History of the Department

In 1971, a chair of Political Science with a special emphasis on international relations was established at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Zurich. At that time, the field was considered an auxiliary science of history. Nine years later, a second professorship was added, focusing on domestic politics and comparative political science. With the contribution of philosophers to political theory, the prerequisites for a course program were established. This program could cover broad parts of a minor program, although not comprehensively.

A quarter of a century later, a new era began for our field at the University of Zurich. In 1996, the Government Council of the Cantone of Zurich renamed the previous Research Center for Political Science to the Department of Political Science (IPZ) and elevated the discipline to a major subject. In the winter semester of 1996/97, the first program for major students started. Since the winter semester of 2002/03, the department has been continuously expanded and now (2023) comprises sixteen professorships and research areas.

The IPZ closely collaborates with the Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS) in both teaching and research. The CIS is a competence center of the University and the ETH Zurich, to which the IPZ, the ETH professorships for International Relations and Conflict Research, as well as the Center for Security Studies of the ETH Zurich, belong.

The IPZ currently (2023) has around 130 employees working in teaching and research at the 16 professorships and research areas and supervises a total of around 1’500 students (major and minor programs).