Interdisciplinary minors

EPFL offers its Master’s students a wide choice of minors, including many interdisciplinary minors, that usually group together courses from several study programs.

While some consist of a multidisciplinary topic, such as the minor in Energy, which is related to several EPFL study fields. Others offer complementary education to the classical engineering curriculum, such as the minor in Technology management and entrepreneurship, which adds entrepreneurial skills to the knowledge acquired in engineering.

In general, interdisciplinary minors are open to all EPFL Master’s students, provided that their curriculum offers the possibility of taking a minor. However, some of them are more specifically aimed at students from specific fields of study. In this case, other Master’s students may also register for them, but they must first present an authorization from their original study program. For detailed information on the recommendations related to all EPFL minors, please refer to the “Minors with specific courses” section on the page Study plans and regulations.

All interdisciplinary minors correspond to 30 ECTS that must be acquired during the Master’s studies. The minor is mentioned in the Diploma Supplement.

Integrated Design, Architecture and Sustainability

This minor responds to a need to further reinforce the integration of sustainable architecture questions within the three Master’s study programs of EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering. The course focuses on issues of energy consumption and the use of natural resources within the global framework of integrated design.

For further information:
Dedicated page
Architecture Section
Prof. Marilyne Andersen & Prof. Emmanuel Rey
Study plan

Territories in Transformation and Climate

The courses in this minor help to translate the dynamics of adaptation to climate change into terms of public policy and urban planning or environmental projects. They also enable students to approach the design, planning and management of built complexes, infrastructures and services in a way that takes account of the changes brought about by global warming.

For further information:
Dedicated page
Architecture Section
Stéphane Joost
Study plan

Engineering for Sustainability

The main objective of this minor is to enable EPFL students to address the sustainability challenges they will face as future professionals and responsible citizens. The course allows them to build the competences in engineering, natural sciences, innovation & technology, and social sciences that are required to develop a holistic understanding of sustainability.

For further information:
Dedicated page
Environmental Sciences and Engineering Section
Pierre-Yves Gilliéron & Yves Leterrier
Study plan

Photonics

This minor provides an education in photonics, the science and technology of light and its applications for imaging, telecommunications, sensing, biology, and manufacturing. It allows students to deepen their understanding of light-matter interactions in a broad diversity of systems and be able to develop solutions that use light for various situations.

For further information:
Dedicated page
School of Engineering
Prof. Olivier Martin
Study plan

Biomedical Technologies

This course serves a double purpose: on the one hand, it provides additional skills in the field of biomedical sciences to future engineers studying at EPFL. On the other hand, it allows students enrolled in the Master’s program in Life Sciences Engineering to complete their knowledge in biology by developing skills in fields related to engineering.

For further information:
Dedicated page
School of Engineering
Prof. Philippe Renaud
Study plan

Energy

Rational use and conversion of energy is one of the major concerns of the 21st century. Therefore, this minor focuses on the development of technologies to be integrated into systems that convert energy resources into distributed energy to satisfy energy services from micro to giga scales: households, transport, tertiary sector, and industry.

For further information:
Dedicated page
School of Engineering
Prof. François Maréchal
Study plan

Space Technologies

This course aims at fostering and promoting the awareness of space technologies and applications among EPFL students. Its main goals are therefore to strengthen their knowledge of space related research, promote space applications, technology and science, and foster a strong educational platform in the space sector, in parallel to the development of academic and research projects at EPFL.

For further information:
Dedicated page
School of Engineering
Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib
Study plan

Data and Internet of Things

This minor focuses on the key technological support to the system design and optimization of connected electronics or Internet of Things. It covers the key parts related to computer engineering, algorithms, and artificial intelligence/machine learning software for data management. Team projects allow students to integrate algorithms and software on hardware platforms and perform extensive experimentation.

For further information:
School of Engineering
Prof. David Atienza
Study plan

Imaging

This minor covers theoretical and practical aspects in imaging across scales, from acquisition (optics, instrumentation) to computation (image processing, data science). These interdisciplinary competencies are increasingly valuable in both industry and academia due to the widespread use of imaging and its reliance on numerous technologies. The course offers a broad training allowing students to adapt to the diversity of (imaging) challenges they may face in the future.

For further information:
Dedicated page
School of Engineering
Daniel Sage

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is gaining increasing attention as a key technology of the 21st century that helps address many global problems related to health, food security, energy security, and climate change, to name just a few. Therefore, this minor aims at bundling the strengths of various research branches in the field of biotechnology at EPFL in order to offer a broad spectrum of groundbreaking courses.

For further information:
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Section
Dr. Horst Pick
Study plan

Computational Biology

Biology and computation are merging like never before. From genomics to epidemiology, from medicine to neurobiology: computational approaches are revolutionizing the life sciences. This minor provides courses that give EPFL Master’s students the broad skillset they need to successfully navigate this exciting scientific area.

For further information:
School of Computer and Communication Sciences
Prof. Marcel Salathé
Study plan

Physics of Living Systems

Physics of living systems is an emerging field situated at the interface between physics and biology. It seeks to apply the principles of physics to solve complex biological problems at the level of molecules, cells, organisms, and populations. This minor offers a selection of courses introducing numerous aspects of living systems, including mechanobiology, structural biology, biomedical imaging, and data modeling.

For further information:
School of Life Sciences
Prof. Alexandre Persat
Study plan

Management, Technology and Entrepreneurship

This minor allows students to complement the technological knowledge acquired in their main Master’s study program with entrepreneurial skills. It provides them with the necessary tools to understand and solve problems situated at the interface of management, technology and entrepreneurship, and gives them a basic understanding of how companies operate.

For further information:
Management of Technology Section
Prof. Gaétan de Rassenfosse
Study plan

Systems Engineering

This minor offers students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with work processes, tools, and methods for coping with complex engineering projects. Systems engineering constitutes an interdisciplinary field that draws both from technical as well as managerial disciplines such as industrial engineering, operations research, control engineering, organizational studies, project management and many more.

For further information:
Management of Technology Section
Prof. Thomas Weber
Study plan

Digital Humanities, Media and Society

This Minor not only enables students to continue advancing their technical expertise in their specific fields, but also encourages them to delve further into crucial facets of our contemporary world that are interconnected with media and society.

For further information:
College of Humanities Section
Kathleen Collins
Study plan