University of Berne
Encyclopedia
The University of Bern is a university
in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programmes in eight faculties and some 160 institutes
. The university is an international leader in certain fields of research, such as space research
. Teaching and research activities are conducted on an interdisciplinary basis
. For instance, the University of Bern is home to four of the National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) Climate (climate change research
), North-South (sustainable development
), Trade Regulation (international trade
) and TransCure (membrane biology). With around 14,900 students
, the University of Bern is a medium-sized Swiss university. Aside from the programmes and courses on offer, the attractions of the university include Bern's central location and quality of life, which is rated as one of the highest in the world.
The University of Bern offers about 40 bachelor
and 70 master
programmes, with enrolments of 7,879 and 3,343, respectively. The university also has 2,140 doctoral students
. Around 2,600 degree students and 500 PhD students graduate each year. For some time now, the university has had more female than male students; at the end of 2010, women accounted for 53% of students.
on the edge of the city, but has consistently pursued the principle of a university in the city. Most institutes and clinics are still in the Länggasse, the traditional university district adjoining the city centre, and within walking distance of one another. The University has won many awards for its intelligent, ecological and sustainable use of old buildings. For instance, the Faculty of Theology and various institutes in the Faculty of Humanities are now housed in an old chocolate factory (the Unitobler), and in 2005 the former women's hospital was refurbished to serve as a university centre for institutes in the Faculty of Law and Department of Economics (the UniS). The vonRoll site, another former factory building, is in the process of being refurbished to house the Faculty of Human Sciences and the Department of Social Sciences.
, a collegiate school was needed to train new pastors. As part of its reorganization of higher education, the government of Bern transformed the existing theological college into an academy
with four faculties in 1805. Henceforth, it was possible to study not only theology in Bern, but also law
and medicine
.
and liberal
currents. The liberals gained control of the Canton of Bern in 1831 and in 1834 turned the academy into a university, with an academic staff of 45 to teach 167 students. Owing to the political situation, it was not until the promulgation of the federal constitution
in 1848 that the university was able to embark on a period of peaceful development. Between 1885 and 1900, the number of students doubled from 500 to 1,000. As a result, at the turn of the twentieth century the University of Bern was the largest university in Switzerland. This rapid growth reflected the university's attraction for foreign students, in particular Germans
and Russians
, who accounted for half of the total enrolment. It was also Russian female students who in the 1870s won the right for women to study.
taught the first of three semesters of theoretical physics. The following year, Anna Tumarkin, a Russian philosopher, was appointed to an extraordinary professorship and thus became the first female professor at a European university entitled to examine doctoral and post-doctoral theses. Also in 1909, Theodor Kocher, a Bernese surgeon, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine
. In the following years the university consolidated its position as a small centre of higher learning with a stable enrolment of about 2,000 students.
ushered in the era of ECTS
credits and the bachelor and master's degree structure. The university set strategic research priorities, such as climate research, and promoted inter-university cooperation. At the same time, the university reorganized its faculties. With the amendment to the University Act in summer 2010, the University Board of Directors acquired the right to choose its own ordinary professors and keep its own accounts separate from the state.
The medical faculties of the Universities of Bern and Basel have formed a strategic alliance in the fields of cardiac surgery
, neurosurgery
, pathology
and microbiology
. The Vetsuisse Faculty was created in 2006 through the merger of the Faculties of veterinary medicine
of the Universities of Bern and Zurich. The Humanities Faculty is comparable to the arts and sciences departments of American universities and offers majors in the three areas of art and culture, archaeology and history, and languages and literature. The Faculty of Science focuses on the natural and life sciences. The Human Sciences Faculty was founded in 2005 and offers study programmes in education, sports and psychology.
The function of these general university institutions is to promote dialogue between students in different disciplines and faculties through interdisciplinary events for academic staff and students. The Centre for Continuing University Education (ZUW) focuses on scientific further education
. The selection of topics in the ZUW programmes ranges from public administration through dentistry
to spiritual guidance
. In addition, the University of Bern has also taken the lead in the German-speaking world in creating a number of novel study programmes, for instance Evaluation.
The University of Bern has made a name for itself in fields as diverse as climate research, biomedicine
and sustainable development research. The university has defined specific focuses of research as strategic and has established interdisciplinary centres of competence for these that pursue an interdisciplinary approach to research and teaching. For example, as the national centre of competence for climate research, the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) covers history, geography, geology, economics and physics. The centres of competence also offer specialized masters programmes, for example the biomedical engineering programmes of the Artificial Organ (ARTORG) Center for Biomedical Engineering Research and the Public Management and Policy programme of the Center of Competence for Public Management (CCPM).
The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) carries on the University of Bern's long tradition in sustainable development research. The CDE also manages the NCCR North-South, Switzerland's leading research programme in the fields of global change
and sustainable development, focusing on its particular areas of expertise in integrated regional development and natural resource
management. The related field of international trade is the focus of the NCCR Trade Regulation, which is housed at the World Trade Institute (WTI) of the University of Bern. The WTI is a global leader among academic institutes focused on the legal, economic and political aspects of international trade regulation.
and still carries out experiments and provides apparatus for NASA
and ESA
space missions on a regular basis. Dentistry, veterinary medicine and the renowned Inselspital
(Bern University Hospital) also enjoy worldwide recognition.
In addition to the classical disciplines, the University of Bern has also established a reputation in newer ones such as sports science
and theatre studies
. It is the only institution in Switzerland with a theatre studies course that enables students to major in dance in their master programme. Bern is also the world’s only university to offer Christian Catholic Theology
as a major in the theology course. The Graduate Schools for doctoral candidates offer further-reaching programmes that are closely linked to the University's successful research priorities in the fields of climate science, health care
and penal law and criminology.
analyses of physicist Hans Oeschger
played a pioneering role in the development of climate research.
Other notable academics at the University of Bern include (by faculty):
Theology:
Eduard Herzog
, Ulrich Luz
, Adolf Schlatter
, Lukas Vischer
, Eduard Zeller
Law:
Carl Hilty
, Eugen Huber
Medicine:
Jakob Klaesi
, Emil Theodor Kocher
, Hugo Kronecker
, Theodor Langhans
, Ludwig Lichtheim
, Maurice Edmond Müller
, Fritz de Quervain
, Hermann Sahli
, Gabriel Gustav Valentin
Humanities:
Andreas Alföldi
, Carl Heinrich Wilhelm Hagen
, Julius Pokorny
, Ignaz Paul Vitalis Troxler, Anna Tumarkin, Hermann Usener
Natural sciences:
Albert Einstein
, Heinrich Greinacher
, Hans Oeschger
, Ludwig Schläfli
, Bernhard Studer
, Hugo von Mohl
, Heinrich von Wild
Economics:
Alfred Amonn
, Max Weber
Others:
Theodor Oskar Rubeli
Medicine
Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, Sir Charles Scott Sherrington
, César Roux
, SIr Alan Lloyd Hodgkin
, Georg von Békésy
, Stephen W. Kuffler, George Emil Palade
, Willy Burgdorfer
, Iván Böszörményi-Nagy
, David Sackett
Natural sciences
Johann Büttikofer
, Hans von Euler-Chelpin
, Gerold Schwarzenbach
, Richard R. Ernst
Economics and business
Ernst Karl Abbe
, Auguste and Louis Lumière
, Jean-Daniel Gerber
Humanities
Albert Samuel Gatschet
, Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht
Art
Joseph Simon Volmar
, Albert Anker
, Cuno Amiet
, Rudolf Münger
, Alberto Giacometti
, Walter Linsenmaier
, Ilya Kabakov
Literature
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz
, René Gardi
, Kurt Marti
, Stefan Heym
, John Edgar Wideman
, John le Carré
Politics
Charles Albert Gobat
, Rudolf Minger
, Annemarie Huber-Hotz
, Adolf Ogi
, Angela Merkel
Others
Hermann Müller-Thurgau
, Eduard Herzog
, Mathis Wackernagel
, Heidi Tagliavini
2011/12 it ranked 143rd (6th in Switzerland). The Shanghai Ranking (ARWU) 2011 ranked the University of Bern 151st–200th in the world. In the Leiden Ranking 2010 it ranked 135th in the world and 50th in Europe. Bern is 188th on the High Impact Universities Research Performance Index.
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programmes in eight faculties and some 160 institutes
Institute
An institute is a permanent organizational body created for a certain purpose. Often it is a research organization created to do research on specific topics...
. The university is an international leader in certain fields of research, such as space research
Space research
Space research is scientific studies carried out using scientific equipment in outer space. It includes the use of space technology for a broad spectrum of research disciplines, including Earth science, materials science, biology, medicine, and physics...
. Teaching and research activities are conducted on an interdisciplinary basis
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
. For instance, the University of Bern is home to four of the National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) Climate (climate change research
Climatology
Climatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences...
), North-South (sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
), Trade Regulation (international trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
) and TransCure (membrane biology). With around 14,900 students
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
, the University of Bern is a medium-sized Swiss university. Aside from the programmes and courses on offer, the attractions of the university include Bern's central location and quality of life, which is rated as one of the highest in the world.
Organization
The University of Bern operates at three levels: university, faculties and institutes. Other organizational units include interfaculty and general university units. The university's highest governing body is the Senate, which is responsible for issuing statutes, rules and regulations. Directly answerable to the Senate is the University Board of Directors, the governing body for university management and coordination. The Board comprises the Rector, the Vice-Rectors and the Administrative Director. The structures and functions of the University Board of Directors and the other organizational units are regulated by the Universities Act.The University of Bern offers about 40 bachelor
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
and 70 master
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
programmes, with enrolments of 7,879 and 3,343, respectively. The university also has 2,140 doctoral students
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
. Around 2,600 degree students and 500 PhD students graduate each year. For some time now, the university has had more female than male students; at the end of 2010, women accounted for 53% of students.
Locality
Unlike other universities, the University of Bern does not have a single large campusCampus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
on the edge of the city, but has consistently pursued the principle of a university in the city. Most institutes and clinics are still in the Länggasse, the traditional university district adjoining the city centre, and within walking distance of one another. The University has won many awards for its intelligent, ecological and sustainable use of old buildings. For instance, the Faculty of Theology and various institutes in the Faculty of Humanities are now housed in an old chocolate factory (the Unitobler), and in 2005 the former women's hospital was refurbished to serve as a university centre for institutes in the Faculty of Law and Department of Economics (the UniS). The vonRoll site, another former factory building, is in the process of being refurbished to house the Faculty of Human Sciences and the Department of Social Sciences.
Early history: Collegiate school and academy (1500–1834)
The roots of the University of Bern go back to the sixteenth century, when, as a consequence of the ReformationReformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
, a collegiate school was needed to train new pastors. As part of its reorganization of higher education, the government of Bern transformed the existing theological college into an academy
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
with four faculties in 1805. Henceforth, it was possible to study not only theology in Bern, but also law
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
The old university: New beginning and development (1834–1900)
As in other countries of Europe, nineteenth century politics in Switzerland were dominated by the struggle between conservativeConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
currents. The liberals gained control of the Canton of Bern in 1831 and in 1834 turned the academy into a university, with an academic staff of 45 to teach 167 students. Owing to the political situation, it was not until the promulgation of the federal constitution
Switzerland as a federal state
The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on September 12, 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution, which was created in response to a 27-day civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbundskrieg...
in 1848 that the university was able to embark on a period of peaceful development. Between 1885 and 1900, the number of students doubled from 500 to 1,000. As a result, at the turn of the twentieth century the University of Bern was the largest university in Switzerland. This rapid growth reflected the university's attraction for foreign students, in particular Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Russians
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, who accounted for half of the total enrolment. It was also Russian female students who in the 1870s won the right for women to study.
The new university: New building and consolidation (1900–1950)
With the growing prosperity of the city of Bern, the university in the Länggasse quarter expanded at the end of the 19th century. In 1903, a new Main Building was inaugurated on the Grosse Schanze and the number of faculties increased. In 1908–09, three prominent persons put the University of Bern in the limelight. In 1908, Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
taught the first of three semesters of theoretical physics. The following year, Anna Tumarkin, a Russian philosopher, was appointed to an extraordinary professorship and thus became the first female professor at a European university entitled to examine doctoral and post-doctoral theses. Also in 1909, Theodor Kocher, a Bernese surgeon, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
. In the following years the university consolidated its position as a small centre of higher learning with a stable enrolment of about 2,000 students.
The modern university: Expansion and reorganization (1950–2000)
After World War II, a growing number of voices called for the expansion of tertiary education in Switzerland. Rapid growth in the 1950s and 1960s – enrolment at the University of Bern had already reached 5,000 in 1968 – generated pressure to adapt to the changed circumstances. The modern, completely revised University Act of 1996 transformed the University of Bern from an administrative division of the Department of Education of the Canton of Bern into an autonomous institution that was a legal entity in its own right. In addition, the Act clearly defined the competencies of the university and of the state. The university passed another milestone in 1992, when its enrolment reached 10,000.The university today: Bologna Reform and restructuring (since 2000)
The Bologna DeclarationBologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
ushered in the era of ECTS
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
This page describes ECTS-credits. For information about the ECTS grading system go to ECTS grading scale.European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other...
credits and the bachelor and master's degree structure. The university set strategic research priorities, such as climate research, and promoted inter-university cooperation. At the same time, the university reorganized its faculties. With the amendment to the University Act in summer 2010, the University Board of Directors acquired the right to choose its own ordinary professors and keep its own accounts separate from the state.
Faculties
The University of Bern has eight faculties:- Theology
- Law
- Business, Economics and Social Sciences
- Medicine
- Veterinary Medicine (Vetsuisse)
- Humanities
- Science
- Human Sciences
The medical faculties of the Universities of Bern and Basel have formed a strategic alliance in the fields of cardiac surgery
Cardiac surgery
Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...
, neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
, pathology
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
and microbiology
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
. The Vetsuisse Faculty was created in 2006 through the merger of the Faculties of veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
of the Universities of Bern and Zurich. The Humanities Faculty is comparable to the arts and sciences departments of American universities and offers majors in the three areas of art and culture, archaeology and history, and languages and literature. The Faculty of Science focuses on the natural and life sciences. The Human Sciences Faculty was founded in 2005 and offers study programmes in education, sports and psychology.
General university institutions
There are four general institutions associated with the University of Bern:- Collegium generale (CG)
- Forum for University and Society (Forum für Universität und Gesellschaft, FUG)
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Geschlechterforschung, IZFG)
- Centre for Continuing University Education (Zentrum für universitäre Weiterbildung, ZUW)
The function of these general university institutions is to promote dialogue between students in different disciplines and faculties through interdisciplinary events for academic staff and students. The Centre for Continuing University Education (ZUW) focuses on scientific further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
. The selection of topics in the ZUW programmes ranges from public administration through dentistry
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
to spiritual guidance
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
. In addition, the University of Bern has also taken the lead in the German-speaking world in creating a number of novel study programmes, for instance Evaluation.
Interdisciplinary centres
There are 12 interdisciplinary centres at the University of Berne:- Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics (AEC)
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research
- Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory (CCLM)
- Center for Cultural Studies (CCS)
- Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
- Center for Global Studies (CGS)
- Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED)
- Center for Space and Habitability (CSH)
- Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS)
- Center of Competence for Public Management (CCPM)
- Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
- World Trade Institute (WTI)
The University of Bern has made a name for itself in fields as diverse as climate research, biomedicine
Biomedicine
Biomedicine is a branch of medical science that applies biological and other natural-science principles to clinical practice,. Biomedicine, i.e. medical research, involves the study of physiological processes with methods from biology, chemistry and physics. Approaches range from understanding...
and sustainable development research. The university has defined specific focuses of research as strategic and has established interdisciplinary centres of competence for these that pursue an interdisciplinary approach to research and teaching. For example, as the national centre of competence for climate research, the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) covers history, geography, geology, economics and physics. The centres of competence also offer specialized masters programmes, for example the biomedical engineering programmes of the Artificial Organ (ARTORG) Center for Biomedical Engineering Research and the Public Management and Policy programme of the Center of Competence for Public Management (CCPM).
The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) carries on the University of Bern's long tradition in sustainable development research. The CDE also manages the NCCR North-South, Switzerland's leading research programme in the fields of global change
Global change
Global change refers to planetary-scale changes in the Earth system. The system consists of the land, oceans, atmosphere, poles, life, the planet’s natural cycles and deep Earth processes. These constituent parts influence one another...
and sustainable development, focusing on its particular areas of expertise in integrated regional development and natural resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
management. The related field of international trade is the focus of the NCCR Trade Regulation, which is housed at the World Trade Institute (WTI) of the University of Bern. The WTI is a global leader among academic institutes focused on the legal, economic and political aspects of international trade regulation.
Study programmes and other fields of specialization
As a comprehensive university, Bern covers the full range of classical university courses in some 40 bachelor and 70 master programmes. In certain fields, for example space research, the University of Bern is an international leader. The Physics Institute contributed to the first flight to the moonApollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
and still carries out experiments and provides apparatus for NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and ESA
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
space missions on a regular basis. Dentistry, veterinary medicine and the renowned Inselspital
Inselspital
The Inselspital , officially the Bern University Hospital, is the university hospital of Berne, Switzerland, and one of the country's leading hospitals....
(Bern University Hospital) also enjoy worldwide recognition.
In addition to the classical disciplines, the University of Bern has also established a reputation in newer ones such as sports science
Sports science
Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
and theatre studies
Theatre studies
Theatre studies is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psycho-biological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also encompasses the study of theatrical aesthetics and semiotics...
. It is the only institution in Switzerland with a theatre studies course that enables students to major in dance in their master programme. Bern is also the world’s only university to offer Christian Catholic Theology
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
as a major in the theology course. The Graduate Schools for doctoral candidates offer further-reaching programmes that are closely linked to the University's successful research priorities in the fields of climate science, health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
and penal law and criminology.
Professors
A number of professors at the University of Bern were pioneers in their field. The Russian-born Anna Tumarkin was the first female professor in Europe with the right to examine doctoral and post-doctoral students. The physician Gabriel Gustav Valentin was the first Jewish professor to be elected to a chair at a German-speaking university. Theodor Oskar Rubeli was co-responsible for founding the first faculty of veterinary medicine in the world. Finally, the ice coreIce core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
analyses of physicist Hans Oeschger
Hans Oeschger
Professor Hans Oeschger was the founder of the Division of Climate and Environmental Physics at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern in 1963 and director until his retirement in 1992....
played a pioneering role in the development of climate research.
Other notable academics at the University of Bern include (by faculty):
Theology:
Eduard Herzog
Eduard Herzog
Eduard Herzog was a Swiss Catholic theologian and cleric who was a native of Schongau, Canton Lucerne. He was the first Christian Catholic bishop of Switzerland....
, Ulrich Luz
Ulrich Luz
Ulrich Luz is a Swiss theologian, and professor at the University of Bern.He was born in Männedorf and studied Protestant theology in Zurich, Göttingen and Basel...
, Adolf Schlatter
Adolf Schlatter
Adolf Schlatter was an Evangelical theologian and professor specialising in the New Testament and systematics at Greifswald, Berlin and Tübingen.-Biography:Schlatter, born in St...
, Lukas Vischer
Lukas Vischer (theologian)
Lukas Vischer was a Swiss Reformed theologian, author, and advocate of ecumenical dialogue among the world's Christian churches....
, Eduard Zeller
Eduard Zeller
Eduard Gottlob Zeller , was a German philosopher and theologian of the Tübingen School of theology.- Life :Eduard Zeller was born at Kleinbottwar in Württemberg, and educated at the University of Tübingen and under the influence of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel...
Law:
Carl Hilty
Carl Hilty
Carl Hilty was a Swiss philosopher, writer and lawyer. He famously said "Peace is only a hair's breadth away from war."Carl Hilty was born in Chur, Switzerland, and studied at the Universities of Göttingen,...
, Eugen Huber
Eugen Huber
Eugen Huber was a Swiss jurist and the creator of the Swiss civil code of 1907.-Biography:Huber was born in Swiss Canton of Zürich on July 31, 1849. His father was a physician...
Medicine:
Jakob Klaesi
Jakob Klaesi
Jakob Klaesi-Blumer was a Swiss psychiatrist most notable for his contributions to the sleep therapy and his phenomenological analysis of expression.-Life:...
, Emil Theodor Kocher
Emil Theodor Kocher
Emil Theodor Kocher was a Swiss physician, medical researcher, and Nobel laureate for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid....
, Hugo Kronecker
Hugo Kronecker
Karl Hugo Kronecker was a German physiologist from Liegnitz, Prussian Silesia. He was the brother of Leopold Kronecker....
, Theodor Langhans
Theodor Langhans
Theodor Langhans was a German pathologist who was a native of Usingen, Duchy of Nassau. He studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg, and at the University of Göttingen under Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle , at Berlin under Rudolf Virchow and in Würzburg, where he became an assistant to...
, Ludwig Lichtheim
Ludwig Lichtheim
Ludwig Lichtheim was a German physician. He was educated at the gymnasium in Breslau, and studied medicine at the universities of Berlin, Zurich, and Breslau, graduating in 1868...
, Maurice Edmond Müller
Maurice Edmond Müller
Maurice Edmond Müller was a Swiss orthopedic surgeon who was instrumental in the development of internal fixation techniques to treat bone fractures and who also significantly advanced the development of the hip prostheses. For his work in these areas he has been honored with numerous awards...
, Fritz de Quervain
Fritz de Quervain
Fritz de Quervain was a Swiss surgeon born in Sion. He was a leading authority on thyroid disease.In 1892 he received his doctorate from the University of Bern, and several years later became director of the surgical department at a hospital in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel...
, Hermann Sahli
Hermann Sahli
Hermann Sahli was a Swiss internist who was a native of Bern. In 1878 he earned his doctorate from the University of Bern, and subsequently became an assistant to Ludwig Lichtheim in Bern. Afterwards he traveled to Leipzig, where he worked under Julius Friedrich Cohnheim and Carl Weigert...
, Gabriel Gustav Valentin
Humanities:
Andreas Alföldi
Andreas Alföldi
András Ede Zsigmond Alföldi was a Hungarian historian, epigraphist, numismatist and archaeologist. He was one of the most productive 20th-century scholars of the ancient world and is considered one of the leading researchers of his time...
, Carl Heinrich Wilhelm Hagen
Carl Heinrich Wilhelm Hagen
- Carl Heinrich Wilhelm Hagen or Karl Hagen was a German historian and member of the Frankfurt Parliament. He was born in Dietersheim-Dottenheim and died in Bern....
, Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
, Ignaz Paul Vitalis Troxler, Anna Tumarkin, Hermann Usener
Hermann Usener
Hermann Karl Usener was a German scholar in the fields of philology and comparative religion.-Life:...
Natural sciences:
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, Heinrich Greinacher
Heinrich Greinacher
Heinrich Greinacher was a Swiss physicist. He is regarded as an original experimenter and is the developer of the magnetron and the Greinacher multiplier....
, Hans Oeschger
Hans Oeschger
Professor Hans Oeschger was the founder of the Division of Climate and Environmental Physics at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern in 1963 and director until his retirement in 1992....
, Ludwig Schläfli
Ludwig Schläfli
Ludwig Schläfli was a Swiss geometer and complex analyst who was one of the key figures in developing the notion of higher dimensional spaces. The concept of multidimensionality has since come to play a pivotal role in physics, and is a common element in science fiction...
, Bernhard Studer
Bernhard Studer
Bernhard Studer , Swiss geologist, was born at Büren, near Bern.Although educated as a clergyman, he became so interested in geology at the university of Göttingen that he devoted his life to its pursuit...
, Hugo von Mohl
Hugo von Mohl
Hugo von Mohl was a German botanist from Stuttgart.He was a son of the Württemberg statesman Benjamin Ferdinand von Mohl , the family being connected on both sides with the higher class of state officials of Württemberg...
, Heinrich von Wild
Heinrich von Wild
Heinrich von Wild or Heinrich Wild I was a Swiss meteorologist and physicist. He was born December 17, 1833, at Uster, , and was educated at Zurich, Königsberg, and Heidelberg. In 1858 he was appointed professor of physics and director of the observatory at Bern...
Economics:
Alfred Amonn
Alfred Amonn
Alfred Amonn was an Austrian economist .He taught as a professor at the Czernowitz University , German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague , Tokyo University , University of Berne .- Literary works :* Objekt und Grundbegriffe der theoretischen Nationalökonomie,...
, Max Weber
Max Weber (politician)
Max Weber was a Swiss politician.He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 13 December 1951 and handed over office on 31 January 1954. He was affiliated to the Social Democratic Party. During his time in office he held the Department of Finance.-External links:...
Others:
Theodor Oskar Rubeli
Students
The following prominent persons studied at the University of Bern (occupation in parentheses):
|
Kurt Marti Kurt Marti is a Swiss theologian and poet. His poetry often has theological and religious aspects to it. He is also known for "dialect literature" said to have intellectual quality.- References :... – theologian, poet and writer Werner Munzinger Werner Munzinger was a Swiss administrator and explorer of the Horn of Africa.-Biography:... – Africa explorer Ulrich Ochsenbein Ulrich Ochsenbein was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council .-Professional life:... – federal councillor and general, founding member of the Swiss Confederation Edith Pechey Edith Pechey-Phipson was one of the first women doctors in the United Kingdom and a campaigner for women's rights. She spent more than 20 years in India as a senior doctor at a women's hospital and was involved in a range of social causes.... – physician and campaigner for women's rights Rolf Reber Rolf Reber is professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway.Rolf Reber is known for his research on processing fluency, especially the processing fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure he developed together with Norbert Schwarz from the University of Michigan and Piotr... – psychologist and professor Karl Schenk Johann Karl Emmanuel Schenk was a Swiss pastor, politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council . , he is still the longest-serving member.... – politician and, in office for 31 years, longest-serving federal councillor Karl Scheurer Karl Scheurer was a Swiss politician.He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 11 December 1919 and died in office on 14 November 1929... – politician and federal councillor Samuel Schmid Samuel Schmid is a Swiss politician who was a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2000 to 2008. He was the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports .He was elected to the Federal Council on 6 December 2000... – politician and federal councillor Jakob Stämpfli Jakob Stämpfli was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council .He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 6 December 1854, and handed over office on 31 December 1863... – politician and federal councillor, lawyer and journalist Hans Martin Sutermeister Hans Martin Sutermeister was a Swiss physician and medical writer, politician, and activist against miscarriages of justice.-Early years:... – physician, politician and free-thinker Daniel Vasella Daniel Lucius Vasella MD is Chairman of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG since 1996.He is married to Anne-Laurence, who is the niece of a former Sandoz chairman Moret.... – chairman and CEO of Novartis Kurt Wüthrich Kurt Wüthrich is a Swiss chemist and Nobel Chemistry laureate.-Biography:Born in Aarberg, Switzerland, Wüthrich was educated in chemistry, physics, and mathematics at the University of Berne before pursuing his Ph.D. under the direction of Silvio Fallab at the University of Basel, awarded in 1964... – chemist, winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002 Jean Ziegler Jean Ziegler is a former professor of sociology at the University of Geneva and the Sorbonne, Paris. He was a Member of Parliament for the Social Democrats in the Federal Assembly of Switzerland from 1981 to 1999... – sociologist, politician and writer |
Honorary doctorates
In the course of its history, the University of Bern has awarded honorary doctorates to outstanding people for contributions in different fields of society.Medicine
Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, Sir Charles Scott Sherrington
Charles Scott Sherrington
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, OM, GBE, PRS was an English neurophysiologist, histologist, bacteriologist, and a pathologist, Nobel laureate and president of the Royal Society in the early 1920s...
, César Roux
César Roux
César Roux was a Swiss surgeon , who described the Roux-en-Y procedure.-References:http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/3068.html...
, SIr Alan Lloyd Hodgkin
Alan Lloyd Hodgkin
Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, OM, KBE, PRS was a British physiologist and biophysicist, who shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Andrew Huxley and John Eccles....
, Georg von Békésy
Georg von Békésy
Georg von Békésy was a Hungarian biophysicist born in Budapest, Hungary.In 1961, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the function of the cochlea in the mammalian hearing organ.-Research:Békésy developed a method for dissecting the inner ear of human...
, Stephen W. Kuffler, George Emil Palade
George Emil Palade
George Emil Palade was a Romanian cell biologist. Described as "the most influential cell biologist ever", in 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, together with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve. The prize was granted for his innovations in electron microscopy and...
, Willy Burgdorfer
Willy Burgdorfer
Willy Burgdorfer, an American scientist born and educated in Basel, Switzerland, is an international leader in the field of medical entomology. He is famous for his discovery of the bacterial pathogen that causes Lyme disease, a spirochete named Borrelia burgdorferi in his honor.-Background:Dr....
, Iván Böszörményi-Nagy
Ivan Böszörményi-Nagy
Ivan Böszörményi-Nagy was a Hungarian-American psychiatrist and one of the founders of the field of family therapy. He emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1950....
, David Sackett
David Sackett
David Lawrence Sackett, OC, FRSC is a Canadian medical doctor and a pioneer in evidence-based medicine. He founded the first department of clinical epidemiology in Canada at McMaster University, and the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine...
Natural sciences
Johann Büttikofer
Johann Büttikofer
Dr. Johann Büttikofer was a Swiss zoologist.Büttikofer was born in Ranflüh in Emmenthal. After his retirement he settled in Bern.-Scientific career:...
, Hans von Euler-Chelpin
Hans von Euler-Chelpin
Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin was a German-born Swedish biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur Harden for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes.He was professor of general and organic chemistry at Stockholm University...
, Gerold Schwarzenbach
Gerold Schwarzenbach
Gerold Karl Schwarzenbach was a Swiss chemist.Schwarzenbach was born and grew up in Horgen, Switzerland. He studied chemistry at the ETH Zurich and graduated in 1928 with his dissertation Studien über die Salzbildung von Beizenfarbstoffen...
, Richard R. Ernst
Richard R. Ernst
Richard Robert Ernst is a Swiss physical chemist and Nobel Laureate.Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, Ernst was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1991 for his contributions towards the development of Fourier Transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy while at Varian Associates, Palo...
Economics and business
Ernst Karl Abbe
Ernst Karl Abbe
- See also :*Abbe prism*Abbe refractometer*Abbe error*Aberration in optical systems*Calculation of glass properties* German inventors and discoverers-External links:*...
, Auguste and Louis Lumière
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
, Jean-Daniel Gerber
Jean-Daniel Gerber
Jean-Daniel Gerber was born on 29 August 1946 and graduated with a degree in economics. He is married to Elisabeth Gerber-Graber and has two grown-up children....
Humanities
Albert Samuel Gatschet
Albert Samuel Gatschet
Albert Samuel Gatschet was a Swiss-American ethnologist who trained as a linguist in Europe but worked most of his career in the United States, where he studied Native American languages and cultures.-Early life and education:Albert Samuel Gatschet was born in Beatenberg, Switzerland...
, Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht
Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht
Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht was an active and influential Trotskyist in the 1930s who had to flee Germany in 1933 after Hitler’s rise to power. It was in the USA, the country that granted him citizenship, that Ackerknecht became an influential historian of medicine...
Art
Joseph Simon Volmar
Joseph Simon Volmar
Joseph Simon Volmar was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
, Albert Anker
Albert Anker
Albert Samuel Anker was a Swiss painter and illustrator who has been called the "national painter" of Switzerland because of his enduringly popular depictions of 19th-century Swiss village life.-Life:...
, Cuno Amiet
Cuno Amiet
Cuno Amiet was a Swiss painter, illustrator, graphic artist and sculptor. As the first Swiss painter to give precedence to colour in composition, he was a pioneer of modern art in Switzerland.-Biography:...
, Rudolf Münger
Rudolf Münger
Rudolf Münger was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
, Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
, Walter Linsenmaier
Walter Linsenmaier
Walter Linsenmaier was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
, Ilya Kabakov
Ilya Kabakov
Ilya Kabakov, Russian Илья́ Ио́сифович Кабако́в , is a Russian-American conceptual artist of Jewish descent, born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. He worked for thirty years in Moscow, from the 1950s until the late 1980s. He now lives and works on Long Island...
Literature
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz was a French-speaking Swiss writer.He was born in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud and educated at the University of Lausanne. He taught briefly in nearby Aubonne, and then in Weimar, Germany. In 1903, he left for Paris and remained there until World War I, with frequent...
, René Gardi
René Gardi
René Gardi was a Swiss traveller and author. He wrote particularly on the handicrafts and architecture of West Africa.Gardi was born 1909 in Bern, Switzerland...
, Kurt Marti
Kurt Marti
Kurt Marti is a Swiss theologian and poet. His poetry often has theological and religious aspects to it. He is also known for "dialect literature" said to have intellectual quality.- References :...
, Stefan Heym
Stefan Heym
Helmut Flieg was a German-Jewish writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic...
, John Edgar Wideman
John Edgar Wideman
John Edgar Wideman is an American writer, professor at Brown University, and sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.-Early life:...
, John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
Politics
Charles Albert Gobat
Charles Albert Gobat
Charles Albert Gobat was a Swiss lawyer, educational administrator, and politician who jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize with Élie Ducommun in 1902 for their leadership of the Permanent International Peace Bureau....
, Rudolf Minger
Rudolf Minger
Rudolf Minger was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council . He also was a farmer all his life....
, Annemarie Huber-Hotz
Annemarie Huber-Hotz
Annemarie Huber-Hotz was Federal Chancellor of Switzerland between 2000 and 2007. She was nominated by the FDP for the office, and elected on 15 December 1999 after four rounds of voting. The activity is comparable to an office for Minister...
, Adolf Ogi
Adolf Ogi
Adolf Ogi is a Swiss politician from the village of Kandersteg in the Swiss Alps.He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 9 December 1987, as member of the Swiss People's Party from the Canton of Berne...
, Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
Others
Hermann Müller-Thurgau
Hermann Müller (Thurgau)
Hermann Müller, born October 21, 1850 in Tägerwilen in the canton of Thurgau, died January 18, 1927 in Wädenswil, was a Swiss botanist, plant physiologist, oenologist and grape breeder. He called himself Müller-Thurgau, taking the name of his home canton....
, Eduard Herzog
Eduard Herzog
Eduard Herzog was a Swiss Catholic theologian and cleric who was a native of Schongau, Canton Lucerne. He was the first Christian Catholic bishop of Switzerland....
, Mathis Wackernagel
Mathis Wackernagel
Mathis Wackernagel is a Swiss-born sustainability advocate. He is currently President of Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with a presence in Oakland, California; Brussels, Belgium, and Zurich, Switzerland...
, Heidi Tagliavini
Heidi Tagliavini
Heidi Tagliavini is a Swiss diplomat noted for her service with international aid and peacekeeping missions; a 2003 profile in the monthly magazine of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung called her "Switzerland's outstanding diplomat"...
Reputation
Today the University of Bern is one of the top 200 universities in the world. In the QS World University RankingsQS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
2011/12 it ranked 143rd (6th in Switzerland). The Shanghai Ranking (ARWU) 2011 ranked the University of Bern 151st–200th in the world. In the Leiden Ranking 2010 it ranked 135th in the world and 50th in Europe. Bern is 188th on the High Impact Universities Research Performance Index.
See also
- List of largest universities by enrollment in Switzerland
- List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
- List of universities in Switzerland
- myScience.ch - The Swiss Portal for Research and Innovation