From its foundation in 1853, EPFL has evolved into an internationally renowned institution that attracts some of the best intellects in the world. With state-of-the-art facilities, bright and motivated students, and outstanding faculty, EPFL’s reputation as a top-rate teaching and research institution continues to grow.
We offer students and faculty an innovation-oriented environment equipped with state-of-the-art facilities in a cosmopolitan setting. And because we believe in learning by doing, our degree programs place a heavy emphasis on lab sessions and hands-on workshops with direct research applications. EPFL, The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne, gives access to most fields of Basic Sciences, Engineering and Architecture. At Master’s level, 25 programs are offered. The are designed to be flexible and give students the opportunity to customize their curricula according to their aspirations.
EPFL is home to over 350 laboratories and research groups, each working at the forefront of science and technology. We have a goal to better understand our world and we aim to improve it. Across its several campuses, EPFL has a diverse, committed and stimulating research community that is active over a wide spectrum of quantitative and design-focused disciplines. To foster trans-disciplinary research we launch strategic initiatives such as the Blue Brain Project, the Swiss Plasma Centre or the Venice Time Machine.
The "student services" counter is the central point of contact for processing your requests
You are a student or PhD student at EPFL, newly arrived, freshly graduated and you have a problem, a question, a doubt? The student services desk provides the following services:
Our team informs you on different housing options in the Lausanne area. Some housings are strictly reserved to EPFL community: you must know your status before beggining your housing hunt. You’ll find it on your admission letter, invitation letter or on your work contract. Please note that the majority of apartments / studios in the UNIL-EPFL database are managed by real estate agencies and not by the contact person who published the advertisement. This is the current tenant who has to hand over his lease and who is in charge of making the visits of the apartment and provide the agency with a few files of solvent applicants. So you will always be confronted with the constraints imposed by real estate agencies.
Located at the Rolex Learning Center, the EPFL Library offers advanced tailored services to EPFL members (students, researchers, professors). As a public library, collections are available for everyone interested.
The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne is a lively place to live, living up to the rhythm of its events and the activities of its associations. Its buildings with striking architecture house libraries, shops, restaurants and exhibitions.
Throughout their stay, students and staff can also count on numerous resources to support them logistically and administratively.
125 nationalities on campus and more than 50% of professors from abroad make the School one of the most cosmopolitan university sites in the world.
The keystone of the Sport and Health Center (CSS) of the University Sports Center Dorigny (CSUD) is transversality. Its architecture and organization are part of a permanent search for balance, a harmony that is based both on human qualities and an efficient multidisciplinary approach. This dual vocation allows it to address both athletes looking for a performance that the entire university community, as well as a wide audience anxious to develop a healthy and regular physical practice.
Thanks to more than seventy student associations active on EPFL campus, our community enjoys a dynamic place of studies, where diversity invites itself through various events.Aware of the workload resulting from managing a student association, Educational Affairs provides our students with the tools and resources they need to thrive associative life and make it become compatible with their studies.
The Quality Office manages the Quality Assurance System of EPFL in the fields of Education, Research and School Governance and improves it through internal and external reviews on a regular basis. Its goal is to provide a continuous enhancement of quality aiming at a culture of excellence within the whole institution for the accomplishment of its missions.
Studyportals ranking look at the scores of the most used ranking systems and present you with one number of how well this University performs.
By TopUniversities
The university hasn’t moved up or down in the rankings over the past year.
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 22 | 22 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By U.S. News & World Report
Climbed 6 places compared to 2026
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 88 | 86 | 80 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By Times Higher Education
This university doesn’t have a ranking for 2027 yet. Rankings are updated yearly, so check back later for the latest info.
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | 35 | - |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By Shanghai Jiao Tong University
This university doesn’t have a ranking for 2026 yet. Rankings are updated yearly, so check back later for the latest info.
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 55 | 44 | - |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
Based on 28 reviews
I really like the possibilities ETH provides. Lectures may be boring but campus life is awesome and the extracurricular projects like the focus projects have had an enormous impact on my career. Highly recommend to everyone that�s willing to fully commit to their major.
It's a great place to study if you value a good education and good additional student programs in your spare time. There is ASVZ, which offers a wide variety of sports for free to any student, theres VSETH, the student association that makes sure that the work life balance stays in tact and helps you with all your problems, and their "sub" associations that offer specific help and events depending on your field of studies.
As an electrical engineering student at ETH Zurich, I can confidently say it is one of the best academic environments I have experienced. The level of digitalization is impressive: course materials, assignments, and grades are all accessible through well-integrated platforms, making it easy to stay organized and focused on what matters most, which is learning. The quality of teaching is consistently high. The curriculum is demanding, but that rigor is exactly what pushes students to grow both technically and intellectually. Beyond academics, student life at ETH is genuinely enriching, largely thanks to associations like EESTEC. As a student organization connecting electrical engineering and computer science students across Europe, EESTEC creates incredible opportunities to meet peers from other universities, exchange experiences, and build lasting friendships. The events, workshops, and exchanges organized through EESTEC make student life vibrant and give ETH students a chance to represent their university on an international stage. What makes this especially valuable is the sense of community it creates. Sharing our student life with peers from across Europe broadens perspectives in a way that purely academic settings cannot replicate. ETH Zurich is not an easy path, but between its world-class education and a rich student life driven by organizations like EESTEC, it is an exceptional place to grow.
The Global Student Satisfaction Awards empower students across the globe to determine the best universities of 2025. Universities with a score above 4.0 (out of 5) in any of the 7 award categories, receive Badges of Excellence. Congratulations!
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