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ETH ZURICH

ETH Zurich vaults into top ten university list

Switzerland’s federal institute of technology, ETH Zurich, now ranks among the top ten universities in the world, according to the authoritative 2015/16 QS World University Rankings, released on Tuesday.

ETH Zurich vaults into top ten university list
ETH Zurich is now the ninth placed university in the world according to QS. Photo: Ed Seymour

Gaining three places on last year, ETH Zurich jumps into the number nine spot, from 12th in 2014.

Its sister institute, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), also rises three places to number 14.

The two Swiss establishments are renowned for their engineering and scientific programmes and regularly rank highly in education guides.

The new QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) rankings mean ETH Zurich is the best university in continental Europe, with only institutions from the UK and US ahead of it in the table.

The guide praised its programmes for providing “a solid scientific foundation combined with outstanding all-round skills”, as well as its international outlook and “excellent teaching and research infrastructure”.

Of EPFL the report said it “has evolved into a top-ranked research and teaching institution that attracts some of the best intellects in the world”.

For the fourth year running the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) takes the top spot, while Harvard climbs two places to second, followed by the University of Cambridge in the UK and Stanford University in the US tying on third.

In addition to the two federal institutes of technology, four Swiss universities have made the top 150 this year – Zurich (85th), Geneva (89th), Basel (139th) and Lausanne (143rd)

Now in its 12th edition, the QS World University Rankings aims to help students make informed comparisons of leading universities around the world.

The methodology is based on six performance indicators over four areas: research, teaching, employability and internationalization.

Read the full QS World University Rankings 2015/15 here.

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ISLAM

Police probe opened after poster campaign against ‘Islamophobic’ lecturers at French university

The French government condemned on Monday a student protest campaign targeting two university professors accused of Islamophobia, saying it could put the lecturers in danger.

Police probe opened after poster campaign against 'Islamophobic' lecturers at French university
Illustration photo: Justin Tallis/AFP

Student groups plastered posters last week on the walls of a leading political science faculty in Grenoble that likened the professors to “fascists” and named them both in a campaign backed by the UNEF student union.

Junior interior minister Marlene Schiappa said the posters and social media comments recalled the online harassment of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty last October, who was beheaded in public after being denounced online for offending Muslims.

“These are really odious acts after what happened with the decapitation of Samuel Paty who was smeared in the same way on social networks,” she said on the BFM news channel. “We can’t put up with this type of thing.”

“When something is viewed as racist or discriminatory, there’s a hierarchy where you can report these types of issues, which will speak to the professor and take action if anything is proven,” Schiappa said.

Sciences Po university, which runs the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Grenoble in eastern France, also condemned the campaign on Monday and has filed a criminal complaint.

An investigation has been opened into slander and property damage after the posters saying “Fascists in our lecture halls. Islamophobia kills” were found on the walls of the faculty.

One of the professors is in charge of a course called “Islam and Muslims in contemporary France” while the other is a lecturer in German who has taught at the faculty for 25 years.

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