TPP Programme
In a Nutshell
The TPP continuing education programme targets professionals from both the private and public sector who want to develop the public policy analysis skills needed to address societal challenges in their current or future careers.
Participant Profile: Targeting professionals working at the intersection of science, technology and policy and those wanting to move into this field (from both the private and the public sector).
Admission requirements: Completed Master’s degree (MSc degree or higher), preferably in natural sciences or engineering (including mathematics, architecture, and medical/life sciences). Professionals with a university degree in another area should have substantial professional experience in a setting that strongly relates to science and technology issues.
TPP Programme: This is a continuing education programme consisting of two Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) degrees, which can be upgraded to a MAS in Technology and Public Policy.
The two CAS degrees will equip program participants with essential skills in public policy analysis by focusing on how to systematically analyse, design and manage policy-making processes (CAS TPP: Policy Process); and on how to assess policy options in terms of their expected effects, in order to identify appropriate policy designs, as well as to evaluate the implications of existing policy interventions (CAS TPP: Impact Analysis).
Each of the two CAS degrees can be taken separately and via part-time study within one semester, meaning that it is not a prerequisite to take one before the other. The teaching and examination language is English.
Why is the TPP Programme relevant and who should participate?
To contribute effectively to policy-making, science and engineering skills are important, but so are strong skills in Policy Analysis. Policy Analysis, as a distinct academic field, has advanced a lot over the past decades in terms of concepts and methods, and their application to real-world societal challenges. Moreover, the contemporary professional world is characterized by modular career paths and the need for strong problem-solving skills, which requires life-long learning. The TPP continuing education programme thus targets professionals from both the private and public sector who want to develop the policy analysis skills needed to address societal challenges in their current or future careers.
The skills acquired through the TPP programme will complement participants’ science or engineering skills, supporting the creation of a new generation of policy analysts and decision-makers who are literate in both science and technology as well as policy analysis. Such professionals are very much needed, as humankind faces great challenges in designing and implementing effective public policies in areas such as, for example, climate change, sustainable use of natural resources, urban development, sustainable mobility, the energy transition, ageing societies, public health, and the digital transformation. In this sense, the TPP programme is transsectoral meaning that it does not focus on one policy field in specific, but rather touches upon several policy fields at the interface between technology and public policy, also depending on the programme participants' backgrounds and interests.
Employees both from the private as well as the public sector in this area work at government departments or regulators focusing on environmental, sustainability and climate issues, energy, mobility/transport, urban planning, telecommunications, digital, or pharmaceuticals regulation, R&D funding, or export controls on dual-use goods; regulatory, public affairs, and strategy development units in technology, life science or consulting firms; international organizations, or sections within them focused on technology, innovation, and regulation; and civil society organizations focusing on issues where science and technology are essential.
For more information, please check the participant profile and the admission requirements.
What is Public Policy (Analysis)?
Public policy refers to measures adopted by government or other collective actors (e.g., international or supranational organisations, business associations, civil society) to address societal challenges. The TPP programme focuses on societal challenges that emerge at the interface between technology and society, where technology can be both a cause of and/or solution to societal challenges. Examples include the energy transition, climate change, mobility, digitalisation, and urbanisation.
Public policy analysis refers to the skill set required to design and implement effective and efficient public policies that contribute to solving societal challenges. Public policy analysis covers the entire functional chain from politics (the input into the policy process) and policy (the output of the policy process, such as laws and regulations), to the effects of such policies on technology and society (outcomes). While this programme focuses on public policy, policy analysis can also be applied to private (e.g., corporate) policy.
How is the TPP Progamme structured and what do participants learn?
The continuing education programme in 'Technology and Public Policy (TPP)' is structured modularly so as to best suit the backgrounds, interests, aims and needs of the participants. The programme consists of two Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) degrees in Technology and Public Policy (TPP) (15 ECTS each). The credits reflect the total workload, including preparation and follow-up (for one hour of in-person meeting, two hours of preparation and follow-up are envisaged). 15 ECTS equal around 450 hours of workload in total.
Each of the two CAS TPP degrees can be taken independently and via part-time study within one semester, meaning that it is not a prerequisite to take one CAS degree before the other.
The two CAS degrees will equip programme participants with essential skills in public policy analysis. The learning goals are to equip participants with skills that are essential for:
CAS TPP: Policy Process
- analysing how public institutions function and how policy choices are made;
- managing policy-making processes and communicating effectively with policy-makers, stakeholders, and the public.
- designing policy interventions based on systematic analyses of their expected economic, social, and political consequences (ex ante policy analysis);
- evaluating how implemented policy interventions perform in terms of their actual effectiveness, efficiency, and equity (ex post policy analysis).
Upgrading the CAS TPP degrees to a MAS in Technology and Public Policy
What kinds of questions can be addressed with Policy Analysis skills?
- Is an increasing share of autonomous vehicles likely to lead to more, or to less traffic, and what kinds of policies could be used to effectively mitigate this potential risk?
- How to regulate the digital space in order to achieve an appropriate balance between demands from businesses in the Big Data sector and customers’ and citizens’ privacy rights?
- What kinds of policy interventions/policy instruments for increasing the adoption of electric cars would be both effective and politically feasible?
- How to design efficient and effective policies for accelerating the transition to new renewables while avoiding technology lock-in?
- How to design a carbon tax that is effective in terms of reducing emissions, and that is also politically feasible?
- How to design public lighting systems in urban slums in ways that increase the security and economic productivity of residents?
- How could agricultural policies and pesticide regulations be revised in order to mitigate problems of groundwater pollution?
- Which policy interventions could ensure that artificial intelligence is used in an effective but also socially fair manner?
- What policies are more effective in ascertaining an adequate supply of transplantation organs in a public health system?
- How to design international labeling and certification systems in ways that are effective in achieving more sustainable and socially responsible production of goods produced in poorer and consumed in richer countries? How to design international trade agreements to achieve such goals?
- And, of course, many other questions at the intersection of technology and public policy.
Get in touch with us
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Write us an email, ring us up, schedule a video call, or stop by our Institute for a coffee. The TPP Programme Manager will be happy to help you.