
- Life Sciences (SV, Didier Trono) life sciences
- College of Management of Technology (CDM, Martin Vetterli)
- Program of Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship (CDM-PMTE, Christopher Tucci)
- Chair of Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization (CDM-ENTC, Marc Gruber)
- Institute of Logistics, Economy and Management of Technology (ILEMT, Dominique Foray)
- Management of Technology EPFL - UNIL (CMT, Francis-Luc Perret)
- Sociology and humanities (CdH, Francesco Panese)
- Human and social sciences teaching program (CDH-SHS, Eric Junod)
[edit] Students and traditions Several music festivals are held yearly at EPFL. The most important one, Balelec, organized in May, proposes about 30 concerts and welcomes 18,000 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. [edit] Statistics In 1946, there were 360 students at the EPFL. In 1969, the 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 are more than 9000 people at the EPFL. About 6000 of these are students, with the remainder consisting of professors, assistants and even entrepreneurs located in the Parc Scientifique of the EPFL. There are over 100 nationalities at the EPFL, with over 50% of the teaching staff coming from outside of Switzerland. In the year 2009-2010, there is over 7000 students on the campus. The EPFL have acted as advisors for the Alinghi project, leading to a success at the America's Cup in New Zealand in 2003 and in Valencia in 2007. The EPFL is also developing a sun-powered glider, Solar Impulse, designed to be completely autonomous (capable of circumnavigation). Bertrand Piccard is the intended pilot for the demonstration of the glider. There is also a sensor network installed in the I&C building called SensorScope which reports live temperature and light measurements. The EPFL holds the only nuclear reactor of the French-speaking part of Switzerland, CROCUS. [edit] Notable alumni [edit] Doctores honoris causa EPFL has awarded a Dr. h.c. degree to several people: [edit] Notable Professors - Giovanni De Micheli (Professor, integrated systems)
- Martin Hasler (Professor, Computer and Communication Sciences, Laboratory of Nonlinear Systems)
- Dario Floreano (Professor, intelligent systems)
- Michael Grätzel (Professor, Photonics and Interfaces Sciences, Inventor of the dye-sensitized solar cells)
- Jean-Daniel Nicoud (Professor, computer science, inventor of the modern ball mouse)
- Arjen Lenstra (Professor, cryptographic algorithms)
- Henry Markram (Professor, neurology)
- Claude Nicollier (Professor, spatial technology and astronaut)
- Martin Odersky (Professor, programming methods)
- Minh Quang Tran (Professor, physics of energy and particles)
- Serge Vaudenay (Professor, security and cryptography)
- Martin Vetterli (Professor, computer and information sciences)
- János Pach (Professor, Mathematics, One of the few living Mathematicians with Erdos Number 1)
- Emre Telatar (Leading Information theorist and Professor,Information Theory)
- Thomas Henzinger (Professor, computer and information sciences)
- Monika Henzinger (Google Research head and Professor, computer and information sciences)
- Riccardo Rattazzi (Professor, Theoretical Physics)
- Ian F.C. Smith (Professor, Structural Engineering)
[edit] Photographs A view of the Piccard Avenue. | Inner corridors in the East Center | | | | | | | | [edit] Partner universities EPFL has 179 partner universities around the globe.[6] [edit] Europe  Vienna University of Technology, Austria- University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Austria
- University of Vienna, Austria
 University of Freiburg, Germany- University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
- Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
- University of Magdeburg, Germany
- University of Marburg, Germany
- Rheinisch-Westfällische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany
- Technical University of Berlin, Germany
- Braunschweig University of Technology, Germany
- Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany
- Dresden University of Technology, Germany
- Technical University of Munich, Germany
- University of Ulm, Germany
- University of Bonn, Germany
- University of Karlsruhe (TH), Germany
- University of Stuttgart, Germany
 Faculté polytechnique de Mons, Belgium- Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
- University of Liège, Belgium
- Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
- Ghent University, Belgium
 Sofia University, Bulgaria Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic- Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
 Aalborg University, Denmark- Technical University of Denmark, Lingby, Denmark
- Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark
 Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland- University of Helsinki, Finland
 École Centrale Paris, France- École d'Architecture de la Ville et des Territoires, Marne-la-Vallée, France
- École des Mines d'Alès, France
- École des Mines d'Albi-Carmaux, France
- École Nationale des Ponts & Chaussées Paris, France
- École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Lyon, Lyon, France
- École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Marseille-Luminy, Marseille, France
- École Nationale supérieure d'Architecture de Paris Belleville, France
- École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Strasbourg, France
- École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers (ENSAM), Paris, France
- École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, France
- École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, France
- Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, France
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France
- École Polytechnique (« X », Palaiseau), France
- École Supérieure d'Electricité (Supélec), Gif sur Yvette, France
- École supérieure d'ingénieurs en électronique et électrotechnique, ESIEE, Noisy, France
- École supérieure de chimie physique électronique de Lyon, France
- Fondation EPF, Sceaux, France
- Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Lyon, France
- Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Rouen, France
- Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Strasbourg, France
- Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France
- Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, France
- Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE), Toulouse, France
- École polytechnique universitaire de Montpellier (Polytech'Montpellier), Montpellier, France
- Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, France
- Université de Haute Alsace (ENSISA), France
- Université de la Méditerranée, Aix-Marseille II, France
- Université de Poitiers, France
- Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg 1, France
- Université Paris 13 (Paris-Nord), France
- Université Paris Dauphine, France
 National Technical University of Athens, Greece- University of Patras, Greece
- University of Piraeus, Greece
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
 Technical University of Budapest, Hungary University College Dublin, Ireland- Dublin City University, Ireland
 University Iuav of Venice (Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia), Italy- Politecnico di Bari, Italy
- Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Politecnico di Torino, Italy
- Universita degli studi di Bologna, Italy
- Università degli studi di Brescia, Italy
- Universita degli studi di Cassino, Italy
- Università degli studi di Firenze, Italy
- Univeristà degli Studi di Palermo, Italy
- Universita degli studi di Roma Tre, Italy
- Universita degli studi di Siena, Italy
- Universita degli studi di Trieste, Italy
- Università degli studi di Udine, Italy
- Università degli studi di Verona, Italy
 Kauno Technologijos Universitetas, Lithuania Technische Universiteit Delft, Netherlands- Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Universiteit Twente, Netherlands
 Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland- AGH University of Science and Technology (University of Mining and Metallurgy) Krakow, Poland
- Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
- Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland
 Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Portugal- Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
- Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
 Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Romania- Technical University of Cluj, Romania
- Universitatea Politehnica Din Bucuresti, Romania
- University of Iasi, Romania
 Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Russia- Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
- Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia
 Mondragon University, Spain- Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
- Universidad de Burgos, Spain
- Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
- Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Universidad de Malaga, Spain
- Universidad de Oviedo, Spain
- Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
- Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
- Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
- Universidad Politecnica de Cartagena, Spain
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
- Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain
- Universidad Pontifica Comillas, Madrid, Spain
- Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Girona, Spain
- Universidad de Alicante, Spain
 Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden- Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden
- Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
- University of Linköping, Linköping, Sweden
- University of Uppsala, Sweden
 ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland- Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
 Bilkent University Ankara, Turkey- Bogazici University Istanbul, Turkey
- Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
- Sabanci Universitesi, Istanbul, Turkey
- Koç Universitesi Istanbul, Turkey
 Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom- Imperial College London, United Kingdom
- University of Bristol, United Kingdom
- University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), United Kingdom
- University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
- University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom
[edit] America  Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada- Université de Montréal, Canada
- Université Laval, Canada
- McGill University, Canada
- University of Waterloo, Canada
 Cornell University, United States- Michigan Technological University, United States
- Iowa State University, United States
- University of California, Berkeley, United States
- Carnegie Mellon University, United States
 Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile  Fudan University, China- Peking University, China
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
- Tsinghua University, China
 Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India- Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India
- Indian Institute of Information Technology Allahabad, India
 Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan- Osaka University, Japan
- The University of Tokyo, Japan
- Tohoku University, Japan
- Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan
 KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), South Korea Nanyang Technological University, Singapore- National University of Singapore, Singapore
[edit] See also | Swiss federal institutes of technology and research (ETH domain) |
Budget 2008 (CHF mil.) | | ETH Domain | 1'939,0 |
Institutes of technology | | | 994,0
488,0 |
Federal Laboratories | | | 238,0
86,3
49,9
49,1 | [edit] References - ^ "2009 academic ranking of world universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University". Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2009-09-26. http://www.arwu.org/ARWUFIELD2009ENG.jsp. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ "Geneva Gateway, EPFL Europe's MIT". http://www.geneva-gateway.com/en/introducing_geneva/why_geneva/news.php?idContent=20&navigId=32.
- ^ "Monika Henzinger interview:A Google superbrain falls in love with the Matterhorn". http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/resources/why_switzerland/monika_henzinger/.
- ^ epfl.ch - Manuel Castells
- ^ epfl.ch - News (April 15, 2008)
- ^ epfl.ch - partner institutions
[edit] External links |
