What's in it for me?

The planned changes to the academic calendar and the simplification of the examination system will affect many people at ETH Zurich in different ways.

Find information on the website about PAKETH for students and prospective students.

Lecturers and assistants play a central role in the implementation of PAKETH. Their teaching and the examination system are affected by the structural changes brought about by PAKETH in many ways.

Redesign of the academic calendar: The academic year will consist of two semesters of practically equal length, with the same examination preparation time and examination period. In the summer, there will be a lecture-free phase, as is the case at other universities. There will be one lecture-free week in each semester.
Linking course units and assessments: Assessments are taken either as part of the course unit or soon after. Enrolment in the course unit is equivalent to registering for the assessment. Annual courses are no longer used.
Optimising teaching and workload planning: Careful workload planning at the course and curriculum levels should ensure that the student workload remains manageable and that students are able to meet the high quality standards required by ETH, even with the new calendar. This also requires an optimisation of the teaching content as well as greater coordination with other lecturers with regard to the content taught and the intended performance assessments (type, timing, deadlines).

Advantages

At the same time, a number of adjustments and changes will also result in a number of advantages for lecturers and assistants:

Opportunity for more meaningful interaction with students as a result of continuous processing of material by students during the semester.
By incorporating the strengths of the previous bonus system (performance elements) into a fully-fledged category of performance assessments (=integrated performance assessments), new, learning-oriented possibilities for designing performance assessments are created.
Examination dates that are known early (at the beginning of the semester) allow lecturers to plan better. A possible change of mode (written/oral) for repetition exams, which is still to be decided upon, reduces the workload for exams.
Simplified processes around the performance assessments, including no more grade conferences, also create more free capacity.
A period from mid-July to mid-September is created, which is mostly free of teaching and examination obligations.

The Unit for Teaching and Learning (UTL) is creating new offers and adapting existing ones to provide lecturers with the earliest possible support in questions of (workload-sensitive) course design or course optimisation, as well as in the design of suitable performance assessments.

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Further information

Innovedum: Teaching Projects PAKETH Edition

Innovedum supports degree programmes with the new format Teaching Projects PAKETH Edition. Applications for projects within PAKETH degree programme adaptations can be submitted until the end of 2026. The first submission deadline is 1 October 2024.

Preparing the implementation together

On 29 August 2024, the Executive Board decided to introduce PAKETH for the 2027/28 academic year. In doing so, it takes note of the results of the consultation process and instructs the Rector to revise the concept, involving the departments and university groups, and to clarify the outstanding points. Furthermore, the Executive Board is allocating financial resources, which, together with funds from the Rector, are intended to support the departments in implementing PAKETH and to strengthen the central bodies.

PAKETH is an extensive project that directly affects most people at ETH Zurich. During the three years leading up to the introduction of PAKETH 2027, preparations will be made for its implementation.

The PAKETH project team proactively approaches all departments in autumn 2024 to discuss the steps for a successful implementation. As a first step, the PAKETH project team informs all PAKETH contact persons in the departments about the next steps in mid-September. During the subsequent initial interviews with the individual departments in November and December 2024, the project team discusses the questions, challenges and opportunities of the degree programmes and presents the first services provided by the Rectorate for the implementation of PAKETH.

At the teaching retreat on 15 January 2025 in the main building of ETH Zurich, the degree programmes will also have the opportunity to exchange ideas with representatives of the university groups and the Rectorate in workshops on important implementation topics. The aim is for each degree programme to draw up a project plan for the coming years in the first half of 2025 at the latest.

In order to keep communication with prospective and current students as consistent as possible, there will be a separate communication concept until the end of 2024. The project team supports the degree pro-grammes in their communication with prospective and current students.

New study regulations and ordinance

The necessary legal bases will also be adapted. The project team is developing templates for the new study regulations for the degree programmes and will also create the transition matrices together with them. The revision of the Performance Assessment Ordinance (VLK) will also be very important. As this is an ordinance on federal government level, it will undergo a full consultation within ETH before it goes to the federal authorities for their own consultation round.

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PAKETH is new for all. Its introduction requires a great deal of effort in the departments as well as in the central bodies. In order for all ETH staff and students to be able to support each other in the best possible way, an open and receptive exchange with each other is required, as well as the will to advance education at ETH Zurich together.The PAKETH project team is happy to receive feedback and answer questions by email, phone call or in a personal meeting.

Further information

Innovedum: Teaching Projects PAKETH Edition

Innovedum supports degree programmes with the new format Teaching Projects PAKETH Edition. Applications for projects within PAKETH degree programme adaptations can be submitted until the end of 2026. The first submission deadline is 1 October 2024.

On 29 August 2024, the Executive Board made the decision to introduce PAKETH for the 2027/28 academic year. This means that the reformed teaching system and the new academic calendar will be implemented in the fall semester of 2027 and all students will be transferred to the new study regulations on this date. There will be no transition phase.

Preparing the implementation together

The introduction of PAKETH requires a review and adjustment of current administrative and operational processes. This process will be coordinated centrally by the PAKETH project team in close cooperation with the central bodies and the Digital Campus project management. Responsibility for the review and necessary adjustments, however, lies with the responsible administrative and operational units. The PAKETH project team will approach all units by the end of 2024 to discuss the steps required for successful implementation and develop an overarching plan. The aim is to support the departments in identifying the processes that will be affected by PAKETH and then to support them in adapting and implementing them.

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