University of Lausanne
Public Swiss university in Lausanne operating seven faculties offering 15 bachelor's, 42 master's, and 31 doctoral programs across disciplines from theology to medicine, serving approximately 5,000 researchers and students through subsidized government-funded higher education and research since 1537.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersLausanne, Switzerland
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What University of Lausanne does
The University of Lausanne (Université de Lausanne, UNIL) is a Swiss public research university founded in 1537 as the Académie de Lausanne, relocated from Geneva to Lausanne in 1890, and operated under the governance of the Canton of Vaud. UNIL runs seven faculties—Theology and Sciences of Religions, Law and Criminal Justice, Arts and Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, Business and Economics (HEC Lausanne), Geosciences and Environment, and Biology and Medicine—three of which are unique in Switzerland. Approximately 5,000 researchers operate across more than 210 research and teaching units, delivering 15 bachelor's, 42 master's, and 31 doctoral programs to domestic and international students, with continuing-education, French-as-a-foreign-language, and executive offerings serving lifelong learners and working professionals.
Revenue relies primarily on cantonal and federal government funding channeled via swissuniversities, supplemented by heavily subsidized tuition (CHF 280 first semester and CHF 80 per subsequent semester for doctorates, plus a CHF 500 thesis defense fee), research grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation and European frameworks, and industry-sponsored research collaborations. Distribution is anchored on a 77-hectare Dorigny lakeside campus, with HEC Chamberonne for business and economics, a satellite in Sion-Bramois for mountain and geography studies, and digital delivery via the MyUnil portal and a Moodle-based learning environment. Underlying technology includes the in-house Centre informatique, a public-events and culture infrastructure led through the La Grange arts-and-science venue, and computational platforms in genomics, environmental science, digital health, and actuarial science. Strategic alliances through the CIVIS European University Alliance, EPFL, the University of Geneva (SWISS100), the University of Milan (Italian Prealps research), the École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), the Swiss Association of Actuaries, the Swiss Finance Institute, and the hosted Expertise Center for Climate Extremes (ECCE) extend research and continuing-education reach across European academic, financial, and policy networks.
University of Lausanne firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- University of Lausanne
- Legal name
- Université de Lausanne
- Website
- https://unil.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Public Swiss university in Lausanne operating seven faculties offering 15 bachelor's, 42 master's, and 31 doctoral programs across disciplines from theology to medicine, serving approximately 5,000 researchers and students through subsidized government-funded higher education and research since 1537.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
University of Lausanne industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Higher Education and Research
- NAICS
- Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Public Research Universities with Comprehensive Graduate & Professional Schools (EDAHAAAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Public Research Universities with National Laboratories/Big Science Facilities (EDAHAAAJ), Public Research Universities with Multi-Campus Systems (EDAHAAAI)
Keywords
Where University of Lausanne is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lausanne
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
University of Lausanne business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Tuition and student fees: Revenue from matriculation fees, semester fees, and program-specific tuition charges for bachelor, master, doctorate, and continuing education programs. Doctoral students pay an initial enrollment fee of CHF 200 and semester fees of CHF 80, plus CHF 500 thesis defense fee.
- Government funding: Core operational funding from the Canton of Vaud and Swiss federal government through swissuniversities coordination, supporting research activities and institutional operations.
- Research grants and contracts: Funding from Swiss National Science Foundation (FNS), European research frameworks, industry partnerships, and international research collaborations. Interface support fund and research financing programs support faculty research activities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Doctorate enrollment: CHF 280 first semester, CHF 80 per subsequent semester |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
University of Lausanne product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The University of Lausanne is a Swiss public university that delivers tertiary education and research across seven faculties, offering 15 bachelor programs, 42 master programs, 31 doctoral titles, and continuing education courses. It conducts internationally recognized research through approximately 5,000 researchers across 210+ units spanning theology, law, arts, social sciences, business and economics (HEC Lausanne), geosciences, and biology and medicine. The university supports its mission with campus facilities, an IT centre, the MyUnil digital portal, and public engagement through the La Grange arts centre.
Product overview
The University of Lausanne is a higher education institution offering a comprehensive portfolio of educational programs (bachelor's, master's, doctorate, and continuing education), research support services, and campus facilities. The university operates seven faculties and hosts over 5,000 researchers across more than 210 research and teaching units. Its digital infrastructure includes IT support services, an online student portal (MyUnil), and various administrative platforms. The institution also provides public engagement through its La Grange Arts and Science Center and maintains sustainable campus operations including agricultural spaces and eco-designed digital services.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Educational Degree Programs (Bachelor, Master, Doctorate)
Quantifiable outcome
- Five thousand researchers advance cutting-edge science across diverse fields
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use University of Lausanne
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
University of Lausanne technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
University of Lausanne partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- CIVIS (European University Alliance)coreCIVIS is a European University alliance of which UNIL is a member, promoting student mobility, joint research initiatives, and collaborative academic programs across European institutions.
- SwissuniversitiescoreCoordinating body for Swiss higher education institutions, advocating for Swiss universities and facilitating collaboration on national and international levels.
- Canton of VaudcorePrimary cantonal government funder and partner supporting university operations, research, and campus development in the Lake Geneva region.
- University of MilanmajorJoint research collaboration on biodiversity and environmental studies, particularly regarding the Italian Prealps spruce monoculture research published in the journal Ecosystems.
- University of GenevamajorCollaborative research partnership in longevity studies, with joint SWISS100 study led by researchers from both universities analyzing centenarian blood profiles.
- École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO)majorFrench School of Asian Studies partnership for archaeological epigraphy research, including the discovery of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions in Egypt's Valley of the Kings conducted in 2024-2025.
- Scientists for Global ResponsibilityminorResearch collaboration on environmental impact assessment, particularly regarding FIFA World Cup carbon footprint analysis.
- Swiss Association of Actuaries (ASA)majorPartnership for actuarial science education and research, hosting the 37th International Summer School of the Swiss Association of Actuaries on campus in August 2026.
- Swiss Finance InstitutemajorNational platform for finance research and education, connecting UNIL's actuarial and finance departments with Swiss financial industry and academic institutions.
- Expertise Center for Climate Extremes (ECCE)coreUNIL-hosted center focused on climate extremes research, connecting researchers across disciplines to study environmental risks and climate impacts.
- EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)majorNeighboring technical university with collaborative programs in sciences, technology, and shared continuing education offerings through formation-continue-unil-epfl.ch.
- HEC Lausanne faculty departmentsmajorInternal partnerships within HEC Lausanne including Center for Risk Management (CRML), Enterprise for Society Center (E4S), Swiss Center for Luxury Research, and Tax Policy Center.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
University of Lausanne competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- ETH Zurich: Switzerland's flagship federal research university and the benchmark against which UNIL competes for international prestige, Swiss federal funding allocations, and STEM talent. ETH's much larger endowment and global brand set the upper bound on what UNIL can capture in research reputation.
- University of Bern: Another comprehensive Swiss public research university with comparable faculty breadth, doctoral programs, and federal funding access. Comparable in scale and structure; competes directly with UNIL for rankings, faculty hires, and interdisciplinary research grants.
- University of Basel: Swiss public research university with strong life sciences and humanities, comparable faculty structure, and similar federal funding stream. Basel is a peer in the same Swiss public research tier, particularly in biology/medicine where UNIL's FBM competes.
- University of Zurich: Switzerland's largest university by enrollment and UNIL's principal competitor for the federal German-speaking student pool, federal funding, and life sciences/medicine research prestige. Comparable comprehensive public research structure across all major disciplines.
- Université Paris-Saclay: Larger French public research-intensive university, comparable multi-faculty structure with strong natural sciences, social sciences, and doctoral schools. Relevant peer for measuring UNIL's position in European university rankings and for collaborative research positioning.
Direct peers
- EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne): Neighboring federal technical university and UNIL's closest institutional ally and competitor. EPFL leads STEM and engineering while UNIL covers life sciences, humanities, and social sciences; they jointly run the formation-continue-unil-epfl.ch continuing education platform and the broader Lausanne innovation ecosystem with CHUV.
- Aix-Marseille Université: Fellow CIVIS European University Alliance member, similar scale French-speaking public comprehensive research university with broad faculty base. Comparable on international recruitment, research output, and multilingual public institutional profile.
- University of Geneva: Switzerland's second-largest public university, located in the same Lake Geneva corridor. UNIL already partners with UNIGE on the SWISS100 longevity study and shares Civicampus facilities; both compete for the same federal funding pool, students, and faculty.
- University of Fribourg: Smaller Swiss public bilingual university geographically close to Lausanne. Overlaps with UNIL on law, theology (both faculties exist at UNIL as unique-in-Switzerland), social sciences, and continuing education, drawing from a similar French-speaking Swiss student pool.
- University of St. Gallen (HSG): Switzerland's leading business and economics public university. Direct competitor with HEC Lausanne for Swiss and international business talent, executive MBA market, and management research funding; comparable profile in professional education pricing and brand.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
University of Lausanne social profiles
Digital presenceUniversity of Lausanne financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
University of Lausanne leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
University of Lausanne subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries11 records
University of Lausanne funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
University of Lausanne M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about University of Lausanne
What does University of Lausanne do?
The University of Lausanne is a Swiss public university that delivers tertiary education and research across seven faculties, offering 15 bachelor programs, 42 master programs, 31 doctoral titles, and continuing education courses. It conducts internationally recognized research through approximately 5,000 researchers across 210+ units spanning theology, law, arts, social sciences, business and economics (HEC Lausanne), geosciences, and biology and medicine. The university supports its mission with campus facilities, an IT centre, the MyUnil digital portal, and public engagement through the La Grange arts centre.
Is University of Lausanne a public or private company?
University of Lausanne is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was University of Lausanne founded?
University of Lausanne was founded in -1. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is University of Lausanne based?
University of Lausanne is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does University of Lausanne make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Tuition and student fees are the primary driver. The others are government funding and research grants and contracts.
Who are University of Lausanne's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are ETH Zurich, University of Bern, University of Basel, University of Zurich and Université Paris-Saclay. Direct peers are EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Aix-Marseille Université, University of Geneva, University of Fribourg and University of St. Gallen (HSG).
Does University of Lausanne have an API?
No public API is recorded for University of Lausanne.
What industry is University of Lausanne in?
University of Lausanne's product category is Higher Education and Research. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHAAAF, Public Research Universities with Comprehensive Graduate & Professional Schools, with a secondary code of EDAHAAAJ, Public Research Universities with National Laboratories/Big Science Facilities. Its NAICS code is 6113 and its SIC code is 8200.