The university was founded on April 29, 1833. It was initially formed from three already existing higher schools, which made up three faculties: theology, law, and medicine. In addition to the aforementioned three, a faculty of philosophy was added. In 1859, the faculty of philosophy was divided into two directions: philosophical-historical-philological and mathematical-natural sciences.
In 1867, a Russian woman, Nadezhda Prokofyevna Suslova, became famous at the University of Zurich in the field of medicine. She was the first woman to receive a doctoral degree in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
Today the University of Zurich has seven faculties: theology, law, economics, medicine, veterinary medicine, philosophy, and mathematics and natural sciences. Over 2,200 teachers, of whom more than 380 are professors, provide extensive learning opportunities. Leading scientists teach at the university, such as Professor Rolf Zinkernagel, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1996 for achievements in medicine. He, like Albert Einstein, is among the twelve scientists who worked at the University of Zurich and whose merits were recognized by the Swedish Royal Academy.
The University of Zurich has about 20,000 students. About 51% of them are women. Although representatives of all regions of Switzerland study at the university, the majority of students come from the canton of Zurich. The number of students by faculty is distributed as follows: theology - 1%, law - 16%, economics - 13%, medicine - 12%, veterinary medicine - 3%, philosophy - 45%, mathematics and natural sciences - 10%.
The university has 11.6% foreign students. Most of them come from Germany, Italy, Austria, and Spain, as well as from neighboring Liechtenstein. In total, representatives of 90 different nationalities study at the university. The University of Zurich is connected by various levels of cooperation both with Swiss universities and with higher education institutions of almost all EU countries, as well as non-European countries. There are numerous projects for the exchange of teaching staff and curricula. The annual inter-university student exchange amounts to 350 people.
The majority of all classes are conducted in German. Until recently, a short oral interview to determine knowledge of the German language was a mandatory condition for enrolling foreign students. Today these requirements have been tightened: now foreigners wishing to study at the university must pass a full exam consisting of written and oral parts, including a test of text comprehension, grammar knowledge, and other mandatory attributes. Although to be enrolled, one only needs to score at least 60% correct answers.
For foreign students wishing to improve their knowledge, the university offers German language courses, for which, incidentally, no additional payment is required, just as for other language courses at the university (of which there are about 30). By the way, about tuition fees: for foreign students, the cost per semester is about 750 Swiss francs. After paying, a student has the right to attend any classes and lectures at the university regardless of the faculty chosen. It should be borne in mind that living in Switzerland is quite expensive, and one should not forget that even for a short stay in the country it is recommended to take out at least minimal insurance. After enrollment at the university, the student receives a student visa, which must be renewed once a year.
When admitting to some faculties, there are certain restrictions - for example, a quota of places for foreigners in the "Psychology" specialty, or the requirement of work experience for admission to the medical faculty.
The form of education at the university is quite liberal: there is a list of mandatory subjects, and the student decides independently at what pace to study and how many exams to take each semester. On some faculties, such as the philosophy faculty, the duration of study is not limited at all.
Along with teaching and research, the services provided by the university are also of high quality and variety. These include numerous continuing education events, as well as institutions such as clinics, libraries, a botanical garden, etc. The university has museums and archives, particularly anatomical, archaeological, anthropological, and the history of medicine. In addition, various restaurants, canteens and cafes, employment and housing rental services, various advisory services, and interesting offers from the Zurich sports society are available to students of the university and the neighboring polytechnic institute. For those who enjoy active recreation, there are various sports sections: yoga, swimming, wrestling, golf, fencing, dancing, and much more.
Students have at their disposal a photo lab, numerous computer labs, and Internet access. Students of the university have access to the central library of Zurich, the library of the polytechnic institute, and numerous specialized university libraries: archaeology, history, book studies, ethnology, film studies, geology, art, literature and linguistics, medicine, music, law, pedagogy and psychology, religion and theology, sociology, economics, etc. Access to the combined catalog of all the aforementioned libraries, as well as the reservation of books and their delivery by mail, is possible via the Internet.
Students also have at their disposal a psychological service, medical consultation, various advisory services for foreigners, consultations on law, insurance, and obtaining scholarships.
For those seeking an easy, carefree life, the Department of Slavic Languages can be recommended: classes start at 9:00 (rather than an hour earlier, as in all other faculties), teachers make many allowances for students, and exam requirements are about half as strict as in other faculties. It should be noted, however, that there is, unfortunately, nothing to do here for anyone interested in receiving a quality education.
The library of the Slavic seminar has about 100,000 books and 150 periodicals, making it the largest scientific library in the field of Slavic studies in Switzerland. Until recently, it had a trust-based free access to books, unusual for our kind. Those wishing to take books were given the opportunity to find the necessary literature themselves in the catalog and then on the shelves, and again, completely independently, register it in their name using a computer specially designed for this purpose. It should also be clarified that access to books is available not only to students but also to anyone coming in from the street. As a consequence, the library was shamelessly robbed: over the past year, many rare editions have disappeared. Everything that could be of any value was carried off, from multi-volume collected works of Merezhkovsky and Vysotsky to detective novels and Russian folk tales.
All the necessary information in English and German for those wishing to study at the University of Zurich, including the schedule of classes for each semester, can be found at www.unizh.ch.