University of Bern

The University of Bern is the public university of Switzerland’s federal capital, founded in 1834 from an older academy in the city. It is a comprehensive cantonal university rather than a federal institute of technology, with teaching historically in German and a growing set of English-taught graduate programs. Main buildings sit in the city center, near federal offices and the Inselspital university hospital.

Eight faculties cover theology, law, business economics and social sciences, medicine, veterinary medicine, humanities, science, and human sciences. Fields that draw graduate students include climate science, space research, biomedicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. The Inselspital is the clinical partner for medicine; veterinary facilities and science institutes complete the graduate research setting.

About 19,000 students are enrolled, including several thousand at master’s and doctoral level, with international students a little more than 10 percent of the total and a higher share in some graduate fields. Faculty include clinicians at the Inselspital and scientists in medicine and science. Surgeon Theodor Kocher, later a Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine, taught here; Albert Einstein served as a Privatdozent in Bern in 1908–09.

Graduate study uses Bologna master’s degrees and a doctorate by research under a supervisor, with structured PhD programs in several faculties. Medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine follow clinical paths. The year runs on the Swiss semester calendar. Funding comes from cantonal posts, Swiss National Science Foundation grants, and assistantships. Housing and labs sit in a capital of about 130,000, with hospitals and Alpine field sites close at hand.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, University of Bern lists 16 graduate programs across 7 subjects: 11 master's programs and 5 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in economics, biology and biomedical engineering. University of Bern holds rank 185 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.