School of Life Sciences

Fosters education, research and innovation at the interface of engineering and biology to advance the understanding of the living world and solve biomedical problems.

Data-based representation of molecular oligodendrocyte diversity in the central nervous system. © Job van der Zwan (Karolinska Institute) with collaboration of La Manno lab (EPFL)

Bacteria under the microscope: a new growth model for tuberculosis

Published:11.02.20 — New research has shed light on how mycobacteria grow. This discovery could explain why some members of this family of single-celled organisms, which includes the bacillus that causes tuberculosis, can develop resistance to antibiotics

Hyeong-Donc Park (left) and Olaf Blanke at Campus Biotech in Geneva. EPFL / Jamani Caillet

Breathing may change your mind about free will

Published:06.02.20 — Is free will just an illusion? For decades, a signal from the brain called the “readiness potential” has been interpreted to mean that free will may be an illusion. Backed by signals from the brain and lungs, EPFL scientists have discovered that the readiness potential is in fact coupled to breathing and that acts of free will happen as you exhale – providing an unexpected perspective on free will.

Lunaphore cofounders : Diego Gabriel Dupouy, Ata Tuna Ciftlik et Déborah Heintze © Alain Herzog

EPFL spin-off Lunaphore raises 23 million francs

Published:06.02.20 — Lunaphore, an EPFL spin-off that develops pioneering equipment for cancer research and tissue diagnostics, announced that it has raised 23 million francs in Series C funding.

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Our Mission

EPFL students working on portable biosensor

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.

Learn more about our education

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.

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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.

Discover our innovation initiative