School of Life Sciences
3D model of dendritic spines (purple) making synapses with axons containing vesicles (yellow). Background shows electron microscope image of brain tissue. ©EPFL – Graham Knott
Our Mission
Education
We train engineers in Life Sciences with a solid polytechnic foundation. Our students acquire a multi-disciplinary education and study biology jointly with engineering, basic and computer sciences. We offer a Bachelor and Master program in Life Sciences Engineering, as well as four Doctoral programs in biotechnology and bioengineering, computational and quantitative biology, molecular life sciences and neurosciences.
Research
Our research groups operate at the interface of biology, basic sciences, computer sciences and engineering. This interdisciplinary environment stimulates innovative research to address essential questions in biological sciences. Cutting-edge core facilities and infrastructure support our scientists to push the boundaries of knowledge in development, neurosciences, immunology, cancer, infectious diseases and bioengineering.
Innovation
We cultivate a climate of exploration and translation of knowledge and technologies to a sustainable benefit of humankind. The life sciences flagship innovation encouragement program, Catalyze4Life, facilitates the advancement of scientific know-how towards applications. We maintain a constructive and open dialogue between science, industry and society.
