Established in 1854 by the Swiss Confederation as a polytechnic institute, Swiss Federal Institute originally consisted of six departments, including Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Forestry, and Architecture, a general department of Mathematics, Literature, Natural Sciences, Political and Social Sciences. The main building of the Swiss Federal Institute was built during the period of 1861-1864 by the professor of architecture Gottfried Semper. In 1909 the institution adopted a new course program, which met the requirements of a real university. Several years later ETH has got the right to award Doctorate degrees. In 1911 the institution acquired its present name.
Swiss Federal Institute hasn't got a single campus. After construction of the main building the university expanded quickly to the surrounding areas. Thus, its buildings and institutions are located and integrated throughout Zurich.
The number of students of Swiss Federal Institute is constantly growing. As of 2004, the university had more than 12,600 students, served by 840 lecturers and 330 professors. As the university is a federal institution, there exist no admission requirements for Swiss students except a high school diploma. International students may be required to take entrance exams. However, it is possible to apply to the university without a high school diploma by passing an exam, which covers all high school courses. It is interesting to note that the students don't have to take any exams during the first year of study.
The structure of Swiss Federal Institute divides it into the following 15 departments: Architecture; Agriculture and Food Science; Industrial Management and Manufacturing; Civil, Environmental and Geometrics Engineering; Chemistry and Applied Biosciences; Biology; Earth Sciences; Humanities, Social and Political Sciences; Computer Science; Information Technology and Electrical Engineering; Materials Science; Mathematics; Mechanical and Process Engineering; Physics; and Environmental Sciences. In addition to departments there are numerous teaching and research facilities, including Center for Languages, Functional Gemonics Center, Collegium Helveticum, Swiss National Supercomputing Center and Graphic Collection.
Today the university offers Bachelor's, Master's, Doctoral and Continuing Education degree programs, which cover the areas of natural sciences, mathematics, engineering sciences and system-oriented sciences. All the programs provide comprehensive education, which covers theory and practical application of knowledge. However there may be some differences in the content of various degree programs.
With its students, researchers and faculty from all over the world, Swiss Federal Institute is seen as an international institution and the leading institute in Zurich. There are 20 Nobel Prize winners among the faculty members of the university. Albert Einstein was the student of the Department of Mathematics during the period of 1896-1900 and Professor of Theoretical Physics at Swiss Federal Institute from 1912 to 1916.