Your first steps as an EPFL association

"Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world. There was no choice but to be pioneers; no time to be beginners." Margaret H. Hamilton, computer scientist

Student associations have the opportunity to be officially acknowledged by EPFL and thereby benefit from various tools and services provided by the School to support the promotion and organization of activities for the EPFL community.

Recognition constitutes a formal framework established by EPFL to support and structure student life on campus. Its purpose is to standardize the relationship between the association and EPFL, thereby facilitating its activities while limiting potential risks or liabilities for the institution.

Recognition grants the association an official status within the institution as a host entity, enabling easier access to various resources, including financial, logistical, and communication support.

The granting of recognition is based on the evaluation of an application dossier to ensure that the association complies with the recognition principles set out in the Directive on the Recognition of Student Associations by EPFL (LEX 8.2.1), in particular that it has appropriate governance, as well as objectives and activities aligned with its stated purpose.

This process also ensures that the proposed activities are consistent with EPFL’s regulations, mission, and values.

Any association may be acknowledged by EPFL if it meets all of the following cumulative criteria:

  • Be established as an association in accordance with Articles 60 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code ;
  • Be active on the EPFL campus and primarily address the student community ;
  • Ensure broad student participation and representation in general assembly votes, particularly for committee elections ;
  • Make a complementary contribution to the existing associative landscape on campus ;
  • Comply with the EPFL Ethical Charter ;
  • Have its registered office in the region ;
  • Comply with the provisions of the Directive on the Acknowledgement of Student Associations by EPFL, in particular:
    • Be managed by a committee with at least half of its members registered as students at EPFL or UNIL ;
    • Have a committee president registered at EPFL or UNIL ;
    • Pursue a purpose and conduct activities related to EPFL’s mission, or aimed at representing, integrating, developing, entertaining EPFL students, or fostering campus life ;
  • Include in its statutes a provision for collective signature to commit the association financially ;
  • Be free from political or religious affiliation, without prejudice to the association’s legitimacy to engage in debates on study-related issues.
  1. Sports Associations

    Sports associations are invited to contact the Services Sports et Santé UNIL+EPFL (SSUE), whose mission is to promote student-led sports activities.

    EPFL does not grant official recognition to sports associations. To ensure coherence, safety, and quality of the sports offerings on campus, as well as coordinated use of facilities and resources, student sports activities are centralized and overseen by the SSUE.

    The service reviews proposed activities and, where appropriate, determines how to support or integrate them into its catalog.

  2. MAKE Project Associations

    EPFL’s MAKE projects aim to train students through collective academic work on a concrete case developed over several years.

    Supervised by the School, these projects involve student organization and knowledge transfer between cohorts. Within this framework, students may form an association to organize around the relevant MAKE project, following a specific model, available here.

    Since students must be guided by the School in making relevant and realistic decisions, the association’s committee must include at least one EPFL acadmic representative.

  3. Scientific or Technical Associations
    Associations active in scientific or technical fields are, in principle, supported by an EPFL advisor, usually a full professor specializing in the relevant domain, to guide their activities. This advisor is appointed in agreement with EPFL, following the statutory model provided here.

Would you like your association to be recognized by EPFL? Follow these steps to ensure your application is processed efficiently and in compliance with our guidelines.

Check Deadlines

Applications can be submitted twice a year, according to the following schedule:

  • Fall semester 2026–27
    Application deadline: May 1, 2026

  • Spring semester 2026–27
    Application deadline: November 14, 2026

Prepare your application

Before submitting your application, consult the Directive on the Recognition of Student Associations at EPFL and ensure that your association complies with the legal requirements, in particular Articles 60 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code.

Your application must include :

  1. Draft statutes
    You can find drafting guidelines (in french) as well as a generic statutes template, a specific template for MAKE projects, and a template for scientific associations.
  2. Description of objectives and activities
    A text outlining your goals and planned activities (type of activities, speakers, target audience, location, logistical needs, etc.).
  3. Provisional budget
    An estimate of expected expenses and planned sources of funding.
  4. Rationale for EPFL recognition
    Explain how your association brings added value to the student community. Also indicate the types of support you are seeking through EPFL recognition.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. A new application may be submitted at the next submission deadline.

Submit your application

Send your complete application by email to [email protected]

Application review

Your application will be reviewed by the Recognition Evaluation Committee, which meets once per semester.

Decision and timeline

Following deliberation, the committee will communicate its decision regarding the recognition of your association by EPFL.

  • Fall semester 2026–27
    Submission opening: April 2, 2026
    Application deadline: May 1, 2026
    Decision communicated: June 30, 2026

  • Spring semester 2026–27
    Submission opening: October 16, 2026
    Application deadline: November 13, 2026
    Decision communicated: January 29, 2027

The Student Associations Office is available to assist you in preparing your application at [email protected] or by appointment.

A drop-in session (no appointment required) is held every Tuesday from 12:30 to 13:30 in room CE 1530. You are welcome to come and ask any questions related to student associations.

So that we may contact you at all times, recognized associations are kindly requested to apply for the following email addresses:

  • [email protected] (the e-mails of all Committee Members may be embedded in this generic address)
  • [email protected] (the e-mails of the Association President and Vice Presidents if applicable may be embedded in this generic address)

Once these have been defined, please contact us at [email protected] with the addresses you require and the names of the members who need access to them, so that we can create them.
These addresses can either be “aliases”, redirected to the relevant people on the committee, or a service address with an associated exchange account (so you can reply from the mailbox).

Important : Please remember to ask for the actualization of the redirections each time the Committee changes

NB: Students who are exmatriculated during their mandate must make sure they transfer all their contacts or usefull files for their associative activities before the access to their epfl mailbox first [email protected] is disabled.

If you wish to host your website for your associations you may use our CMS WordPress.

  • Please apply under: new WordPress site at EPFL
  • Associations are kindly requested to adopt a site name of the type “http://association_name.epfl.ch”

Please remember that as soon as your website goes live, it should always be kept up-to-date and visibly feature the following: 

  • Articles of Association
  • List of Committee Members – Important: After the application of recognition as an EPFL Association, please remember to upload both of these documents on your website.

Even when recognised by the EPFL, associations may not have an “internal” mailing address as they are legally independent of our institution.

You can either apply for a P.O. box in your association’s name by bringing the following documents to the Post office: Articles of Association, List of Committee Members and persons with signature rights. For joint signature rights, at least one of the two persons entitled to sign should submit the application.
Please update details at the Post office whenever your association’s Committee changes.

Moreover, the Post office offers an alternative service which seems useful and affordable: https://www.post.ch/fr/reception/lieux-de-reception/adresse-d-association

Or, you could choose a private  postal address “at” (for example your president’s postal address if appropriate).

Registration in the EPFL Directory
Please send us your postal address and the link to your website.

The student associations recognized by EPFL maintain administrative and financial management with care, in particular by respecting the following points:

Accounts : Any association recognized by the EPFL shall keep accounts in accordance with the law and its Articles of Association.

Commercial Register : If the association’s annual turnover is over CHF 100,000 and/or if the Articles of the association foresee auditing of its accounts by an external accountant, the association shall register under the Commercial Register.

Accounting : If its annual turnover and/or income exceed CHF 70,000, the EPFL may require the association to entrust its bookkeeping to an external accountant recognized and approved by the EPFL.

Auditing : The EPFL may require an association to submit its accounts to an external accountant for auditing if the turnover exceeds CHF 250,000. The external accountant should be recognized by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority.

Administration of Wages and Social Costs : If the association pays wages, it shall do so based on an employment contract and pay social costs in accordance with the law. The association shall also submit all statements required by law, in particular to the competent social security bodies.

Taxes : The association shall submit to all legal tax requirements (direct and indirect taxes (VAT)). If applicable, this duty shall be performed by the accountant acknowledged and approved by the EPFL.

Communication to the EPFL : The association’s accounts, statement by the (internal or external) auditors as well as the activity report shall be submitted to the EPFL latest 6 months further to the closing of the accounting year.

Reserves (association’s equity capital) : If its own capital further to allocation of profit to provisions and reserves exceeds the double of the annual expenditure budget, the association shall redistribute the surplus to projects related to student activities or to the EPFL Student Foundation.

Relations with Third Parties : The EPFL shall not be responsible for any consequence of relations or agreements between associations and third parties.

EPFL associations shall take out insurance with a private insurance company for any claims for which it might be held liable in general as well as for any events it organises.

Respect and disputes : Each EPFL association shall respect the activities of other interest groups and endeavour to deploy its own activities in harmonious cooperation in particular with other student associations on the EPFL and Lausanne University campuses as well as with all EPFL departments.

Your student association probably collects and stores personal data about its members. This may include their names, addresses, email addresses, and other details, such as the specific events that members attend (through registration forms or meeting minutes, for example). That means your association is subject to Swiss and possibly EU data-protection regulations.

These regulations are intended to protect the identities and fundamental rights of the individuals whose personal data are collected. The regulations set forth a series of rules to make sure that the data are handled in a legal, faithful, and transparent manner, are used for narrowly defined purposes, are accurate and limited to necessary data, are stored for the shortest time necessary, and are kept confidential and uncorrupted, and that the persons responsible for compliance with data-protection regulations are clearly identified. The regulations also specify the rights of individuals whose data are collected, such as the right to access their personal data, to know how their personal data will be used, and to correct or delete their personal data.

We strongly suggest you consult an expert if you have any questions related to the handling of personal data. More specifically, you should get the advice of a professional if your association plans to outsource the collection and/or storage of personal data (particularly if the service provider is located outside Switzerland); conduct profiling (the analysis of personal data to determine certain personal characteristics); collect sensitive data such as information about members’ ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, health, or sexuality; collect genetic or biometric data for identification purposes; or collect information about any debt-collection proceedings under way or any criminal or administrative sanctions in force.

Here are some websites with useful information about personal data protection:

Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner:
Site Think Data
Data-protection quiz by the French-speaking-Switzerland business association (in French only)
Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)