By Ruben Fiszel

IC is "Informatique and Communication"

(Computer Science and Systems of communication) 

EPFL is "École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne"

(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)

IC is our faculty

  • Medium size university
  • ~10 000 students and PhD
  • ~6 000 academic staff (338 professors)
  • Shanghai 2015: 14th in Eng
  • Times Higher Education: 10th Ing & Tech, 1st in most International, 1st of less than 50 y.o
  • Qs Ranking: 17th general, 10th Ing & Tech

Some numbers 

  • Founded in 1853 but very tiny at that time
  • By 4 persons, of which 3 from French « Grandes Écoles » (Centrale and Polytechnique)
  • In 1969, became a Federal Institution (join ETHZ)
  • in 2000 Patrick Aebischer, EPFL president, creates a Life Science department and give EPFL an international aura

Quick History

Human Brain Project

Simulate the human brain with super-computers. EPFL wide project

Total estimated cost: $1.19B (~150B Yen)

EU flagship project

Help understanding neurological disorder affecting 2B persons

Scala is made by IC

 

 

 

- Functionnal and Oriented-Object language

- Run on the JVM, compatible with Java code

- Modern alternative to Java

Used by Amazon, LinkedIn, Twitter and more

EPFL Scientific Park: Space on Campus to collaborate with start-up and tech companies.

Lablets on campus 
     (Credit Suisse, Logitech, ….)

Major research grants from key players

(e.g in CS: Microsoft [Catapult], Google, Oracle, Qualcomm, ....)

Alumni network:

- Daniel Borel, Logitech CEO and cofounder

- Franck Riboud, Danone CEO until 2014 

- ...

Industrial collaborations 

How is it to study there

  • It's awesome, really! (unless you struggle :<)
  • In theory, do your exercises « séries » weekly , and you will be okay
  • In practice, late exercices accumulate during semester
  • 2 weeks before the end-of-semester exam, students panic and become very studious
  • Selective education: Accessible to all, but hard to get degree from

 

  • Only 58% of student get the diploma
  • Among them only 58% never fail a year

Switzerland tops Many charts

  • #1/133 in Global Competitiveness (World Economic Forum 2010-2014)
  • #1/143 in Global Innovation Index (World Intellectual Property Organisation 2014)
  • #1/? in IT spending by Capita
  • #2/142 Prosperity Index (Legatum Institute 2014)
  • #3/187 Human Development Index (UN Development Programe 2014)
  • #8/155 Happiness (Gallup World Poll) 

Life in Lausanne

  • Switzerland offers a very nice quality of life
  • EPFL is public :633- (=~640USD) by semester
  • Cost of life is very high
  • But wages are also very high
  • Lausanne is a medium size student city:  133 521 people and 2 major university (UNIL and EPFL)
  • Switzerland has a very reliable train network (probabaly similar to Japan)
  • You can travel anywhere in Switzerland easily
  • Skiing and Hiking in beautiful landscapes is common

Questions ?

Venice Time Machine

Recreate Venice under multiple views:

- Urban

- Cultural

- Environmental

- Human

EPFL wide project

Courses

  • In undergraduate, for every major (except architecture but they're ... a bit special), the courses are split into 2 "Block". You have to pass them independently.
  • One is the big block, focused on theory and fundamental courses. 
  • Second is the small block, very specific to your major. It's often more applied courses. 
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