The Branco Weiss Information Science Laboratory at ETH Zurich
Keystone
With seven higher-learning institutions in the world’s top 150, Switzerland has performed well in this year’s Times Higher Education (THE) universities ranking - the most important of its kind.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch and agencies, swissinfo.ch and agencies
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, in ninth position, continues to be the only non-English language university in the top ten, THE revealed on Wednesday.
Further down the list in 31st position is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), followed by the universities of Basel (101), Zurich (104), Bern (120), Geneva (131) and Lausanne (144).
The universities of Fribourg, St Gallen and Neuchâtel came between 200 and 500.
The California Institute of Technology topped the 12th Times Higher Education university ranking, ahead of Oxford and Stanford.
The Swiss institutions were the most international, according to the list’s authors: 27% of their students are foreign, putting them in sixth place. In addition, 45% of teaching staff are foreign.
The Times Higher Education university ranking looked at higher education establishments in 70 countries. It is based on 13 criteria, including research, teaching, citations, internationalisation, transfer of knowledge and the acquisition of funds from the business world.
Vote concerns
However, some Swiss education experts see a problem for international links due to the fallout of the Swiss vote in February 2014 to limit immigration.
In a small thawing of relations, Switzerland has now been allowed partial participation in Horizon 2020 until the end of 2016, by which all sides are hoping a solution will be found.
This content was published on
Switzerland’s higher education system has been ranked 2nd in the Universitas 21 2015 global ratings. One aspect where it stood out: international outlook. However this is the area under threat after an anti-immigration vote last year.
This content was published on
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) published a study on Thursday naming Switzerland the world leader in innovation for 2015.
This content was published on
Immunologist Salomé LeibundGut-Landmann says she has two families: her two small children and her lab team. She has made a success of academia, at an age when many of her peers have left it all together.
This content was published on
Ezekiel Emanuel is drinking tea at a table in a small library in Basel. A former health advisor for the Obama administration, he has spent almost eight weeks as a guest professor at the University of Basel’s Institute for Biomedical Ethics. Back home he heads the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the…
This content was published on
A record high number of students enrolled last year in Switzerland’s two technology universities and four research institutes.
This content was published on
Switzerland has signed an agreement in Brussels allowing its researchers to - partially at least - participate in the European research programme Horizon 2020, from which they were excluded after a February vote curbing immigration from Europe.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.