Switzerland's EPFL offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Basic Sciences, Engineering and Architecture. Students are given opportunities to participate in exchange programs with partner institutions. EPFL has 21 different research institutes, including the Swiss Space Center, CEN Energy Center and Center for Research in Plasma Physics.

Photo: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland ; Photo courtesy www.epfl.ch

ETH Zurich is located in Switzerland's financial capital, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Albert Einstein received his teaching diploma here. It includes, on its list of famous alumni, 21 Nobel Prize winners and continues to be ranked as one of the world's top technical and scientific schools.

Photo: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich campus; Photo courtesy www.ethz.ch.en.html

The University of Geneva is Switzerland's second largest university. Geneva is the hub of Europe's UN activity, and also serves as headquarters for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan studied here.

Photo: Uni Mail, University of Geneva; Photo courtesy www.unige.ch

NUS is perhaps most famous for the postgraduate Public Policy program offered by Lee Kuan Yew school. The university has satellite campuses in Shanghai, Stockholm and New York. More recently, the university has entered into partnerships with US institutions – established Yale-NUS College, a residential undergraduate campus in Singapore, and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.

Photo: National University of Singapore; Photo courtesy www.nus.edu.sg

Royal Holloway's international (non-EU) student population makes up 20% of its total community. The campus houses the Founder's Building, considered one of the most beautiful university structures in the world. Students who graduate from Royal Holloway obtain a degree from the University of London. The college is a forty-minute train ride from the centre of the city.

Photo: Royal Holloway, University of London; Photo courtesy www.rhul.ac.uk