My name is Anne-Kathrin Bolender. I have been Head of Studies at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences since 2019. As an expert in the field of project management, I am mainly responsible for further education courses with a project management and industry focus. Before that, I worked for nine years in the aviation industry at Rolls-Royce as a project and program manager and have experience ranging from new product development to the spare parts business for civil and military applications. In addition, I have attended further education and training courses in project and risk management, professional estimation in projects, lean management and systems engineering. During my studies, I worked for six months as a trainee at the German Center for Industry and Trade in Singapore. During this time, I lived with a warm family and learned "Singlish".
The International Project Management Association (IPMA) is represented by the Association for the Certification of Persons in Management (VZPM). The continuing education course at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences prepares participants for their IPMA Level D certification examination in order to obtain a personal certification in project management from an international professional association. The IPMA Level D Project Assistant course is aimed at employees who are either already involved in projects or who take on sub-project management tasks in their role. It is also aimed at interested parties who would like to take over the management of sub-projects or small projects in the near future.
No specific admission criteria need to be met in order to participate in the IPMA Level D Project Assistant course (unlike Level C). However, we recommend that interested parties have already gained initial experience as project staff or are currently involved in projects to ensure a better understanding. With the IPMA Level D certification, theoretical project management knowledge is demonstrated in order to be able to switch to project management in the near future. For experienced employees, we offer the IPMA Level C course. This requires at least three years' experience in a project management position for (limited) complex projects.
The Level C certification process is more extensive, as in addition to theoretical knowledge, personal experience must also be demonstrated. For this reason, we offer additional support during the IPMA Level C Project Assistant course. We also organize coaches for Level B candidates on request.
IPMA defines 28 competencies from the three areas of practices, people and context. We follow the Swiss.ICB4 standard, which describes the personal competencies in project management. In addition to theory, our experienced lecturers from the field also teach project implementation in the IPMA Level D Project Assistant course. Through group discussions and joint group work, we consolidate the content by demonstrating practical application.
Successful graduates are awarded the "Certified Project Management Associate IPMA® Level D" certificate. The personal certification qualifies participants for national and international project management activities. The certificate as a project assistant can be a "door opener" internally, but also for graduates looking for a job, in order to recommend themselves for working on projects. It demonstrates that the certificate holder has dealt in depth with the individual skills required in projects and has passed an internationally recognized IPMA Level D examination.
The Project Assistant IPMA Level D course lasts seven attendance days and costs CHF 4,750. The price does not include the VZPM examination fee of currently CHF 900. There is a discount on the examination fee if you register via Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences.
The IPMA Level D Project Assistant course is open to all sectors. Thanks to the many different industries represented in Zurich and the very good transport connections, we are able to ensure that our participants bring a wide range of experience to the course and can exchange ideas accordingly. This allows participants to benefit from each other and look beyond their own horizons. At the same time, they also see what projects from different sectors have in common. Project management is not an industry-specific activity, but with the necessary knowledge, graduates are very well prepared as IPMA Level D project assistants and can also take on jobs outside the industry and work on projects. Our location opens up this opportunity.
Most of our students travel to the IPMA Level D Project Assistant course by train. Zurich-Oerlikon train station is just a 4-minute walk away and is only one or two stops from Zurich main station. Students from the surrounding area can park in the nearby parking garages.
We offer a modular, fully part-time study concept. The Project Assistant IPMA Level D course can also be seen as a kind of "trial course" with us, e.g. in order to subsequently take a CAS course. A Certificate of Advanced Studies is the first building block towards a Master's degree. We accompany our prospective students on their individual training and further education path by advising them and jointly selecting the best course of study.
We are an innovative training provider and offer training and further education for professionals - including the IPMA Level D Project Assistant course. All our students continue to work 80 to 100 percent full-time. We follow the motto "No degree without a connection". Our blended learning approach consists of video lessons, preparatory tasks, self-study follow-up work and face-to-face teaching at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences with experienced experts from the field. Our lecturers are also the authors of the IPMA book, which is considered the standard teaching material in Switzerland and is even used by other training providers.
We are not missing a single day of teaching for the IPMA Level D Project Assistant course, and we are continuing our teaching even under the Covid-19 challenges. Our lecturers are appropriately trained so that we can move lessons from face-to-face teaching at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences to the virtual space within a few hours. We can even continue to carry out our group work during lessons.
There are so many courses that I can't even list them all. We offer numerous Bachelor's, Master's and continuing education courses in the fields of business, law, music and health. The Project Assistant IPMA Level D and C courses, which lead to the certification exam, are particularly popular in the field of project management. We also support IPMA Level B candidates. Furthermore, successfully completing an IPMA course with us shortens the path to the CAS FH in Project Management by only having to take the upgrade to CAS.
For corporate clients, we also offer tailored in-house training and CAS courses as well as certification courses in preparation for the IPMA, HERMES, Scrum and PMI exams. We also offer other asynchronous online CAS courses for distance learning.
We want our students to enjoy studying with us and benefit from the content. Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences aims to adapt its courses to the students' life circumstances: The study concepts are modular and flexible, and the practical relevance of working lecturers who are experts in their field is a central component. This claim also applies to the Project Assistant IPMA Level D course.
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