UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH

1833: The existing colleges of theology, law and medicine are united, together with a new faculty of philosophy, to form the Universitas Turiciensis. This is the first university in Europe to be founded by a democratic state rather than by a monarch or the church. In the first year, 16 theology students, 26 law students, 98 medical students and 21 philosophy students were enrolled. These were taught by 26 professors and 29 lecturers. The dream of a national university When the Cantonal University of Zurich was created in 1833, its founders dreamed that it would one day develop into a university for the whole of Switzerland. The spiritual father of the University, Johann Caspar von Orelli, who was later to become Professor of Classical Philology, was quite unequivocal about this, writing to a friend in Lucerne: "We had to found a Zurich university to get things off the ground. But IT and it alone should become the Swiss University." Picture: First University building "Hinteramt" on the Augustinergasse (1833-1964) 1859 The Philosophical Faculty divides into a Department of Arts - Philosophy, Languages and History (Phil. I) - and a Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (Phil. II). 1867 First doctoral degree awarded to a woman in the German-speaking world. Having earned a diploma as a private tutor in 1859, Nadeshda Suslova visited lectures on medicine at the Academy of Medicine and Surgery in St. Petersburg (1861-64). In Zurich she graduated with a dissertation on the physiology of lymph nodes. Despite marrying the doctor and future Zurich city councilor Friedrich Erismann in 1868, she returned to St. Petersburg shortly after graduating and opened a gynecology and pediatrics practice. Following her divorce from Erismann (1883) she married the histologist Golubev. She died on 20 April 1918 in Aluschta (in the Crimea). "Zrcher Studentin" - Zurich`s "lady students" From 1849 onwards, the University of Zurich allowed individual women to listen in to philosophy lectures, but only when the Russian Maria Kniaschnina applied to study medicine in 1864 were the Zurich education authorities forced to take a stance on women students. In fact Maria Kniaschnina soon left Zurich again, but in 1866 her compatriot Nadeshda Suslova, the daughter of a freed serf, became the first woman to be admitted as a student to the University of Zurich. She was awarded her doctorate on 14 December 1867. 1883 50th anniversary: 463 students, 91 lecturers, of which 37 are professors. 1901 Foundation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The oldest faculty of veterinary medicine in the world Thanks to the great commitment of Medical Officer Johann Jacob Rmer, a "School of Veterinary Medicine" was established in Zurich in 1820. Although Zurich began to provide academic training for vets relatively late compared with other veterinary schools, the Zurich School of Veterinary Medicine was attached to the University as an autonomous Faculty of Veterinary Medicine as early as 1901. Together with the faculty in Berne (1900), it is thus the oldest faculty of veterinary medicine in the world. 1905 Student numbers top 1,000 for the first time 1908 An agreement between the Canton of Zurich and the Swiss federal government establishes the relationship between the University and the ETH and paves the way for the integration of the two bodies’ common collections and institutes. 1914 The University moves to Rmistrasse 71, today the Universitt Zurich Zentrum. "Zurich`s crown" The University and the ETH have shared premises and teaching staff ever since the ETH was founded as the Federal Polytechnic School in 1855. The new Polytechnic was first housed in the University`s "Hinteramt" buildings and other locations. Once the Polytechnic moved into its new premises in 1864, the University leased the south wing of the ETH building designed by Gottfried Semper. The continuous growth of both University and ETH led to an acute shortage of space at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1908, the City and Canton of Zurich voted to construct new premises for the University and in 1914 it was able to move into its new main building, designed by the architect Karl Moser. The expansion of the Semper building in the mid-nineteen twenties further enhanced the academic complex that now covered the hill overlooking Zurich. The two mighty domes of the University and ETH soon led people to call the complex "Zurich`s crown". 1933 100th anniversary: 2,033 students 1946 Winston Churchill formed a speech of the hall (Aula) on 19.9.1946 to the youth. It contained the famous call: "Therefore I beg you that Europa arises" 1973 10,000 students 1979 Opening of the Universitat Zurich Irchel From student quarter to university site At the end of the 1950s, the number of students attending the University exploded, and for both of Zurich’s institutes of higher education, further physical expansion became an urgent necessity. In 1955, the ETH began by planning a new building on the Honggerberg, and the University`s Faculty of Science proposed in 1962 that part of the University should decamp to the Strickhofareal in the north of the city. Nevertheless, the opportunity was seized and over the following years, various research departments from the two institutions were brought together in the same buildings: Institute for Toxicology in Schwerzenbach (1975) Institute for Biomedical Technology (1981) Institute for Neuroinformatics (1997) Since 1996, a working committee representing both institutions has been looking at new opportunities for co-operation 1983 150th anniversary: 15'000 students 1984 University’s administration strengthened and professionalized by upgrading the rector's office to a full department and creating two vice-rectorates 1989 20'000 students 1992 Separation of the Faculty of Law and Political Science into a Faculty of Law and a Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology. From generalists to specialists The increasing importance of economics since the second half of the nineteenth century prompted the Faculty of Political Science to form a department of law and a department of economics. Eventually this led to an official split and the creation of two autonomous faculties. 1994 Start of the "uni 2000" reform project Ready for the next millennium In 1994, the University decided to initiate a long-overdue reorganization. The University was still subject to the 1859 education law, which had long ago ceased to be an appropriate basis for the management of a large operation such as the University of Zurich. The declared aim of the "uni 2000" reform project is to turn the University into a self-managing public body that funds itself from an approved overall budget linked to a service contract. This contract provides a guarantee that the University will fulfil its core roles in teaching, research and academic services. 1998 The University of Zurich becomes an autonomous legal entity with a global budget Greater autonomy On 15 March 1998 the voters of the Canton of Zurich approved the new University Law and gave the University the status of an autonomous legal entity. Since this date the University has been able to manage its finances independently within a global budget and to organize itself as it sees fit. The new governing body of the University is the University Council, which is made up of leading figures from the worlds of academia, culture, business and politics. The aim of the University`s new structure is to increase efficiency and make the best possible use of available funds. University of Zurich Ramistrasse 71 CH - 8006 Zurich Central office: Tel.: +41 44 634 44 11 Fax: +41 44 634 23 04