Institute of Psychology
Brief History of the Institute of Psychology
The Institute of Psychology was founded in 1969 by Professor Jean-Blaise Dupont (1926-2011) at the University of Lausanne. Initially, the Institute was called Institute of Applied Psychology (IPA), as his teaching and research activities focused on the training of career counsellors in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The Institute only offered the second part of the licence (corresponding to an MSc). As from 1972, a first cycle (corresponding to a BSc) was also offered under an agreement on psychology studies between the four French-speaking Swiss Universities (Convention Romande des Etudes en Psychologie). After this first cycle (BSc), students who did not wish to specialise in the field of career counselling had to complete their studies in another University that had signed the Convention. It was only in the early eighties that a second cycle (MSc) general psychology licence was introduced. Over the years and following the Bologna reform, the Institute has grown (in both teacher and student numbers). Today it provides training in five areas: career counselling and guidance, child and adolescent psychology, clinical psychology and psychopathology, health psychology, and social psychology. The Institute is currently composed of 100 members including 20 professors and lecturers, and over 1000 students.
