Learning Goals / Career Perspectives

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.

The two CAS will equip programme 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); to assess policy options in terms of their expected effects, in order to identify appropriate policy designs; and to evaluate the implications of implemented policies so as to be able to adapt them where needed (CAS TPP: Impact Analysis).

The learning objectives are designed 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.
• CAS TPP: Impact Analysis
  • 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).

The programme combines general skills in policy analysis with opportunities to apply these skills to the policy issues that interest programme participants or to problems that are relevant in their professional settings (e.g., mobility, energy, public health, the digital space, urban planning, environment / sustainability, security). 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 of technology and public policy, also depending on the programme participants' backgrounds and interests.

The graded proofs of performance will consist of one 'mini essay' exam for each of the three modules in each CAS TPP degree. Completion of the CAS TPP degrees does not require handing in a thesis.

Career Perspectives

Graduates of the TPP programme will belong to a new generation of policy analysts and decision-​makers who are literate in science and technology as well as public policy analysis. With the acquired knowledge and skills, they will be well prepared to shape public policies addressing today’s grand societal challenges 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.

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.