University of Lausanne

The University of Lausanne (in French: Université de Lausanne) or UNIL in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 10,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university. Approximately 1500 international students attend the university, which has a wide curriculum including exchange programs with several American universities.

The University of Lausanne is composed of 7 faculties (theology, law, arts, social and political science, economics and business administration, geoscience and environment, biology and medicine). Before 2005, the University applied the French education model with some minor differences. The academic degrees were the Demi-Licence, Licence, DEA / DESS, Doctorate. The University now follows the requirements of the Bologna process.

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

History
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.

In 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.

Reputation
The 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement [THES] World University Rankings ranked the University of Lausanne as follows:


 * 5th in Switzerland
 * 89th in the world overall

The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2006 [ARWU] ranked the University of Lausanne as follows:
 * 7th in Switzerland
 * 79th-122nd in Europe
 * 201th-300th in the world

Alumni

 * King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) of Thailand
 * Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
 * Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA
 * İsmail Cem, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
 * Pascal Couchepin, Swiss Federal Councillor
 * Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, former Swiss Federal Councillor
 * Viera Gedroitz, Russian-Ukrainian surgeon
 * Şemsettin Günaltay, former Prime Minister of Turkey
 * Rüdiger Kirsch, honey trader and famous adventurer conquering the Americas by motorcycle
 * Pascoal Mocumbi, former prime minister of Mozambique
 * Benito Mussolini, Doctor Honoris Causa in 1937
 * Adel Nefzi, Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry, Lecturer at University of California, San Diego. Note: Dr. Nefzi is not the same person as the goalkeeper, Adel Nefzi on the Tunisian soccer team
 * Claude Nicollier, Swiss astronaut
 * Bertrand Piccard, Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist
 * Edmond Pidoux, Swiss poet and novelist
 * Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer
 * Jonas Savimbi, Angolan politician
 * Mohammad Sa'ed, former Prime Minister of Iran
 * Dr Edeline Wentrup-Byrne, Chemist at Queensland University of Technology
 * Stress, Swiss rapper

Campus
The Campus is presently situated outside the city on the Lakeside in Dorigny adjacent to the EPFL. The location is made up of individual buildings with a park and arboretum in between. The library also serves as eating hall and is centrally located. The view from the library across the sports fields to the lake of Geneva and the French Alps. On a clear day, Mont Blanc can be seen.

School of Lausanne
Neoclassical school of thought in economics founded at the University of Lausanne by two of its Professors: Léon Walras and Vilfredo Pareto. The "School of Lausanne" is associated with the development of general equilibrium theory as well as the marginalist revolution Marginalism.