Why continuing education makes ETH’s ideas faster
On 1 August, Paolo Ermanni handed over the office of Vice Rector for Continuing Education to Stefano Brusoni. In this interview, the two of them discuss how to measure success in continuing education and how research can benefit from it.
Paolo Ermanni, you were appointed the first Vice Rector for Continuing Education in 2015. Why is continuing education important?
Continuing education makes knowledge useful very quickly, building another bridge to society – something that I found very appealing. What’s more, for ETH, continuing education plays a unique role in nurturing relationships with industry, the authorities and other universities. I found out first-hand how important it is to industry for ETH to offer its expertise in the form of continuing education.
Why is ETH’s continuing education in such demand?
Ermanni: Because it is an avenue via which we can offer direct access to newly generated knowledge and the latest technological advances at ETH. And because these days, technologies progress so fast that working engineers need – and want – to be constantly updated on the latest developments in their field.
Brusoni: ETH has a mandate to support Swiss society with skilled personnel and know-how. We execute this mandate by providing first-rate Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes. But the point is: there’s a delay until the knowledge we pass on to Bachelor’s and Master’s students has an effect on the economy and society. With continuing education, in contrast, we reach people who are already integrated into the labour market and are very often decision-makers. Continuing education accelerates the spread of new approaches and solutions in practice. Speed is key, especially when it comes to challenges like climate change.
Stefano Brusoni, you’re taking over from Paolo Ermanni as Vice Rector for Continuing Education. What does continuing education mean to you?
Brusoni: For me, continuing education is and always has been a logical consequence of my research. I primarily research innovation, what blocks it, and how to facilitate it. We’ve developed methods that help people confront change more positively. We’ve always worked closely with industry on this.
Paolo Ermanni
Paolo Ermanni grew up in Bissone (TI) and studied mechanical engineering at ETH Zurich. Since 1998, he has been Professor for Composite Materials and Adaptive Structures (D-MAVT) at ETH Zurich (full professor since 2003). His research interests include increasing the efficiency and functionality of technical structures by using fibre-reinforced plastics. Ermanni was elected to the position of Vice Rector for Continuing Education in 2015. He also led the Congressi Stefano Franscini.
Stefano Brusoni
Stefano Brusoni grew up in Milan and studied economics at the University of Sussex, where he later also obtained his doctorate. In 2003, he became an assistant professor at Bocconi University in Milan. Since 2011, he has been Professor of Technology and Innovation Management (D-MTEC) at ETH Zurich. His main research interest is understanding the capacity of organisations and individuals to put innovations into practice. He has been Vice Rector for Continuing Education since 1 August.
Can you give an example?
Brusoni: A while ago, we used brain scans to study how engineers react to change. We found that although there were plenty of ideas for change, many were reluctant to push for it. So we looked for ways to motivate these people to push for change across departmental boundaries. That was the beginning of my engagement with the design thinking method, which now forms the core of my courses. Through continuing education, we were also able to investigate whether design thinking is suitable for promoting innovation.
Paolo Ermanni, when you look back, are we on target with continuing education? What is there still left to do?
Ermanni: We’ve achieved a number of things. At the beginning of my tenure, we analysed all programmes in detail, pushed a few of them and reworked others in close collaboration with the programme officers. With the founding of the School for Continuing Education, we increased the visibility of ETH’s continuing education and adapted its organisational structure to the growing importance of continuing education. The number of programmes more than doubled during my tenure. However, the number of programmes is only one indicator of success. We need a better understanding of what makes these programmes successful.
And what, in your opinion, is the key to their success?
Continuing education is successful if it generates added value for all the participants – by this I mean the students, the companies and ETH. Admittedly, that’s very difficult to measure. What is measurable is, for example, the quality of the training. We have the programmes evaluated by the students in a similar way to Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Another metric is attractiveness: we know how many people apply per place, how many are admitted and how many actually complete the course. And, of course, finances also play a role: how much does a programme cost and how much does it bring in?
What role do finances play in the evaluation?
So far, ETH hasn’t aimed to earn money from continuing education. Still, a programme is expected to start paying for itself after the start-up phase. Unfortunately, it’s currently not really possible to truly understand what the balance sheet of an individual programme looks like because costs can’t be assigned precisely to the individual programmes. There’s room for improvement!
Niko Beerenwinkel, new Director of the Congressi Stefano Franscini
Niko Beerenwinkel, Professor of Computational Biology at ETH Zurich, became the new Director of the Congressi Stefano Franscini (CSF) on 1 July 2022. He is taking over this role from Paolo Ermanni. The CSF is the conference platform of ETH Zurich at Monte Verità, offering subsidised meeting events to researchers at Swiss research institutions.
You played a key role in the founding of the School for Continuing Education (SCE). Why was a school needed?
Ermanni: Founding the school was about making the programmes visible, creating synergies between programmes and nurturing contacts with our stakeholders. But it’s important to emphasise that continuing education programmes are created and delivered thanks to the voluntary efforts and motivation of the individual professors. The disadvantage of this bottom-up approach is that it often results in very specialised offerings, which may be top-notch but only reach a niche audience. The idea behind the school is to bring these programmes into contact with each other, exploit synergies, bundle them and make them more visible.
Brusoni: These networks really came to fruition during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme providers frequently communicated with each other and shared their experiences. The school encourages collaboration between the programmes without exerting any pressure. We need the bottom-up structure, the professors and their groups if we are to be able to come up with new ideas while remaining in contact with industry. But we also saw during the pandemic just how important the networks are. Paolo and his team made sure the programme teams are aware of each other and aren’t thinking along the same lines without knowing it.
Paolo Ermanni, what are your hopes for the future of continuing education?
Ermanni: My wish would be for continuing education to be seen as one of ETH’s core missions. For young professors to know that their commitment to continuing education will be rewarded and to know that it’s valuable for their careers. We’ll have to stand up for that when the number of students at ETH rises again and resources become scarcer. My other wish is about alumni: continuing education can build and cultivate networks with them. In turn, we can also benefit enormously from our alumni because they’re an interface with industry.
Brusoni: Absolutely. We want and will do that more systematically in the future.
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