CH · Master's
University of Lausanne
MSc in Behaviour, Evolution and Conservation
University of Lausanne
Course Overview
The MSc in Behaviour, Evolution and Conservation (BEC) is a two-year, 120-ECTS degree taught exclusively in English by the Department of Ecology and Evolution in UNIL's Faculty of Biology and Medicine, on the lakeside Dorigny campus outside Lausanne. It is one of the strongest evolutionary biology groups in Europe and sits alongside the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, whose Lausanne node is on the same campus — which is why the degree is unusually strong on the computational side of ecology rather than being purely field-based.
The first semester is compulsory coursework that levels the cohort up in scientific writing, molecular genetics, phylogenetics, evolution and population biology. From the second semester you take 40 ECTS of specialised options and commit to one of three specialisations: Behaviour, Economics and Evolution; Computational Ecology and Evolution; or Geosciences, Ecology and Environment. The second year is dominated by a substantial research project — field, lab or computational — supervised inside a research group, and BEC students routinely produce work that ends up in the peer-reviewed literature.
For Sri Lankan applicants this is a rare and very well-matched degree. Sri Lanka is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots — the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot — with extraordinary endemism in amphibians, freshwater fish, reptiles and flowering plants, and with real, unresolved conservation problems: human–elephant conflict, protected-area management, forest fragmentation, marine and coastal degradation, and invasive species. What the sector has historically lacked is people trained to the level of quantitative population genetics, phylogenomics and formal conservation modelling. A BSc in Zoology, Botany, Environmental Science, Forestry or Agriculture from a Sri Lankan university plus this MSc is a genuinely differentiated profile. Swiss public tuition is also almost absurdly low by international standards — around CHF 580 per semester — so the real cost of studying in Switzerland is living expenses, not fees.
Entry Requirements
Academic
- check_circle A Bachelor's degree in biology or a closely related life or environmental science, of at least three years and 180 ECTS, with a strong record.
- check_circle The admissions committee assesses the transcript for genetics, evolution, ecology, statistics and laboratory or field methods; applicants with gaps may be admitted with prerequisite modules attached.
- check_circle Sri Lankan applicants with a BSc (Special) in Zoology, Botany, Molecular Biology, Environmental Science or Forestry from Colombo, Peradeniya, Kelaniya, Sri Jayewardenepura, Ruhuna, Jaffna or Sabaragamuwa, or a BSc Agriculture from Peradeniya or Ruhuna, are the standard profile.
- check_circle A CV, motivation letter and academic references. The motivation letter should name the specialisation and, where possible, the research groups whose work you want to join — this degree is supervised research, and fit matters.
- check_circle Field or research experience counts for a lot: work with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Forest Department, IUCN Sri Lanka, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, Ruhuna's marine labs or an established field project strengthens a file considerably.
- check_circle Non-EU applicants apply through UNIL's international admissions service by 30 April for the September start; a Swiss student visa (type D) is then applied for through the Swiss embassy accredited to Sri Lanka, and that process is slow — start immediately on admission.
- check_circle Proof of sufficient funds for living costs is required for both the university registration and the visa.
English Proficiency
- check_circle The programme is taught entirely in English and recommends CEFR C1.
- check_circle IELTS Academic: 7.0 Overall is the safe level; 6.5 is often accepted where the rest of the file is strong.
- check_circle TOEFL iBT: 100 Overall.
- check_circle Cambridge English: C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency.
- check_circle The test is generally waived where your Bachelor's degree was taught and examined entirely in English — Sri Lankan applicants from the English-medium science faculties submit a Medium of Instruction letter from the registrar. Confirm in writing with UNIL admissions before omitting a test result.
- check_circle French is not required for the degree. Lausanne is a French-speaking city, however, and free or low-cost French courses through UNIL's École de français langue étrangère make ordinary life, fieldwork logistics and any part-time work far easier.
Estimated Cost of Study
| Expense Category | Amount (CHF) | Approx. LKR |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition Fee (per year — CHF 580 per semester) | CHF 1,160 | Rs. 429,200 |
| Living Expenses in Lausanne (per year) | CHF 24,000 | Rs. 8,880,000 |
| Mandatory Swiss Health Insurance (per year) | CHF 1,200 | Rs. 444,000 |
| Visa & Residence Permit | CHF 400 | Rs. 148,000 |
| Books, Field Equipment, Airfare & Settling In | CHF 1,500 | Rs. 555,000 |
| Total Year 1 Investment | CHF 28,260 | Rs. 10,456,200 |
*LKR conversion based on current bank rates. Subject to change.
Career Outcomes & PR
Switzerland allows non-EU graduates of Swiss universities a six-month post-study residence permit to look for qualified work, and cantonal authorities give priority to graduates whose employment is of scientific or economic interest — research and biotech roles usually qualify. The most common destination from BEC is a doctoral position: UNIL and EPFL are on adjacent campuses, ETH Zürich, Bern, Zürich, Basel and the Swiss Federal Institutes WSL and Eawag all recruit from this cohort, and Swiss PhD positions are salaried employment, not self-funded study. Beyond academia, graduates go into conservation NGOs (IUCN's headquarters are at Gland, 30 minutes from Lausanne, and WWF International is at Gland too), federal and cantonal environmental agencies, applied ecology consultancies, natural history museums, and the bioinformatics and computational biology teams in the Swiss life-sciences industry. For Sri Lankan returnees the fit is direct: the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Forest Department, the Central Environmental Authority, the Marine Environment Protection Authority, NARA, IUCN Sri Lanka, the Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, university zoology and botany departments, and the environmental-impact-assessment consultancies working on infrastructure and plantation projects.
Related Programs
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Our counsellors have helped hundreds of Sri Lankan students secure placements in CH. We handle everything from applications to visa processing — and it starts with a free, in-person visit to one of our three offices.
ඔබට සුදුසු විශ්වවිද්යාලයක් තේරීම, අයදුම්පත් යොමු කිරීම, SOP සකස් කිරීම සහ වීසා ලබා ගැනීම ඇතුළු සෑම පියවරකදීම, ඔබ වෙනුවෙන් සියලුම වගකීම් විශ්වාසවන්තව අප භාර ගනිමු.
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