EPFL awards 1179 Master's degrees

© 2021 EPFL - At this year's graduation ceremony, EPFL handed out Master's degrees along with distinctions for various individuals - from the top first-year student to two Doctor Honoris Causa laureates - in front of a live audience once again. Was it the Caribbean warmth of Cuban-Swiss singer Yilian Cañizares? EPFL President Martin Vetterli's rousing speech? The enthusiastic congratulations from Swiss President Guy Parmelin? The heartfelt bursts of applause? In the end, it was surely a combination of all of these things that made EPFL's graduation ceremony a unique and unforgettable event. It took place at the SwissTech Convention Center on Saturday, 2 October, in front of a live audience. A total of 1179 Master's degrees were handed out, along with awards for the School's top students and best teachers (see below) and two Doctor Honoris Causa degrees. In his remarks, President Vetterli made sure that, in addition to their technical education, the new graduates would be leaving EPFL with a number of social and societal takeaways, too. "Your experience here, while uniquely diverse, has a solid Swiss foundation," he said. Bits of advice included: "Don't forget how complex human nature is," and "Keep cultivating the network of contacts that helped you here in your studies, no matter where your careers take you." And he called on the recent graduates to "Remain humble, because scientific discovery is a venture that's always moving forward, never entirely finished.