Well-respected rankings attest to the University of Basel's international academic performance:

  • Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE) (2021): 92
  • CWTS Leiden Ranking (2019): 53
  • Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) (2019): 87

Organization

University administration

Since 1 January 1996, the University of Basel has been independent. The University Law of 1995 stipulates that, "The University of Basel is an institution established under public law. It has its own legal personality and right to self-government." As the entity that formally receives the Performance Mandate (Leistungsauftrag) for the university from both supporting cantons, the University Council (Universitätsrat) is the supreme decision-making body of the university. The council consists of eleven voting members and three non-voting members, including the president, the executive director, and the secretary of the council.

Beneath the University Council are the Senate (Regenz) and the President's Board. The 80-member Senate consists of the senior members of the President's Board, faculty deans, professors, lecturers and research assistants, assistants, students, and administrative and technical employees.

The President's Office is tasked with leading the overall university business. It consists of the president and her staff, a General Secretariat, an Administrative Directorate, the Communications and Marketing Office, and two respective vice-presidents for research and education.

Faculties and departments

<gallery>

File:Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar der Universität Basel.jpg|Institute of Musicology

File:Biozentrum Pharmazentrum Stehle 2007 University of Basel.png|Biozentrum and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

File:Universitat Basel, Juristische Fakultat.jpg|Faculty of Law

File:Basel Bernoullianum 08-06-2008.jpg|Bernoullianum, Department of Environmental Sciences

File:Bürgerspital, Basel.jpg|University Hospital of Basel

</gallery>

The University of Basel currently houses seven faculties:

  • Theology
  • Law
  • Medicine
  • Department of Biomedicine (a joint venture among the University of Basel, the University Hospital, and the University Children's Hospital)
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Department of Public Health
  • Department of Clinical Research
  • Department of Sport, Exercise and Health
  • Humanities and Social Sciences (Phil I)
  • Department of Ancient Civilizations
  • Department of History
  • Department of Social Sciences
  • Department Arts, Media, Philosophy
  • Department of Languages and Literatures
  • Digital Humanities Lab
  • Science (Phil II)
  • Biozentrum
  • Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Department of Physics
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Environmental Sciences
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Business and Economics
  • Psychology

Interdisciplinary institutions

  • Institute for European Global Studies
  • Center for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS)
  • Institute for Biomedical Ethics (IBMB)
  • Institute of Education

Associated institutes

  • Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH)[http://www.swisstph.ch]
  • Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI)
  • Basel Institute on Governance [https://www.baselgovernance.org/about_biog]
  • Swiss Centre for Rescue, Emergency and Disaster Medicine (SZRNK)
  • Swisspeace

Notable alumni and faculty

The university is counted among the country's leading institutions of higher learning and has a large number of politicians, scientists and thinkers as professors and alumni from around the world:

<gallery>

File:Paracelsus.jpg|Paracelsus, physician and alchemist

File:Jakob Bernoulli.jpg|Jacob Bernoulli, mathematician

File:Leonhard Euler 2.jpg|Leonhard Euler, mathematician and physicist

File:Nietzsche1882 detail.jpg|Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher

File:Johann Friedrich Miescher. Photograph. Wellcome V0026860.jpg|Friedrich Miescher, physician

File:Karl Gustav Jung.png|Karl Gustav Jung, physician and surgeon

File:ETH-BIB-Jung, Carl Gustav (1875-1961)-Portrait-Portr 14163 (cropped).tif|Carl Gustav Jung, psychiatrist

File:Karl Jaspers 1946.jpg|Karl Jaspers, philosopher and psychiatrist

File:Thadeus Reichstein ETH-Bib Portr 10137.jpg|Tadeus Reichstein, chemist and Nobel Prize laureate

File:Werner Arber at Biozentrum, University of Basel.jpg|Werner Arber, microbiologist and Nobel Prize laureate

File:Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard mg 4372 cropped.jpg|Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, biologist and Nobel Prize laureate

</gallery>

  • Emil Abderhalden (1877–1950), Swiss biochemist and physiologist
  • Bonifacius Amerbach (1495–1562) Swiss jurist
  • Johann Konrad Ammann (1669–1724, Swiss physicist and educator of deaf children)
  • Werner Arber (1929–), Swiss microbiologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1978
  • Johann Jakob Bachofen (1815–1887), Swiss antiquarian and jurist
  • Karl Barth (1886–1968), Swiss Protestant theologian
  • Caspar Bauhin (1560–1624), Swiss botanist
  • Johann Bauhin (1541–1613), Swiss botanist
  • Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), Swiss mathematician and physicist
  • Jacob Bernoulli (1655–1705), prominent Swiss mathematician, after whom Bernoulli numbers are named
  • Johann Bernoulli (1667–1748), Swiss mathematician
  • Johann Georg Birnstiel (1858–1927), Swiss writer and clergyman
  • James Montgomery Boice (1938–2000), American theologian and pastor
  • Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897), Swiss historian
  • Meehyun Chung (1963–) South Korean theologian, professor of Yonsei University
  • Jacques Dubochet (1942–), Swiss biophysicist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017
  • Nikolaus Eglinger (1645–1711), Swiss physician
  • Paul Erdman (1932–2007), American business and financial writer
  • Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), mathematician and physicist
  • Rudolf Eucken (1846–1926), philosopher, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1908
  • Till Förster (1955), Prof.em.Dr., anthropologist, founding director of the Centre for African Studies, University of Basel
  • Christoph Gerber professor at the Department of Physics, co-inventor of the atomic force microscope
  • Fina Girard (2001–), Swiss politician and youth climate activist
  • Albert Gobat (1848–1914), Swiss politician, Nobel Peace Prize in 1902
  • Arno David Gurewitsch (1902–1974), professor, Columbia‐Presbyterian Medical Center, and personal physician to Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Paul Herrling, professor of Drug Discovery Science
  • Jeanne Hersch (1910–2000), Swiss philosopher
  • Robert Jacob (physician) (died 1588), English court physician to Elizabeth I and the Russian Czarina
  • Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher
  • Karl Gustav Jung (1795–1864), German-Swiss physician and surgeon, Rector and professor of the University
  • Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961), Swiss psychiatrist, and founder of Analytical Psychology
  • Eberhard Jüngel (1934–2021), German Lutheran theologian
  • Jack Dean Kingsbury (1931–), American New Testament theologian and professor at Union Presbyterian Seminary
  • Michael Landmann (1913–1984), Swiss-Israeli philosopher
  • Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–1994), Israeli public intellectual and polymath
  • Friedrich Miescher (1844–1895), Swiss physician and biologist, first researcher to isolate nucleic acid
  • Alice Miller (1923–2010), Swiss psychologist and author
  • David-François de Montmollin (1721–1803), Swiss colonist to Canada, Protestant minister, landowner
  • Paul Hermann Müller (1899–1965), Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948
  • Annegret Mündermann, professor in the field of regenerative medicine & biomechanics
  • Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900,) German philosopher, held Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel at the age of 24
  • Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (1942–), German biologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995
  • Paracelsus (1493–1541), Swiss philosopher, physician, botanist and astrologer
  • Tadeus Reichstein (1897–1996), Polish-Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1950
  • John H. Rodgers Jr. (1930–2022), American systematic theologian and Anglican bishop
  • Otto Stich (1927–2012), President of the Swiss Confederation
  • Emmanuel Stupanus (1587–1664), Swiss physician
  • William Theilheimer (1914–2005), German-American scientist
  • Lilian Uchtenhagen (1928–2016), Swiss politician and economist
  • Peter Werenfels (1627–1703), Swiss theologian
  • Kurt Wüthrich (1938–), Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002
  • Iona Yakir (1896–1937), Red Army commander
  • Rolf Zinkernagel (1944–), Swiss physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996
  • Hans Zingg (M.D.) — professor emeritus of pharmacology and therapeutics, professor of medicine, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and Wyeth-Ayerst Chair in Women's Health at McGill University
  • Mirjana Spoljaric Egger (1972–), Swiss diplomat, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Student life

The university hosts several formal institutions that are intended to serve the needs of its students. The Student Advice Center provides advice on academic degree programs and career opportunities. The Student Services provides information on applications, grants, mobility, exchanges, and disability services.

Student organizations

There are also a variety of organizations that cater to international students, such as local chapters of Toastmasters and AIESEC, and associations that perform community services (Beraber, for instance, provides remedial lessons to immigrant youth). There is a foreign affairs association (Foraus), a Model United Nations team, and various choirs and orchestras. There are also various religious groups.

A number of other student groups exist out of formal venues. The most recognizable are the "Studentenverbindungen," traditional student associations dating from the 19th century that organize social events, share common uniforms, and often focus on particular hobbies, such as sword fighting. Such associations include the Akademische Turnerschaft Alemannia zu Basel, AKW Raurica, Helvetia Basel, Jurassia Basiliensis, Schwizerhüsli, A.V. Froburger, and Zofingia. Membership in many is restricted to men, though A.V. Froburger also accepts women.

University sports

University Sports provides a gym, fitness classes, and sport and dance camps to students and employees of the university.

Student union

The Studentische Körperschaft der Universität Basel (skuba) speaks on behalf of the students and represents their needs and interests. It acts as an official student representative and has no political or religious affiliations.

Alumni association

The university has a general alumni association, AlumniBasel, as well as specific alumni associations for the Europainstitut, Medicine, Law, Business and Economics, Dentistry, and Nursing.

See also

  • Biozentrum University of Basel
  • List of largest universities by enrollment in Switzerland
  • List of medieval universities
  • Basel University Library

Notes and references

Further reading

  • Bonjour, Edgar, Die Universität Basel von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart 1460–1960 (Basel : Helbing und Lichtenhahn, 1971)
  • Official Website of the university
  • History website of the university
  • Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) – an associated institute of the university – travel and tropical medicine, international health, medical parasitology and the biology of infection, public health and epidemiology.
  • Studierendenstatistik der Universität Basel
  • University Rankings – University of Basel (2008)