Faculty of Science (FBM and FGSE)

The Lausanne Academy offers courses in the sciences that are improperly referred to as "hard", "pure" or "exact". They are attached to the Chair of Arts, one of four at the institution, which teaches rhetoric, philosophy, physics and mathematics.

Jean Tagaut appears to have been Lausanne's first science teacher. He was a French doctor and surgeon, a friend of Théodore de Bèze, who fledé à Genève for religious reasons. He stayed in Lausanne from 1557 to 1559, before moving to the newly founded Académie de Genève, where he died a year later. Claude Boucart is a figure who undoubtedly embodies the theological beliefs of a section of the population of the episcopate. Appointed to the Académie in 1598 to teach mathematics and physics, this young man, who converted to Protestantism, fled Lausanne and Thonon ten years later, rejecting his well-formed faith and abandoning his wife and children. In 1611 he abjured Catholicism, which allowed him to resume his teaching in Lausanne until 1617, when he was imprisoned on suspicion of Catholicism. He died a good Catholic in Annecy in 1624.

The sciences played only a secondary role in Lausanne until the arrival of Jean-Pierre de Crousaz, who won first prize at the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1720. He was a true mathematician. With his hair carefully powdered, he resembles Johann Sebastian Bach. Wearing a black robe with a white flap over his chest, he looks like some of today's pastors. Appointed to the Académie in 1700, he became embroiled in the Davel affair and was forced to resign after just three years. Scientific teaching at the end of the eighteenth century was marked by the presence of the De Treytorrens family, father and son. When the second, Louis, died in 1794, the chair of arts was split in two. Jean-Samuel François, a supporter of the Vaud Revolution, taught mathematics and experimental physics, while David Secrétan was in charge of philosophy. After the independence of the canton of Vaud, the academy was reorganised. In 1806, all the teaching was divided into fourteen professorships, including one for mathematics and astronomy, one for theoretical and experimental physics, one for chemistry and mineralogy, and two for medicine and surgery, which were also responsible for teaching botany.

Emmanuel Deveau, the founder of the Vaud Academy of Sciences, was born in 1806.

Emmanuel Develey was the first full-time maths teacher. He held the post until he reached the age of 73 in 1837. That year, the new Education Act introduced two revolutionary innovations. Firstly, teaching would henceforth be provided in French. Secondly, new faculties will be created. The courses of study are now clearly defined. There are three of them: Theology, Law, Literature and Science. In 1859, the University of Zurich divided its Faculty of Philosophy into Phil. 1 (philosophy, history and linguistics) and Phil. 2 (mathematics and sciences). In Lausanne, it was the law of 1869 that recognised Arts and Sciences as two separate faculties. From that year onwards, the scientific courses were: mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, zoology, anatomy and physiology, botany, mineralogy, geology and palaeontology, and hygiene. The Constitution of 1861 required a revision of the Education Act. It was passed in 1869, thanks to the efforts of Louis Ruchonnet, the future federal councillor. Among other things, it stated that the Academy could now award the degree of doctor. It endowed the university with a new faculty, the Faculté Technique, which was to become the EPFL exactly one century later. The pure sciences played an increasingly important role in the academy, with the science and technology faculties holding 7 of the institution's 21 professorships. In 1873 a new faculty was created, the School of Pharmacy, with two professorships for eight courses. In 1881, a new law transformed the Faculty into a School, a section of the Faculty of Science. It lost some of its autonomy without, however, merging completely into the parent faculty.

In 1890 the Université succeededède à l’Académie. The medical sciences, which until then had been intended solely for teaching in the field of medicine, left the Faculté des sciences to become part of the brand new Faculté de médecine. The Faculty of Science is now divided into three sections: mathematical, physical and natural sciences; pharmaceutical sciences, i.e. the School of Pharmacy; and technical sciences, i.e. the School of Engineering. The last two sections have the particularity of being headed by a director appointed by the Council of State. At the time, the Faculty had 56 students (around 26%) out of the 216 at the University.

At the beginning of the 20th century the Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences Section was divided into four: mathematical sciences — physical sciences — geographical sciences — natural sciences. Chemistry remained part of physics until 1942, when it became a special subject. In the mid-1960s the old «laboratories» took on the more modern name of «institutes».

From 1890 to 1968, the number of professors in the Faculty of Science rose from 20 to 87. They included leading scientific figures such as the chemist Jean Piccard (Auguste's twin brother, who served as a model for the character of Professor Tournesol), the mathematician Georges De Rham, creator of théors and deémes;couvreur de voies d'alpinisme dans les Alpes, le géologue Maurice Lugeon surnommé «le père des barrages» ou le limnologue François Forel, précurseur de la seismologie et le premier à effectuer des observations météorologiques à l'aide de ballons sonde.

The Engineering School became increasingly autonomous during the first half of the 20th century. So much so that in 1969 it left cantonal control and became part of the Swiss Confederation under the name of the Ecole polytechnique férale de Lausanne (EPFL). It brought with it more than 1,000 students. The sciences now have 370 students. In Lausanne, the two universities offer courses in mathematics, chemistry and physics. Those at UNIL are more research-oriented and those at EPFL are more industry-oriented.

At the university level, there is a strong emphasis on research.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the number of science students represented 14% of the total. The adventure of Lausanne's Faculty of Science came to an end in 2003, after 134 years, with the transfer of the pharmacy to Geneva and the opening of the faculties of the University of Geneva;opening of the Faculties of Biology and Medicine (FBM) and of Science and Environmental Sciences (FGSE), which replaced Science and Medicine.

Olivier Robert - UNIRIS 2014