Institute of geography

The Institute of Geography at the University of Neuchâtel (IGG) was founded in 1974. Providing an open environment for students through its friendly and accessible teaching staff, it also makes significant national and international contributions to research and education.

As well as a Bachelor’s degree, the IGG also offers a Masters course in “Spaces of Globalization”. The institute also participates in the PhD programme “Dynamics of Research in Geography”, funded by the Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale (CUSO). The IGG specializes in human geography, but includes physical geography content to Bachelor level.

The main fields of research and education at the Institute are:

- urban geography, in particular urban globalization and new forms of urbanization;

- geography of mobilities, in particular migration flows and policies, and the relationship between migration and the environment;

- political geography, in particular the imbrications of space, power and regulation in urban space and in the context of mobility.

The IGG is a member of Maison d’analyse des processus sociaux (The Association
for the Analysis of Social Processes, MAPS), an interdisciplinary centre for the human and social sciences which specializes in research on the circulation of people, knowledge and wealth. MAPS also coordinates the faculty’s Human and Social Sciences Masters programme.

The IGG maintains close relations with a number of universities in Switzerland and abroad, and is linked in particular with the Geography departments in Franche-Comté, Berlin, Madrid, Palermo, Abidjan, Niamey and Ouagadougou. If students wish, they may undertake part of their studies at one of these universities.