Initiative for an innovative university landscape

Working with W.I.R.E. means working with a study partner that can boast a long track record of engaging with global developments in science, business and society, as well as a broad national and international network. In particular it is W.I.R.E.’s interdisciplinary methodological approach that makes it such a good partner for the identification and evaluation of future developments in the Swiss university landscape.

The FUTURE UNIVERSITY vision is primarily about proactive monitoring of long-term education and research developments in Switzerland, as well as highlighting concrete options that will allow universities to make the most of these developments. The aim is to provide Swiss university managers with inspiration for strategic decisions. A further aim, according to Dr Andreas Dudler, Managing Director of SWITCH, is to "start a broad-based conversation about the long-term solutions we need to ensure that Switzerland continues to successfully defend its position as a global leader in research and innovation in the future".

Universities from a bird’s-eye view

In presenting the study results, the W.I.R.E. representatives focused on providing a theoretical illustration of the future of universities. The think tank deliberately chose an integrated approach to provide a macro-level view of the transformation.

As well as digitalisation, which is transforming not just administrative processes, teaching and research but also communication with the outside world, factors such as increased life expectancy, the trend toward cost-cutting and changing working conditions will all help define the university of the future. The coming years will see teaching and research increasingly taking place in a global context. The key framework conditions will be mass-media mechanisms, democratisation that will advance to the point of completely unrestricted access to knowledge, and advanced individualisation.

W.I.R.E. defends human capabilities in the digital age

Universities have to take account of the opportunities and benefits of digital transformation in their strategic deliberations, whether in the administrative field, for research or for teaching – that much is certain. Along with the traditional lecture hall there will be new tools for disseminating knowledge. Universities will need to skilfully combine virtual and analogue teaching methods. They will need to allow for the fact that learning is becoming more individual, more flexible and less centralised – and can be a lifelong endeavour. Personalised curricula will become the standard.

Universities are under pressure to offer programmes that are clearly positioned and reflective of market requirements. This can lead to a thinning out of faculties. This, in turn, jeopardises the kind of interdisciplinary and creative research that often paves the way for innovation. New professional fields call for new skills. Universities need to better reflect this transformation by stepping up cooperation with stakeholders from society and business. Disciplines that generate no direct benefits are facing tough times. The decisive factor here will be demonstrating the added value of these skills and engaging in active dialogue with the political sphere.

And particularly decisive for modern teaching and learning methods, as well as research, is the related technological infrastructure they put in place. Data security and how they handle large volumes of data are key success factors for universities. Technical transformation offers universities and libraries an opportunity to establish a kind of ‘overarching knowledge database’, and to manage it responsibly.

That being said, the changes we are currently seeing in universities are not so much revolutionary as evolutionary. Despite digital transformation, the focus will always be on people. It is important that universities remain independent sites for reflection – for teaching and research, in other words. And it is important that these sites continue to reinforce critical thinking, empathy, creativity and the active shaping of the future – skills that no robot will ever master.

Failure as a recipe for success

Christer Windeløv-Lidzéliu is the principal of the Kaospilot Business & Design School in Denmark. His school very much subscribes to the principle of learning by doing. He is convinced that learning is a highly individual pursuit, and that the first thing you need to learn is what is the most effective way to learn. You have to try things out and, inevitably, some of those things will fail. For Christer Windeløv-Lidzéliu, "fail fast, fail early, fail often" is an important maxim for fostering innovation.

Ultimately, the most important thing for him is that students develop a sense of themselves as people, of their abilities, of the community and of leadership. Success has proven him right, with many of his former students now forging ahead as budding entrepreneurs. In his view, the ideal university is "real-time, reality-affixed and relational".

Learning by degrees – or levels

Olivier Crouzet is Director of Pedagogy at 42.fr, an IT academy that has done away with lectures and lecturers completely. In fact, it comprises little more than a small team of teaching advisers and an intranet for making contacts and organising meetings. Everything else happens through peer learning and peer evaluation. Students set their own pace and collect points – it’s almost like a video game in which you advance level by level. In this way, the students learn to think critically and creatively, to find and evaluate the right information, to solve problems and to collaborate. It is not just the teaching and learning concept that is innovative but also the means of access. At 42.fr, students don’t need to present prior educational qualifications, nor do they pay fees. What counts is talent, and they have a sophisticated selection process for sniffing it out.

This innovative school model isn’t an aim in itself; rather, it arose from the pressing need for IT specialists in France. Since it was founded in 2013, many students have received offers for internships and jobs before they even completed training. The feedback from employers has been consistently positive.

Crouzet advocates close interaction between universities and the labour market. Students must build on their abilities, develop individualised profiles and think critically. What they need, as he puts it, is an "agile state of mind to face the unknown".

More information: Speaker biographies (german)