Zurich University of the Arts

Zurich University of the Arts is one of the leading art universities in Europe. The study and research programme covers the areas of art education, design, film, fine arts, music, dance, theatre and transdisciplinary studies. It is a state university with its own legal personality and is institutionally accredited.

Short portrait

With around 2,100 Bachelor and Master students and 650 teaching staff, Zurich University of the Arts is one of the major universities of the arts in Europe. The study and research programme covers the areas of design, film, fine arts, music, dance, theatre, transdisciplinary studies, and the teaching of arts and design. The university also has many venues for exhibitions and performances, where the results of the education provided can be shown in public.

It is a state university with its own legal personality and is institutionally accredited.

Bachelor’s and Master’s studies

A degree programme resulting in a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree lasts three years, and can be taken in the following subject areas at ZHdK: Art Education, Contemporary Dance, Design, Film, Media and Art, Music, Music and Movement, Theatre.

Master’s degree programmes ending in a Master of Arts (MA) degree generally require three to four semesters of full-time study. The following Master of Arts degrees are offered at ZHdK: Art Education, Composition and Theory, Dance, Design, Film, Fine Arts, Music Performance, Specialized Music Performance, Music Pedagogy, Theatre, Transdisciplinary Studies.

There is also a wide range of continuing education available, resulting in the following qualifications: Master of Advanced Studies (MAS), Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) and Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS).

Mission statement

Basic principles

• Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) is a regionally anchored, internationally oriented provider of higher education and research. Our academic programmes, leadership, and administration are fully committed to the highest standards and to the precept of sustainability.
• We endeavour to play a decisive role in shaping the practical and theoretical discourses within the arts, design, and education. We are thus actively involved in the renewal of the disciplines taught and researched at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).
• We place our work in the context of cultural, social, and economic responsibility. What we do is characterized by openness, critically minded curiosity, respect, and critical self-reflection.
• We provide an outstanding experimental field for teaching and research. On a national level, we are committed to ensuring that arts universities are entitled to award doctoral degrees in their own right.
• We interrelate the disciplines represented at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), and thereby create added value for teaching and research. We are committed to systematically extending cross-disciplinary cooperation with other universities and higher education institutions.
• Our self-conception rests on our status as an autonomous arts university.
• We receive public funding, in addition to which we raise private, third-party funding, in order to successfully fulfil our mission and performance contract.

What we offer

• We have dedicated core teaching and research areas. Networked both within and beyond Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), these core areas have a strong outreach. We are committed to the international state of the art and to its further advancement.
• We offer graduate study leading to Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as a wide range of continuing education and professional development programmes. Our degree programmes qualify students for professional careers in the arts and culture, in thecreative industries, and in other areas of business and society.
• We present the results of our teaching and research to a wider public in manifold ways, including public events, performances, concerts, exhibitions, and publications. In doing so, we showcase the work of our staff and students, and thus embrace the challenge of public debate.
• We host a wide range of performances, exhibitions, and other kinds of public presentation. Together with our affiliated Museum of Design and its collections, these different forms and formats play a significant role in the cultural life of the City and Canton of Zurich.

Networking

• We maintain active alliances with our national and international strategic partners.
• We maintain a continuous dialogue with our suppliers and with the exponents of the professional fields associated with the disciplines taught at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Faculty and staff

• Our teaching faculty has excellent professional and interpersonal skills, and actively brings to bear its international experience in teaching and research. Teaching faculty is committed to nurturing and promoting the individual student’s development, and conscious of its social responsibility.
• Pursuant to our commitment to nurturing talent, we systematically promote our non-professorial, midtier teaching staff and support it in obtaining further qualifications.
• Our staff are qualified professionals who know the culture and workings of an internationally oriented arts university. They are fully dedicated to supporting teaching and research.
• We are an attractive employer with regard to our fields of activity, networking, development opportunities, and financial framework.

Students

• Our students are talented and committed to performance. We enable our students to build specialist skills in their chosen disciplines and to extend these through actively engaging with other disciplines.
• Our students assume responsibility for co-determining teaching and learning.
• Our student body is international.

Leadership and organization

• Our leadership and organization support us in realizing our mission.
• The leadership skills necessary for realizing our mission exist on all levels of our organization.
• We are an equal opportunities employer. Our organizational culture wholly observes the imperatives of individual dignity and integrity through endorsing the principles of open communication, social responsibility, and participatory leadership. Adherence to these core principles ensures that all members of Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) are able to contribute to shaping its future development.

Infrastructure

• Our room facilities and technical infrastructure, which include purpose-built workshops, theatre stages, and exhibition spaces, support the realization of our mission.