There are 600 men and women who begin their studies at the University of Lucerne this autumn and 1800 who will continue on to a bachelor’s or master’s course. You are one of them! On behalf of the University of Lucerne, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you and wish you a successful and enjoyable semester!

You are certainly wondering how university rankings affect your studies – and you definitely have heard that the Shanghai and Times Higher Education rankings are particularly prestigious. ETH Zürich (ETHZ) is consistently ranked at the top among Switzerland’s universities. ETHZ is often even ranked as the best university in the whole of continental Europe. In the top 200, although at a significant distance are EPFL Lausanne (EPFL) and the Universities of Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich (in alphabetical order). Switzerland’s other universities, including the University of Lucerne, are not members of this exclusive group. This is because these rankings give particular weight to natural sciences.

The University of Lucerne does not view rising up the rankings as a meaningful objective. Without natural sciences in the range of courses, this would be a hopeless task. Instead, we strongly focus on an enhanced study organisation and the successful acquisition of substantial third-party funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation to promote scientific research (SNF). Our success with SNF applications bears witness to our competitive scientific research. We are therefore well positioned in this area. The University of Lucerne did particularly well in a recent Swiss Rectors’ Conference survey organised by the Federal Statistical Office. The University of Lucerne achieves top marks among Swiss universities for many criteria which are relevant to you as a student. Some examples: top position in study programme coordination; sufficient frequency of compulsory courses, study flexibility and freedoms; the ability to complete studies part time; and quality of examinations. The University of Lucerne achieved the noteworthy second place in examination coordination, an important element in every student's life.

Based on these figures and my personal opinion I am convinced that you have chosen the right university for your studies. I can assure you that we are not resting on our laurels, but are instead striving to continually improve. You can help us to do so with your feedback and comments.

Prof. Dr. Paul Richli, Rector