Editing University of Lausanne (section)

== History ==
[[Image:Palais de Rumine 1.jpg|thumb|The [[Palais de Rumine]], one of the former buildings of the University of Lausanne]]
[[File:Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne.jpg|thumb|''Unithèque'' building houses one of the two sites of the [[Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne]] on the main campus of the UNIL.]]

The university was founded in 1537 as the ''Schola Lausannensis'', one year after [[canton of Bern|Bern]] annexed the territory of Barony of Vaud from the [[Duchy of Savoy]], as a school of [[theology]] with the purpose of training pastors for the church.<ref name=HDS>{{HDS|10975}}</ref> It enjoyed great renown in its early years for being the first and, until the establishment of the [[University of Geneva|Academy of Geneva]] in 1559, the only [[French language|French-language]] [[Protestant]] school of theology. It quickly became a center of [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] learning, with thinkers such as [[Corderius]] and [[Celio Secondo Curione]] among its professors.<ref name=HDS/> In 1558, the school had 700 students. It entered into a period of decline in the following years, after several members of the academic staff, including [[Rector (academia)|rector]] [[Theodore Beza]] and [[Pierre Viret]], resigned their seats to join the newly established Academy of Geneva.<ref name=HDS/>

In the seventeenth century, the institution became known as the '''Academy of Lausanne''' (''Académie de Lausanne'').<ref name=HDS/> In 1741, it counted 150 students and seven professors. Starting in 1837, the academy was modernized by the authorities of the [[canton of Vaud]], becoming a [[Secularity|secular]] institution  divided into three faculties (letters and sciences, theology, and law).<ref name=HDS/> It continued to expand throughout the second half of the 19th century, until 1890, with the establishment of a medicine course, the academy received the name and status of a university.<ref name=HDS/>

In 1909, [[Archibald Reiss|Rudolphe Archibald Reiss]] founded the first school of [[forensic science]] in the world: the {{lang|fr|Institut de police scientifique}}.

From 1970, the university moved progressively from the old centre of Lausanne, around the Cathedral and Château, to its present site at [[Dorigny university campus|Dorigny]].

The end of the 20th century, witnessed the beginnings of an ambitious project aiming at greater co-operation and development among the French-speaking universities of Lausanne, Geneva, and Neuchâtel, together with the [[Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne|Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)]]. Among others, this led to the transfer of the sections of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry from the university to the EPFL; the funds that were made available following this transfer were invested in the development of the life sciences at the university, including the creation of a Center for Integrative Genomics.

In 2003, two new faculties were founded, concentrating on the life and human sciences: the Faculty of Biology and Medicine and the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment.

On 1 January 2014, the [[Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration]] (IDHEAP) was integrated into the University of Lausanne.<ref>[http://www.unil.ch/webdav/site/central/shared/docs/rapport_12.pdf Rapport annuel 2012 de l'Université de Lausanne], www.unil.ch (page visited on 30 May 2013).</ref>

Since August 2021, the rector of the University of Lausanne is [[Frédéric Herman]]; before then, the university was led by [[Nouria Hernandez]] (2016–2021) and by Dominique Arlettaz (2006–2016).