The University of Melbourne

Melbourne is a leading international university with a tradition of excellence in teaching, research and engagement. Established in 1853, it is the oldest university in Victoria. It is a publically funded institution with a number of closely affiliated research institutes, situated within the heart of a vibrant research precinct in Parkville, adjacent to the central business district.

Melbourne offers broad undergraduate degrees and world-leading graduate programs in professional and scholarly disciplines to over 40,000 students each year.

Melbourne’s outstanding performance in international rankings puts it at the forefront of higher education globally. It is currently ranked 6 in the Asia Pacific region, 75 world-wide on the Shanghai Jiao Tong scale and 51th in the Taiwan (HEEACT) ranking. In the Times Higher Education World’s Best University, it ranks 36th overall, 6th for employability of its graduates, and 20th by international colleagues (peer review). Melbourne is the sole Australian university ranked among the top 30 for all five core subject areas, with three subject areas ranked in the top 20. Melbourne is a member of the Group of Eight research intensive universities.
University mission

Through its Growing Esteem strategy, Melbourne has set out a long term plan to strengthen its research capacity and reputation and to transform its provision of undergraduate and graduate education. The ‘Melbourne Model’ has created a suite of six broadly based undergraduate degrees followed by a professional graduate degree, or a research higher degree. The undergraduate degrees are: Arts, Biomedicine, Commerce, Environments, Music, and Science. All students are required to undertake breadth study alongside developing disciplinary depth within the major study area.
Growing Esteem has three interlinked strands:

Research and research training
Melbourne earns the highest level of research grants and allocations in Australia. Melbourne has active researchers across the spectrum of research fields and in 2009 established a series of cross-disciplinary research institutes designed to more effectively deal with societal challenges: Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society, Melbourne Brain Institute, Melbourne Energy Institute, Melbourne Materials Institute and Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. Affiliated research institutes undertake world class and leading edged research in partnership with the University.
Melbourne provides the leading national environment for graduate research with the largest research student cohort and completions in Australia. Scholarships funding and funding for the Commercialisation Training Scheme is also the highest nationally. RHD students are considered to be the research engine of the University, and a range of programs and measures have been put in place to drive high quality outcomes and student engagement.

Learning and teaching
Melbourne offers an outstanding education designed to equip students to succeed in a globalised environment, meeting societal challenges with intelligence and ingenuity and with respect for humanity. Seventy percent of Melbourne’s student population is at undergraduate level, with 20% graduate coursework and 9% research higher degree load. The spread is distinctive, particularly the relatively high level of research students, reflecting the prime emphasis on creation and dissemination of knowledge. As the Melbourne Model takes effect the balance will shift further towards graduate and research students, including many with first degrees from other universities. Melbourne seeks out the brightest students from the widest range of backgrounds and facilitates the entry of students from under-represented areas.

The University is pioneering initiatives that will ensure that the composition of the professional workforce, including professions such as medicine and law, is more representative of the wider-community. Through Access Melbourne and other programs, Melbourne seeks to increase by 2015 the number of low socio-economic status and disadvantaged students admitted to its undergraduate courses by 50% and to maintain its national leadership in undergraduate progression and success rates.

Engagement
The engagement strand encompasses interaction between academia and wider society – including knowledge partnership, advancement and international activities. Through this strand, the University engages in public debate, influences policy of government, links research and teaching with industry and communities, develops deep beneficial relationships with alumni, and performs as a truly international institution.

University of Bristol

University College, Bristol opened in October 1876 with two professors, five lecturers and 99 students. It was the first college in the country to admit men and women on an equal footing. The University's reputation grew steadily throughout the 1930s, it became known as an institution with formidable academic strengths and an unshakeable commitment to quality - characteristics that are just as apparent now.

The University organises its academic affairs in some 45 departments and 15 research centers which are arranged in art, engineering, science, medicine & dentistry, medical &veterinary science, social science& law faculties. Bristol has a diverse range of academic subjects on offer to prospective students, 46 in total. The level of support for the students is high and many achieve the high standards on which the University's reputation is built.

The University is internationally distinguished and one of the very best in the UK, thanks to its outstanding staff, superb facilities and talented students. the University?s longstanding reputation for great teaching and internationally distinguished research. No wonder the University of Bristol is at the top of the popularity stakes.

The university is located in the heart of Bristol, one of the UK's most beautiful and inspiring cities. Most of our 370 buildings are located in the heart of this lively, creative, multicultural city. A short stroll from the University precinct down Park Street with its stylish shops will take you to Bristol's beautiful Harbourside. There you will find all kinds of diversions, from boats to bars and from cinemas to street art.It's also a very lively place with a vibrant cultural and social scene. the university is truly international, with students from over 100 countries, meaning the university benefits from an extraordinary diverse culture.

University of Edinburgh

We've been educating students at the University of Edinburgh for more than 400 years, developing and evolving to meet their changing needs and expectations. The achievements of our past are strong building blocks for your future.

At the University of Edinburgh, we are committed to providing you with the very best educational experience you could possibly have. That commitment is reflected in our exceptional staff and facilities, our unique history, our cutting-edge research, our location in Scotland's vibrant capital, and the diverse range of other students you'll meet here.
World renowned and well respected, a degree from the University of Edinburgh will be recognised wherever you go.
The University of Edinburgh's success is not limited to Scotland, or even the UK. We have a well-deserved international reputation for excellence, as demonstrated in our partnerships with other key institutions worldwide, such as our work with Stanford University on Informatics. Many of our degree programmes offer the opportunity to spend some time studying abroad. Perhaps this international dimension helps explain why we have the largest proportion of international students of any Scottish university.

The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583, making it one of Scotland's ancient universities. The University offers over 600 first degree programmes, which includes over 300 joint degree combinations, spread across some 100 academic disciplines. More than 22,000 students study here, from all over the world and from a variety of backgrounds. The University has 22 Schools in three Colleges: Humanities & Social Science, Medicine & Veterinary Medicine, and Science & Engineering.

Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, is one of the greenest and architecturally most beautiful cities in Northern Europe
They come not only for the architecture, but for a city rich in social, cultural, learning and sporting facilities. Each year the city plays host to internationally renowned events such as the Edinburgh International Arts, Fringe, Film, TV and Science Festivals.

University of Manchester

With a distinguished history of academic achievement and an ambitious agenda for the future, The University of Manchester offers a learning experience rooted in a rich educational heritage and boosted by cutting-edge research and innovation – all at the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant and exciting student cities.

Its tradition of success in learning and research stretches back over 180 years. The birth of the modern computer, the splitting of the atom, the founding principles of present-day economics – all these and many more world-changing innovations have their roots at The University of Manchester. Today, the university enjoys a global reputation for both its pioneering research and its problem-based approach to learning.

Between 2005 and 2010, the University rose in the influential Academic Ranking of World Universities Survey conducted by Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, from 53rd to 41st in the world, and seventh in Europe, confirming it as a progressive and world-class teaching and research institution.

Already a prestigious Russell Group university, Manchester aims to become one of the top 25 universities in the world by 2015 and the preferred destination for the best teachers, researchers and students – a goal backed by an ongoing multimillion-pound investment programme in facilities, staff and buildings.

More than 5,800 academic and research staff – many leaders in their fields, with international reputations – provide stimulating learning environments and excellent standards of teaching. Recent iconic appointments include novelist Martin Amis, political scientist Robert Putnam, and Nobel Laureates, life scientist John Sulston and economist Joseph Stiglitz.

Manchester graduates join a prestigious hall of fame, including 23 Nobel Prize winners among the institution’s current and former staff and students. A worldwide community of 230,000 graduates can be found in top positions in every imaginable field, including Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco; former Secretary General of Amnesty International Irene Khan; writer/performer Meera Syal, and musicians The Chemical Brothers.

Employers actively target University of Manchester graduates, giving excellent job prospects. Manchester offers countless exciting personal development opportunities and professional careers advice from a university careers service that has consistently been voted the best in the UK by graduate recruiters.

One of the top research universities in the UK, The University of Manchester is at the forefront of the search for solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems, boasting strong collaborative links with industry and the public services, and making a real difference through its international research centres, which explore a diverse range of topics. The latest independent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), published in December 2008, ranked an impressive 65% of research activity at the University as “world-leading” (4*) or “internationally excellent” (3*), and the University was rated third in the UK in terms of “research power”.

With a friendly campus packed with excellent facilities, situated on the doorstep of Britain’s number one student city, The University of Manchester is one of Britain’s most forward-thinking universities, which builds on its success year on year – and invites its students to do the same.

Statistics
Ranked 5th in the UK, 9th in Europe and 44th in the world*
3rd in the UK in terms of “research power”**
Careers Service voted number 1 in the UK by employers ***
23 Nobel Prize winners
5,829 academic and research staff
230,000 alumni in 200 countries
4 Faculties, 22 academic Schools and hundreds of specialist research groups
4,000,000 library books
Fairtrade status since 2004
* 2010 Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities
** Based on results from the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise
*** AGR/Barkers Media Audit 2002-2007 (2007 is the most recent survey)

Ecole Normale Superieure Paris

The Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS Paris) ranks first - not only in France but in continental Europe as a whole - according to the Times Higher Education Supplement. The ENS has held this preeminent position for years running and is widely considered to be the most selective and most challenging institution of higher learning and research in France.

Founded in 1794, the ENS has long been a national legend. Unrivaled in training leading French intellectuals in all fields the ENS counts amongst its alumni such figures as Henri Bergson, Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Louis Pasteur, Paul Langevin and Laurent Schwartz. In mathematics all French Fields Medals are held by ENS alumni, as are all 12 French Nobel prizes across all disciplines. Since 1945, the ENS has garnered half of the National Research (CNRS) Gold Medals, France's topmost research award.

Nearly every field of knowledge and research is represented at the ENS. Because of its competitive admittance process, the ENS has the luxury of remaining on a human scale : it counts approximately 2500 students. Most research centers and facilities, even student dormitories, are situated in the historical buildings of the rue d'Ulm, located in the heart of Paris' student Latin Quarter. Unlike other French universities, the ENS prides itself on fostering a true community of students and a rich campus life. Intellectual and cultural events abound, from conferences, films, concerts and debates, to athletic and social events, to cozy cafés and welcoming restaurants both inside and nearby school buildings.

Students are selected for their intellectual promise, on the basis of their synthetic and critical faculties, as well as the breadth and depth of their knowledge in one or more academic field, in either the sciences or the humanities. Enrolled students are completing or have just completed their undergraduate studies. Upon matriculation from the ENS, students can obtain the prestigious "ENS Diploma" (an advanced M.A) or a Ph.D. degree.

The ENS is internationally renowned for its outstanding research teams and laboratories, and for excellence in training through research: it fosters creativity and innovation through the best of intellectual environments. Every student engages with the leading French and international academics in his field and benefits from close one-on-one tutorship with the advisor of his choosing. The ENS renowned libraries are another of its many assets; the main humanities library, for instance, has a remarkable collection of open-stack books, a rarity much envied in Paris and in France.

The Ecole Normale Superieure is increasingly seeking to recruit outstanding international students. An International Selection process was established in 2002: every spring, twenty foreign students are admitted for a period of three years during which they receive a monthly 1000 euro stipend. Foreign students may enroll for one or more years through one of the many exchange programs, and also apply directly.

Kyoto University

Founded in 1897, Kyoto University has deeply considered its traditions of liberal and academic freedom, educating many. We continue to actively maintain these principles, which are the foundation of academic freedom.

Kyoto University places top priority on basic research, develops advanced technology leading to the acquisition of intellectual property, and then returns this knowledge to society through education, social cooperation, and the opportunity for lifelong education.

In 21st century, people stand at the crossroads of survival in a changing natural environment. Kyoto University understands this struggle as it grapples with the problems of education in man's future.

Kyoto University has 3 campuses nestled in a basin, which forms the main part of Kyoto, a city which in tradition and culture of which Kyoto University is a part

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

From its foundation in 1853 as part of the University of Lausanne, the ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE deLAUSANNE, EPFL, has evolved into a top-ranked research and teaching institution that attracts some of the best intellects in the world. Nearly 10,000 people -- students, professors, scientists and administrative staff -- share this campus in its idyllic spot overlooking the Lake of Geneva and the Alps, with excellent sport facilities.

EPFL offers study programs at four levels: a 180 ECTS-credit Bachelors Program, a 90-120 ECTS-credit Masters Program, a Doctoral School, and a School of Continuing Education.

In 2006-2007, EPFL welcomed more than 6200 students (at all levels). More than 107 nationalities are present in its campus .

The Masters programs are open to students who have already earned a Bachelor degree (or the equivalent.) As a Masters student, you will develop in-depth knowledge in an area of specialty and gain very valuable practical experience in advanced laboratories. The EPFL Masters Degree is an excellent preparation for a successful professional or academic career and is accredited nationally and internationally. We look forward to welcoming you to the EPFL community!