Conferences & Events

SwissTech Convention Center

EPFL inaugurated the SwissTech Convention Center in April 2014. It can seat up to 3,000 people, with 2,200 seats in its main hall, and stands next to the EPFL stop of the m1 metro, at Route Louis-Favre 2 in Ecublens, with access from the A9 motorway.

Lausanne Tourisme describes it as the first fully automated convention centre: the seats of the main hall can be removed in a single movement to turn the auditorium into a ballroom, and sliding doors make the spaces fully modular. On the garden level there are about fifteen smaller rooms for parallel sessions.

Scientastic, the EPFL science festival

Scientastic is EPFL’s free science festival for the public, held in French. The first edition took place on 21 November 2015. Some editions have been held at EPFL’s site in Sion, in Valais; the 2017 edition there drew about 4,100 visitors. The festival returned to the Lausanne campus on 9 and 10 November 2024. It is not held every year in the same place, so watch EPFL’s event pages for the next edition (status as of 3 November 2026).

Public days at the EPFL Pavilions

The EPFL Pavilions, which EPFL describes as a place for dialogue between art, engineering, the humanities and society, hold temporary and long-term exhibitions and occasional open days; on 23 March 2024, for example, a free Discovery Day was open to everyone. Current exhibitions are announced by the Pavilions and EPFL. Practical information is on Science Travel.

Laboratories that open their doors

Outside festival days, some laboratories receive visitors by arrangement. The Swiss Plasma Center generally welcomes groups of ten or more during office hours, to show its facilities and the TCV tokamak. Details are on Science Travel.