Address: Oberseestrasse 10, 8640 Rapperswil-Jona, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Engineering, Computer Science, Architecture
OST is the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland, formed by the merger of FHS St.Gallen, HSR Rapperswil, and NTB Buchs. It offers a wide range of programs across technology, IT, architecture, business, and social work. Technical faculties are key.
Domains taught:
Agriculture, AI and Machine Learning, Automation, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Vision, Data Analytics, Ecology and Sustainability, Electrical and Electronics, Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Food Science, Geotechnics, Industrial Design, Manufacturing, Materials, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Metrology, Nanotechnologies, Optics, Physics, Process Control, Project Management, Quality, Robotics, Signal Processing, Statistics, Structural Engineering, Telecommunications, Thermodynamics
Diplomas*:
Bachelor, Diploma, Master
Status:
Public
Partnerships:
Strong collaborations with industry and businesses in Eastern Switzerland. Active in applied research and development, with numerous SME partnerships. International exchange programs.
Research:
Applied research in areas like renewable energies, photonics, mechatronics, computer science (AI, IoT, cybersecurity), materials science, civil engineering, and industrial production.
Famous Alumnis:
N/A
International recognition**:
Number of staff***:
1000
Current students***:
6000
Foreign students***:
10%
Cumulative former students***:
25000
Pros
Large university of applied sciences with diverse technical programs, strong regional industry links, and modern infrastructure across its campuses.
Cons
Multiple campuses from the merged institutions.
Best For
Students in Eastern Switzerland seeking practice-oriented bachelor’s or master’s degrees in various engineering fields, IT, or architecture.
In terms of fields, Berner Fachhochschule is the nearest neighbour, with metrology, agriculture and food science again at the core; it teaches at the same levels, namely bachelor's, master's and diploma, and covers ergonomics and software engineering as well.
On content, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz and this school are close, as both teach metrology, quality and geotechnics; it is larger, enrolling about 13,000 students against roughly 6,000 here, and is also a public institution.
Hochschule Luzern overlaps with this school on metrology, quality and geotechnics, so the two are easy to compare, and it is also a public institution, and runs the same bachelor's, master's and diploma programmes.
Also strong in metrology, quality and geotechnics, Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana makes a sensible second look at home; it teaches at the same levels, namely bachelor's, master's and diploma, and is slightly smaller, at about 5,000 students against roughly 6,000 here.
Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften follows much the same lines as this school, with metrology, agriculture and food science as common ground, and it runs the same bachelor's, master's and diploma programmes, and covers ergonomics and bioinformatics as well.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
A foreign alternative with a similar emphasis on metrology, agriculture and food science is Fachhochschule Kiel in Germany, and it covers sound engineering and ergonomics and UX as well, and is slightly larger, at about 8,000 students against roughly 6,000 here.
Fachhochschule Erfurt, based in Germany, is built around food science, geotechnics and optics much like this institution, and it is slightly smaller, at about 4,500 students against roughly 6,000 here, and is also a public institution.
The closest overseas parallel on quality, geotechnics and optics is Lublin University of Technology, located in Poland; it is also a public institution and also offers doctoral programmes.
In the Netherlands, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven teaches much the same core subjects, nanotechnologies, optics and fluid dynamics, and it is larger, enrolling about 14,000 students against roughly 6,000 here, and is also a public institution.
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Japan is the nearest foreign match on agriculture, food science and nanotechnologies; it has almost the same size, at about 6,000 students, and is also a public institution.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
Architecture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Civil Engineering, Cybersecurity, Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), Engineering, Innovation, Renewable Energy
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
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