University of Zurich
University of Zurich
Universität Zürich | |
| Latin: Universitas Turicensis | |
| Type | Public university |
|---|---|
| Established | 1833 |
| Budget | 1.42 billion Swiss francs[1] |
| President | Prof. Michael Hengartner |
Academic staff | 3,702 (Full-time equivalent)[2] |
Administrative staff | 2,051 (Full-time equivalent)[2] |
| Students | 25,732[1] |
| Location | Zürich ,Canton of Zurich ,Switzerland 47°22′29″N 8°32′54″E [35] |
| Campus | Urban |
| Affiliations | LERU |
| Website | www.uzh.ch [36] |
 | |
| University rankings | |
| Global | |
| ARWU World[21] | 54 |
| THE World[23] | 136 |
| USNWR World[24] | 88 |
| QS World[22] | 73 |
Currently, the university has seven faculties: Philosophy, Human Medicine, Economic Sciences, Law, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Engineering, Computer Sciences, and Robotics, Theology and Veterinary Medicine. The university offers the widest range of subjects and courses of any Swiss higher education institution.[6] As of October 2018, 23 Nobel laureates and 1 Turing Award winner have been affiliated with University of Zurich as alumni, faculty or researchers.
Universität Zürich | |
| Latin: Universitas Turicensis | |
| Type | Public university |
|---|---|
| Established | 1833 |
| Budget | 1.42 billion Swiss francs[1] |
| President | Prof. Michael Hengartner |
Academic staff | 3,702 (Full-time equivalent)[2] |
Administrative staff | 2,051 (Full-time equivalent)[2] |
| Students | 25,732[1] |
| Location | Zürich ,Canton of Zurich ,Switzerland 47°22′29″N 8°32′54″E [35] |
| Campus | Urban |
| Affiliations | LERU |
| Website | www.uzh.ch [36] |
| |
| University rankings | |
| Global | |
| ARWU World[21] | 54 |
| THE World[23] | 136 |
| USNWR World[24] | 88 |
| QS World[22] | 73 |
History
The University of Zurich was founded on April 29, 1833,[7] when the existing colleges of theology, the Carolinum founded by Huldrych Zwingli in 1525, law and medicine were merged with a new faculty of Philosophy. It was the first university in Europe to be founded by the state rather than a monarch or church.
In the University's early years, the 1839 appointment of the German theologian David Friedrich Strauss to its Chair of Theology caused a major controversy, since Strauss argued that the miracles in the Christian New Testament were mythical retellings of normal events as supernatural happenings.[8][9][10][11] Eventually, the authorities offered Strauss a pension before he had a chance to start his duties.
The university allowed women to attend philosophy lectures from 1847, and admitted the first female doctoral student in 1866. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was added in 1901, the second-oldest such faculty in the world. In 1914, the university moved to new premises designed by the architect Karl Moser on Rämistrasse 71.[12]
Campus
The university is scattered all over the city of Zurich. Members of the university can use several libraries, including the ETH-library, and the Zurich Central Library, with over 5 million volumes.[13] In 1962, the faculty of science proposed to establish the Irchelpark campus on the Strickhofareal. The first stage the construction of the university buildings was begun in 1973, and the campus was inaugurated in 1979.[14][15] The construction of the second stage lasted from 1978 to 1983.[15] The campus also houses the anthropological museum Anthropologisches Museum,[16] and the cantonal Staatsarchiv Zürich.[17]
Museum
The Institute and Museum for the History of Medicine is part of the university.[18]
Academics
Faculties
Main building by Karl Moser as seen from the south
The University of Zurich as a whole also ranks in the top ten of Europe and in the top fifty worldwide. Notably in the fields of bioscience and finance, there is a close-knit collaboration between the University of Zurich and the ETH (Federal Institute for Technology, just across the road).[19] Their faculty of chiropractic medicine is six years.[20]
Rankings
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking[25] (heavy emphasis on research output – citations, Nobel prizes etc.)
- 54th globally and 15th in Europe.
THES – QS World University Rankings[26] (heavy emphasis on peer review)
- 61st globally and 14th in Europe.
QS World University Rankings 2014[27]
- 57th globally.
Professional Ranking of World Universities[28] (Based on the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies.)
- 32nd globally and 10th in Europe.
University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) 2010[29]
- 52nd globally and 1st in Switzerland.
Language policy
Atrium Central
Irchel Campus, newer and more remotely located buildings of the University of Zurich
Statue at the entrance
Bachelor courses are taught in Swiss Standard German ("Hochdeutsch"), but use of English is increasing in many faculties. The only bachelors program taught entirely in English is the "English Language and Literature [37] " program.[32] All Master courses at the Faculty of Science are held in English. Master courses in Economics and Finance are mainly held in English, while the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance is held completely in English.
Notable fellows of the university
Rolf Pfeifer – Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, IFI
Albert Hofmann - Medicinal Chemistry
Albert Einstein - Physics and Philosophy
Student life
The university's Academic Sports Association (ASVZ) offers a wide range of sports facilities to students of the university.
Notable alumni and faculty
Politics, law and society
Johannes Baumann, President of the Swiss Confederation
Johann Jakob Blumer, Swiss statesman and historian
Ernst Brugger, President of the Swiss Confederation
Emil Brunner, Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology
Carl Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss diplomat and historian
Felix Calonder, President of the Swiss Confederation
Ignazio Cassis, member of the Swiss Federal Council
Adolf Deucher, President of the Swiss Confederation
Alphons Egli, President of the Swiss Confederation
Philipp Etter, President of the Swiss Confederation
Sigi Feigel (1921-2004), Swiss attorney, president of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ) and notable for his campaigns against antisemitism and racism
Ludwig Forrer, President of the Swiss Confederation
Kurt Furgler, President of the Swiss Confederation
Jonas Furrer, President of the Swiss Confederation
Athol Gill, Australian theologian
Balthasar Glättli, Grüne Partei der Schweiz politician
Bernhard Hammer, President of the Swiss Confederation
Robert Haab, President of the Swiss Confederation
Heinrich Häberlin, President of the Swiss Confederation
Joachim Heer, President of the Swiss Confederation
Arthur Hoffmann, President of the Swiss Confederation
Fritz Honegger, President of the Swiss Confederation
Eugen Huber, Swiss jurist and the creator of the Swiss Civil Code
Max Huber, Swiss lawyer and diplomat
Daniel Jositsch, law professor and SP politician
Jakob Kellenberger, Swiss diplomat and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Stephan Klapproth, Swiss journalist and television presenter
Elisabeth Kopp, Swiss politician and the first woman elected to the Swiss Federal Council
Ursula Koch (born 1941), Swiss politician
Moritz Leuenberger, President of the Swiss Confederation
Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation
Rosa Luxemburg, Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent
Min Li Marti, Swiss politician and publisher
Albert Meyer, President of the Swiss Confederation
Max Petitpierre, President of the Swiss Confederation
Adeline Rittershaus (1876–1924), philologist, a scholar in old Scandinavian literature, and champion for the equality of women
Carl Victor Ryssel, theologian
Roger Sablonier (1941-2010), Swiss historian and writer (faculty, Emeritierter Ordinarius für Geschichte des Mittelalters)
Leon Schlumpf, President of the Swiss Confederation
Ernst Sieber (born 1927), Swiss pastor, social worker, writer and former EVP politician
Cornelio Sommaruga, Swiss humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat
Willy Spühler, President of the Swiss Confederation
Walther Stampfli, President of the Swiss Confederation
Hashim Thaçi, prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo
Wangpo Tethong (born 1963), Swiss-Tibetan activist, writer, spokesperson of Greenpeace Switzerland and member of the 15th Tibetan Parliament in Exile
Daniel Thürer, Swiss jurist
Klaus Tschütscher, former Head of Government of Liechtenstein as Prime Minister
Ernst Wetter, President of the Swiss Confederation
Sigmund Widmer (1919-2003), Swiss politician
Dölf Wild (born 1954), Swiss historian and archäeologist
Economics, business and management
Stephan Schmidheiny, Swiss businessman and billionaire
Christoph Blocher, Swiss politician, industrialist and former member of the Swiss Federal Council
Martin Ebner (born 1945), Swiss billionaire businessman
Walter Haefner, businessman and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder in Ireland
Peter Kurer, Swiss manager and lawyer
Markus U. Diethelm, Swiss businessman and Group General Counsel at UBS AG
Marc Faber, an investment analyst and entrepreneur
Marcel Rohner (banker), Swiss businessman (UBS AG)
Karl Brunner (economist), Swiss economist
Bruno Frey, Swiss economist
Raynold Kaufgetz, Swiss economist
Adriano B. Lucatelli, Swiss manager and businessperson
Dominique Rinderknecht, Swiss model and Miss Switzerland 2013
Alan Frei, Swiss businessman
Science
Wilhelm Röntgen, physicist and engineer who discovered X-rays
Alfred Kleiner, experimental physicist
Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist who was awarded his PhD from the University of Zurich in 1905 and was appointed associate professor at the university in 1909
Albert Hofmann, Swiss scientist and discoverer of LSD-25
Peter Debye, Dutch physicist and chemist
Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist who was professor from 1921 to 1927
Max Holzmann, Swiss cardiologist
Jean Lindenmann (1924–2015), Swiss immunologist and virologist; co-discoverer of interferon
Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach (born 1947), Swiss biologist and first women rector of ETH Zurich
Hugo Iltis, Biologist, Biographer of Gregor Mendel
Natalie Grams, German physician, author and science communicator
Artur Avila, professor at Institut für Mathematik and Fields Medal
Heinrich Willi, Swiss pediatrician
Nobel Prize laureates
Associated with the university are 12 Nobel Prize recipients, primarily in Physics and Chemistry.
| Year | Field | Laureate |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Physics | Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen |
| 1902 | Literature | Theodor Mommsen |
| 1913 | Chemistry | Alfred Werner |
| 1914 | Physics | Max von Laue |
| 1921 | Physics | Albert Einstein |
| 1933 | Physics | Erwin Schrödinger |
| 1936 | Chemistry | Peter Debye |
| 1937 | Chemistry | Paul Karrer |
| 1939 | Chemistry | Lavoslav Ružička |
| 1949 | Medicine | Walter Rudolf Hess |
| 1987 | Physics | Karl Alex Müller |
| 1996 | Medicine | Rolf M. Zinkernagel |
Associated institutions
Corpus Córporum, digital library created and maintained by the University's Institute for Greek and Latin Philology.
Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
See also
List of largest universities by enrollment in Switzerland
List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)