University of Zurich
Encyclopedia
The University of Zurich (UZH), located in the city of Zurich
, is the largest university
in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing college
s of theology
, law
, medicine
and a new faculty of philosophy
.
Currently, the university has faculties of arts
, economics
, law
, medicine
, science
, theology
and veterinary medicine
. The university claims to offer the widest range of subjects and courses at any Swiss higher education institution.
in 1525), law and medicine were merged together 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. 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 oldest such faculty in the world. In 1914, the university moved to new premises designed by the architect Karl Moser
on Rämistrasse 71.
-library, and the Zurich Central Library, with over 5 million volumes.
Its best-performing faculties in terms of research quality are the Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science, all of which rank in the top ten of Europe's universities. 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).
and the faculty of Business Administration is ranked third in the german-speaking area.
In Europe the Department of Economics is ranked third, before Oxford University. (Based on research output, international staff/students and library holdings)
("Hochdeutsch"), but use of English is increasing in many faculties. All Master courses at the Faculty of Science are held in English. In some highly competitive and international programs, such as the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance, all lectures are held in English.
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, is the largest university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
s of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and a new faculty of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
.
Currently, the university has faculties of arts
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
. The university claims to offer the widest range of subjects and courses at any Swiss higher education institution.
History
The University of Zurich was founded on April 29, 1833, when the existing colleges of theology (founded by Huldrych ZwingliHuldrych Zwingli
Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
in 1525), law and medicine were merged together 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. 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 oldest such faculty in the world. In 1914, the university moved to new premises designed by the architect Karl Moser
Karl Moser
Karl Moser was an architect from Switzerland.1887–1915 he worked together with Robert Curjel in Karlsruhe.Some of their works:* Kunsthaus Zurich* University of Zurich* Basel Badischer Bahnhof...
on Rämistrasse 71.
Campus
The university is scattered all over the city of Zurich. There are several libraries available for use by members of the university, including the ETHEth
Eth is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese , and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. The capital eth resembles a D with a line through the vertical stroke...
-library, and the Zurich Central Library, with over 5 million volumes.
Faculties
Eth
Eth is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese , and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. The capital eth resembles a D with a line through the vertical stroke...
(Federal Institute for Technology, just across the road).
Rankings
The Department of Economics is ranked first in the german-speaking area, according to a ranking by HandelsblattHandelsblatt
The Handelsblatt is a leading German language business newspaper, published in Düsseldorf by the Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. It has a circulation of 145.437 daily copies. Its editor-in-chief is Gabor Steingart...
and the faculty of Business Administration is ranked third in the german-speaking area.
In Europe the Department of Economics is ranked third, before Oxford University. (Based on research output, international staff/students and library holdings)
- 46th globally and 11th in Europe.
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University RankingAcademic Ranking of World UniversitiesThe Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
(heavy emphasis on research output – citations, nobel prizes etc.)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking
- 53rd globally and 12th in Europe.
- THES - QS World University RankingsTHES - QS World University RankingsThe term Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings refers to rankings published jointly between 2004 and 2009 by Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds . After QS and Times Higher Education had ended their collaboration, the methodology for these rankings continues to be used by...
(heavy emphasis on peer review)
- THES - QS World University Rankings
- 61st globally and 14th in Europe.
- QS World University RankingsQS World University RankingsThe QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
2011 (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University RankingsTimes Higher Education World University RankingsThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
and QS World University RankingsQS World University RankingsThe QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
parted ways to produce separate rankings)
- QS World University Rankings
- 106th globally.
- Professional Ranking of World Universities (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
- 52nd globally and 1st in Switzerland.
Language policy
Bachelor courses are taught in Standard GermanStandard German
Standard German is the standard variety of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas...
("Hochdeutsch"), but use of English is increasing in many faculties. All Master courses at the Faculty of Science are held in English. In some highly competitive and international programs, such as the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance, all lectures are held in English.
Notable faculty
- Emil Theodor KocherEmil Theodor KocherEmil Theodor Kocher was a Swiss physician, medical researcher, and Nobel laureate for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid....
(Medicine 1909) - Max von LaueMax von LaueMax Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
(Physics 1914) - Walther Hermann Nernst (Chemistry 1920)
- Albert HofmannAlbert HofmannAlbert Hofmann was a Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide . He authored more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child...
(Chemistry 1929) - Karl LandsteinerKarl LandsteinerKarl Landsteiner , was an Austrian-born American biologist and physician of Jewish origin. He is noted for having first distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the...
(Medicine 1930) - Erwin SchrödingerErwin SchrödingerErwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
(Physics 1933) - Peter DebyePeter DebyePeter Joseph William Debye FRS was a Dutch physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.-Early life:...
(Chemistry 1936) - Paul KarrerPaul KarrerPaul Karrer was a Swiss organic chemist best known for his research on vitamins. He and Walter Haworth won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937.-Early years:...
(Chemistry 1937) - Lavoslav Stjepan RužičkaLavoslav RužickaLavoslav Ružička FRS born as Lavoslav Ružička was a Croatian scientist and winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry who worked most of his life in Switzerland...
(Chemistry 1939) - Henrik Carl Peter Dam (Medicine 1943)
- Linus PaulingLinus PaulingLinus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
(Chemistry 1954; Peace 1962) - George WaldGeorge WaldGeorge Wald was an American scientist who is best known for his work with pigments in the retina. He won a share of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Haldan Keffer Hartline and Ragnar Granit.- Research :...
(Medicine 1967) - Hamilton O. SmithHamilton O. SmithHamilton Othanel Smith is an American microbiologist and Nobel laureate.Smith was born on August 23, 1931, and graduated from University Laboratory High School of Urbana, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but in 1950 transferred to the University of California,...
(Medicine 1978) - Karl Alex Müller (Physics 1987)
- Eric F. WieschausEric F. Wieschaus-External links:***, excellent profile**...
(Medicine 1995) - Rolf M. ZinkernagelRolf M. ZinkernagelRolf Martin Zinkernagel AC is Professor of Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich.-Career:...
(Medicine 1996)
Notable fellows of the university
- Rolf PfeiferRolf PfeiferRolf Pfeifer is professor of computer science at the , University of Zurich, and director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland...
– Artificial Intelligence LaboratoryArtificial Intelligence LaboratoryArtificial Intelligence Laboratory may refer to:* Kiev Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence, a research institute in Kiev, Ukraine* MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, an interdisciplinary research entity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
, IFI
Student life
The university's Academic Sports Association (ASVZ) offers a wide range of sports facilities to students of the university.Alumni
Alumni of the University of Zurich include 6 Nobel Prize laureates.| Year | Field | Laureate |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Physics Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and... |
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.... |
| 1902 | Literature Nobel Prize in Literature Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"... |
Theodor Mommsen Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research... |
| 1913 | Chemistry Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,... |
Alfred Werner Alfred Werner Alfred Werner was a Swiss chemist who was a student at ETH Zurich and a professor at the University of Zurich. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for proposing the octahedral configuration of transition metal complexes. Werner developed the basis for modern coordination chemistry... |
| 1921 | Physics Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and... |
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history... |
| 1937 | Chemistry Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,... |
Paul Karrer Paul Karrer Paul Karrer was a Swiss organic chemist best known for his research on vitamins. He and Walter Haworth won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937.-Early years:... |
| 1949 | Medicine Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will... |
Walter Rudolf Hess Walter Rudolf Hess Walter Rudolf Hess was a Swiss physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1949 for mapping the areas of the brain involved in the control of internal organs. He shared the prize with Egas Moniz.... |
See also
- List of largest universities by enrollment in Switzerland
- List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
- myScience.ch – The Swiss Portal for Research and Innovation