FAQ: General

The DAS as an academic grade stands for „Diploma of Advanced Studies“. The Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) is a postgraduate grade. In Switzerland, a DAS reflects 30 ECTS credits, equaling minimum of 900 hours of student’s workload.

The DAS Work+Health is an interdisciplinary postgraduate program with specialization in either Occupational Medicine or Occupational Hygiene. In two years’ time, you learn and exercise together with your colleagues of your and the other specialization to become an acknowledged work and health specialist. The DAS Work+Health comprises of total ten common modules, 5 specialization modules and a concluding interdisciplinary group project. Each module starts with a pre-assignment, followed by the campus phase and a concluding exam.

Successfully participating in the DAS Work+Health makes you become an acknowledged work and health specialist in your field. For Occupational Hygienists and Occupational Physicians, the DAS Work+Health is the mandatory basis to get acknowledged as an ASA (ASA=Arbeitsärztinnen/Arbeitsärzte und andere Spezialistinnen/Spezialisten der Arbeitssicherheit) specialist in Switzerland. For Occupational Hygienists, the DAS Work+Health is also the basis for the additional, International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) accreditation. For Occupational Physicians, the DAS Work+Health is a mandatory part to become a specialized physician accredited by the Swiss Association of Occupational Medicine (SGARM/SSMT). For Occupational Health Manager, it is the only interdisciplinary and most comprehensive postgraduate program in Switzerland, giving you all your options for your future career.

A module introduces you to and trains you in a specific topic of work and health. Each module comprises of a preparatory homework called “pre-assignment”, a campus phase, as well as a concluding exam. To successfully pass each module, you need to pass the module’s pre-assignment and exam as well as actively participate during the module. Each module is provided by a module manager, who is in charge of the module’s content, pre-assignment and exam. The module manager further provides you with feedback on every work you hand in and supports you if you have any questions concerning the module, the pre-assignment and/or the exam. Most of the modules are open for external module participants. Learn more about our modules.

To successfully pass a module, you have to successfully pass the pre-assignment, actively participate during all campus lectures, do all the required readings and/or homework seriously and pass the exam. Take advantage of the assignments and campus lectures to learn as much as you can from them and from your colleagues, to share your opinions, skills and experience and to be open to new mindsets and topics you have never heard of.

The formal assessment of your learning is done by the pre-assignment and the exam. The module manager of each module provides you with feedback on your work. During the campus phase with all its discussions and group work, you get remarks and comments from your peers and the lecturers. Of course our lecturers are open to questions at any time.

Each pre-assignment and/or exam may be repeated once. If this repetition of pre-assignment and/or exam is not sufficient, the module has to be repeated in the next course available. Exam work handed in too late gets considered as failed.

You may miss up to 10% of a module’s campus lectures, if your absence is considered as justified. Please explain an absence as soon as possible to the administration team. Beyond these 10% you have to negotiate with the program manager, whether it is possible to compensate the missed lectures by an extra assignment. If the amount of lectures missed cannot be reasonably compensated by an extra assignment, you get the opportunity to take the module in the next DAS Work+Health course available.

Yes, the written report combined with the presentation of your inter-disciplinary group project (module C11) is acknowledged as final thesis. You share the written thesis work with the colleagues of your group. However, every student of each group writes his/her specific part of the report, pointing out who did what. You get extended written feedback to your part of the report as well as oral feedback to your presentation.

As far as we are aware of, the DAS Work+Health is the only program currently existing, which provides you with an interdisciplinary university postgraduate program and the best mixture of self-organized distance learning, interdisciplinary campus lectures, case studies and site visits. By this means, you do not only profit by lectures and discussions by leading professionals and well respected lecturers, but also extend your network and share your skills, knowledge and experience with your peers and colleagues. This makes the DAS Work+Health unique and highly profitable for you. By achieving the DAS Work+Health diploma in either Occupational Hygiene or Occupational Medicine, you become acknowledged as ASA specialist in Switzerland. Furthermore, the DAS Work+Health is acknowledged by the Swiss associations in the field of work and health as well as psychology for continuous education. Feel free to select and participate in those modules which support you in your daily work and professional career.

To achieve the DAS Work+Health diploma, you have to take and successfully pass all the common modules (C1 to C10) and all the modules of your chosen specialization (OH1 to OH5 or OM1 to OM5). We offer you to take 1 additional module of the other specialization module for no additional expenses.

Overall, the modules and its lectures take place either in Lausanne or in Zurich. The location of each module is explained in each module portrait. The site visits take place in several companies all over in Switzerland.

Unfortunately no. Every module consists of the “distance” part (pre-assignment and exam) and the campus phase. Our intention is to bring you physically together with your colleagues to create a platform where you can exchange your skills, knowledge and experience, which assembles in the DAS Work+Health course.

The DAS Work+Health fee is CHF 22’000.- including all tuition and fees for the University side. Please take into account that travel, food, beverage and accommodation expenses are not included in this fee. Furthermore you may get asked to buy and bring in textbooks and/or literature for a few modules. However, the literature required for the assignments and exams is provided to you for free on our learning platform OLAT.

Unfortunately, neither from the DAS Work+Health nor the Universities’ side can provide you financial support. The DAS Work+Health is a postgraduate program, therefore, the universities offer no financial support for the DAS Work+Health fee or any additional costs. However, the Swiss Federal Commission of Safety at Work (EKAS) supports the DAS Work+Health substantially to keep the DAS Work+Health tuition and fees as low as possible.

For the enrolment in the DAS Work+Health, specific professional experience is required. If you already passed a university course in a similar topic of one of the four modules, the program manager review your documents on request to conclude whether and how we can grant you up to three ECTS credits.

The ECTS credits you achieve are valid for five years. This means that it is possible to participate in some modules, take a break and finish the DAS Work+Health in the next course available. The realization of the DAS Work+Health course depends on a sufficient number of students’ enrolments as well as a sufficient financial support from our partners. Therefore, no guarantee can be given that you can take the missed module in the next DAS Work+Health program available.

Yes, as external participant you are welcome to almost all DAS Work+Health modules. After successful completion of a module, you get a written module certificate, explaining the module’s aims and contents, as well as achieved ECTS credits.

The postgraduate program exists for almost thirty years and is a collaboration of the University of Lausanne and the University of Zurich; in former years, it was the ETH Zurich. To maintain an excellent and up-to-date standard in education, the DAS Work+Health has the current stakeholders in its Leading Board, Program Commission and Advisory Board. These work and health experts as board members ensure a high quality university program and well-founded sustainability. The DAS Work+Health is embedded in the national and international professional associations in the field of work and health.

At the beginning of each DAS Work+Health course, the students vote one representative. This students’ representative gets invited to all Advisory Board meetings, bringing in the students’ perspective and needs, as well as passing on all the detail information discussed and shared during the meetings to the students. The students’ representative is also in contact with the program manager for all concerns and general questions arising from both the students’ and the program management’s side