Almost 500 years of history

Following the conquest of the Pays de Vaud in 1536, the Bernese authorities decided to found a school in Lausanne to train pastors. The Schola Lausannensis would not take the name of Academy of Lausanne until some 50 years later.

During the 17th century, personalities such as Théodore de Bèze, Conrad Gessner and Pierre Viret contributed to the institution’s influence. Nonetheless, Their Excellencies in Bern did not look kindly on this spirit of openness, and there were regular tensions with the professors at the Academy throughout the 18th century. Vaud's independence would put an end to this dissent when the Bernese left the Pays de Vaud.

The Academy continued to develop within the canton of Léman, the future canton of Vaud. It suffered the consequences of the introduction of new laws on public education, which struggled to be applied. In 1837, religious conflicts led to the secularisation of the Academy, separating teaching (now delivered in French) into three faculties, each of which could award a degree. Academic freedom to choose courses was officially recognised.

The 1840s would be marked by brilliant teaching but also a very close link between academia and the liberal regime. The separation of church and state (1847), the birth of modern Switzerland (1848), a new Constitution (1861) and a new Education Act (1869) gave the Academy the legal status it needed to become a University in 1890. At that time, it had 300 students, including some female students, for the first time in its history.

A new era has dawned, with the University finally boasting its first female graduates and PhDs. It moves towards developing its current structure with the creation of various colleges and the introduction of holiday courses for its 1,000 students. During the First and Second World Wars, it welcomed war internees into its student body.

In September 1963, the Grand Council granted the State Council a credit of CHF 22 million for the acquisition of the Dorigny property, which would later house the campus of the same name.

The creation of the Rectorate and the adoption of the University Master Plan by the State Council took place in an atmosphere of student protest. UNIL began its redevelopment at Dorigny: the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw the inauguration of various buildings and the number of students double and then triple to reach 9,000.

In 1991, the TSOL facilitated access to the campus. The last two years of the century were marked by weeks of strike action against the economic plan decided by the government, as well as the start of the Bologna process and major cooperation projects between UNIL, UNIGE and EPFL.

In the early 2000s, the university landscape in French-speaking Switzerland underwent profound changes. The fundamental sciences (maths, physics and chemistry) were transferred to EPFL and pharmacy was firmly established in Geneva, while UNIL focused on life sciences, with a view to strengthening and sharing skills.

The former Faculties of Science and Medicine were replaced by the Faculty of Geociences and Environment (FGSE) and the Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM). The latter is mandated by UNIL and CHUV to carry out all research and teaching activities in the fields of biology and medicine.

In October 2005, the Bologna Process came into force in all UNIL faculties, which now offered University Baccalaureate or Bachelor's degree programmes.

From the start of the 2010 academic year, UNIL broke new ground at national level with the introduction of a part-time course for all its Master's programmes. Ambitious innovations and inaugurations would mark the years that followed until 2020 and the acquisition of the Vortex, making Dorigny a place to live 24 hours a day.