What is EPFL and what does the epfl.ch website cover?

EPFL is a university based in Lausanne, Switzerland, whose three missions are education, research and innovation. The epfl.ch website is its main institutional portal: it is where you go to understand what the school is working on, who its researchers are, and what is happening on campus right now. It is an information and news site rather than a course catalogue or application system — for admissions, fees or programme requirements you would need to follow the site's own links rather than expect them on the homepage.

What EPFL is

The site describes EPFL plainly: a university in Lausanne with three missions — education, research and innovation. That framing matters because it explains what dominates the homepage. Rather than a static brochure, the front page reads like a live institutional feed, mixing research announcements, student-facing practical information and campus logistics.

What the site actually covers

The homepage is organised around a handful of recurring sections, each doing a different job.

Latest news

This is the most active part of the page. Recent items visible on the site include:

• A piece on cybersecurity quoting Prof. Mathias Payer, head of EPFL's HexHive research group, on how AI is changing the way vulnerabilities are found — and how "simple steps can effectively prevent cyber attacks."
• News that the Apertus team — researchers at EPFL, ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) — partnered with Swiss technology company Proton to make Apertus 1.5 available in Lumo, Proton's AI assistant, giving researchers real-world feedback for the first time.
• A report that more than 12,000 students returned to classes at EPFL, framed around how artificial intelligence has transformed higher education.

Dates on these items run into September 2026, so the news section is genuinely current rather than an archive.

Profiles

A separate section for people. Examples on the page include an EPFL professor, Paloma Navarro, studying how the immune system changes the aging brain; two master's students, Anabelle Ayma and Quitterie Legrand, whose semester project became a published scientific article; and a fourth-year PhD candidate, Shardul Chiplunkar, discussing stress management and representing peers. These are feature-style interviews, useful if you want a sense of the research culture rather than official announcements.

Highlights

This is where the site points to longer-form or thematic content. One example is Dimensions, the magazine, with an edition exploring water "from the nanoscopic scale" outward.

About and EPFL Memento

The About section carries the institutional description quoted above. EPFL Memento appears as a distinct heading, alongside practical campus notices.

Practical information for students and visitors

The homepage also carries a "Top Resources for the New Semester" block aimed at incoming students, linking to:

• Getting Started
• Academic Calendar
• Cybersecurity
• Student Life & Associations
• Sports & Physical Activity
• Mental Health & Well-Being
• EPFL Campus app download

There are also operational notices — for example, a "Double Deck construction site" item under practical information — and a line about support for the community and current initiatives. If you are arriving at EPFL, this block is the fastest route to the calendar and campus app.

When epfl.ch is the right place to look

Use epfl.ch when you want to:

• Confirm what EPFL is and what it says its missions are.
• Follow current research and institutional news.
• Read profiles of researchers and students.
• Find semester-start practical links such as the academic calendar or the campus app.

Look elsewhere on the site (via its own navigation) when you need admissions procedures, programme details, tuition or login-gated services — the homepage itself does not present pricing or access terms, so nothing about cost or account requirements should be assumed from it.