How people and their institutions perceive and interact with the world around them, how they hope and believe, think and talk, regulate and cooperate, decide and act, and how they stay and become healthy: these are the interests of the researchers and teachers at the University of Lucerne. They are the essence of what makes the university unique in terms of its disciplines and fields of study.

The University of Lucerne has reached a number of milestones in this respect during the past year and is now a "well-rounded university of the human sciences", as Rector Bruno Staffelbach emphasises in his foreword to the recently published annual report. For example, a former department has been transformed into the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, and the new Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Psychology has been established, with classes set to start this autumn. This was made possible by the revision of the University Act, which was approved by the Lucerne Cantonal Council. Accordingly, the foreword by Armin Hartmann, Member of the Cantonal Government, Director of Education and Culture and Member of the University Council, begins with the statement: "The University of Lucerne is a people's university."

Multilayered visual implementation

How can the focus on the human sciences be visualised? This is the subject of the report's accompanying series of images. In terms of design, it represents a synthesis between image generation based on machine learning using "prompts" and conventional manual digital image processing. The cover motif featuring Leonardo da Vinci is illustrative of this: Carefully observing the environment, its people and institutions, reading, analysing, categorising and contextualising – these are just a few of the methods and procedures used by the human sciences. And each of the double-page images in the centre section provides a wealth of information on what the human sciences are and what makes them so fascinating. To sum it up in the words of the University of Lucerne's motto: "Moving Human Sciences".

Research highlights

Moving from the general to the specific, and demonstrating the potential and social relevance of the human sciences, the report features a selection of flagship projects from current research and teaching across the faculties.

The publication also provides facts and figures for the past year. As of the Autumn Semester, 3,512 students (4,181 including those in continuing education programmes) were enrolled at the university. The annual accounts closed with an excess expenditure of around CHF 639,000. The total of all third-party funds raised for research in 2023 amounted to about CHF 5.78 million. In the interests of transparency, the report also discloses donations of CHF 10,000 or more, which goes beyond the legal requirement.

The annual report is available for pick-up in the entrance area and on the third and fourth floors of the university/PH building on Frohburgstrasse. Subscribers will be mailed a hard copy of the report within the next few days. Download or order annual report (German only).