Study in Europe, Stay in Zurich

Data Science for Lawyers, Massive Data Processing, or AI in Society: from the fall semester, informatics students at the University of Zurich (UZH) will be able to book modules on these topics. The remarkable thing about this is that these modules aren’t run by UZH, but by its partner universities in the Una Europa network. They are part of Una Europa’s module exchange program, which provides students with easy access to an expanded range of courses in certain degree programs.

In the first phase, UZH students can choose from courses offered for instance by the University of Bologna, Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Helsinki. The courses currently available are all in the field of informatics, with offerings in other disciplines to follow.

“The module exchange allows students to take courses that aren’t offered at UZH in this form,” says Annika Silberstein, who coordinates the module exchange at the Office of the Vice President Education and Student Affairs. The exchange program allows students to gain experience outside of UZH without having to leave Zurich.

For the participating universities, the module exchange is a pragmatic way for their students to benefit from the academic strengths and specializations within the entire network. “The module exchange isn’t just about international experience,” says Silberstein. “We also see this format as an expansion of the range of courses available to students.”

An essential aspect of the module exchange is that students don’t have to worry about credits. Coursework they complete at a partner university will be credited to their studies at UZH. “The module exchange guarantees that the credits will be transferred to their degree program at UZH,” says Silberstein, referring to agreements between the universities at the degree program level. “We’ve lifted the credit transfer process from the individual to the institutional level.”

Students are enrolled in their course of study at UZH as usual and complete the modules online at the host university. This means that only online modules are eligible for the exchange. In the current pilot phase, the selection is focused on courses in the field of artificial intelligence and data science.

“The modules were selected by the Una Europa thematic group on AI and data science in consultation with teaching staff from the various universities,” says Silberstein. This is another feature of the exchange program, in which the instructors are involved in developing the program as part of the Una Europa Self-Steering Committees. According to Silberstein, efforts are currently underway to offer exchange modules in the field of cultural heritage studies, for example.

If instructors decide to make their course available for module exchange, the universities agree on the credit transfer arrangements among themselves. “Teaching staff have nothing to do with this – there’s no extra work for them.” However, additional work is required for supervising students from the partner universities. Since instructors cannot supervise an unlimited number of students, access to the modules is restricted. “This solution also emerged from discussions among teaching staff,” says Silberstein.

The module exchange not only broadens the horizons of students, but also those of members of the teaching staff, who can now open up their courses to students across Europe. According to Una Europa, this amounts to over 500,000 students across all participating universities. “Perhaps there are also potential PhD candidates among them,” says Silberstein. “The module exchange allows them to easily take a course with a professor at UZH.”

The module exchange is just one of the many ways in which students can benefit from Una Europa. For instance, UZH participates in two Bachelor’s degree programs, European Studies and Sustainability, offered jointly by several Una Europa universities. “Both are interdisciplinary in nature,” she emphasizes.

Unlike module exchanges, joint Bachelor’s programs require participants to study on site at the participating universities. “Depending on the program, there are several options for completing parts of the degree at different universities,” Silberstein explains. These programs typically begin with a foundation course that covers a broad range of subjects at one of the partner universities.

From the second or third semester onwards, students can then choose a specialization or subject area at another university and seamlessly continue their studies there. Students can study at up to three universities in succession, with the diploma issued jointly by all participating universities. These joint study programs offered by Una Europa differ from most other joint and double degree programs in that they were developed jointly by the participating universities.

Additionally, some Una Europa universities offer online courses in which students can earn micro-credentials worth a few ECTS credits. Unlike module exchanges, however, credit transfer is not regulated at the university-wide level. “These programs also provide an opportunity to develop specialized skills for future careers beyond the curriculum,” explains Silberstein.

She emphasizes that the programs are still in their infancy. Nevertheless, she believes that the long-term perspective is important: “I hope that in the future, it will be completely normal for UZH students to be able to access a wide range of courses and offers throughout Europe.”