Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, at Zürich, founded 1855 as the Federal Polytechnic Institute, given its current name 1911. It is a science and technology research university with a solid reputation in chemistry, physics, and mathematics; among its faculty and graduates are numerous Nobel Prize winners. Its sister school in Lausanne, the École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne, was founded as a private school in 1853 and became part of what was later reorganized into the Univ. of Lausanne in 1869. In 1969 the school separated from the university and became a federal institute. Its programs of study are organized around institutes dedicated to engineering, basic sciences, computer and information sciences, life sciences, civil engineering, architecture, and the environment.