Five questions for Niklaus Waldvogel (Graduate MAS ETH in Development and Cooperation)
"Inspired by the best": we are taking a closer look at what we claim to be. What are the sources of inspiration in continuing education? Thanks to the MAS ETH DC, Niklaus Waldvogel has made a direct entry into professional development cooperation.
School for Continuing Education (SCE): Who, or what, inspires you?
Niklaus Waldvogel: Luckily I don’t need to look far for professional inspiration. Every day I am inspired by my immediate colleagues, who tirelessly work to facilitate a better future for themselves and their compatriots. It is they who experience the issues first-hand, and they are therefore in the best position to develop appropriate remedies which will have a long-term impact.
What career steps have been the most significant for you so far? Working in development co-operation as a physicist is rather unusual.
What was decisive for my somewhat unconventional career was an internship with swissnex in China, where (somewhat to my surprise) I represented the University of Zurich after obtaining my Master’s degree in Physics. This opened my eyes to the field of international cooperation and also showed me that the qualities which I have as a scientist can be useful far beyond my discipline.
What expectations did you have when you began your continuing education programme at ETH Zurich? Were they fulfilled?
My goal was to gain entrance to professional development cooperation via the programme, and it was fully realised. From the Swiss point of view the MAS at NADEL is the most direct route to this goal thanks to the varied structure of the programme, which comprises both theory and practice, and the terrific networking possibilities offered by its students.
What surprised or impressed you the most during the programme?
What impressed me most was the colourful mix of characters and professional backgrounds of my fellow students and how we grew very close as a group in a short time. During continuing education like this you make contacts which you will have for the rest of your professional life. The diversity of the group was also reflected in the NADEL faculty, which I found very inspiring.
The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know: Were there moments during the programme when you became more thoughtful/heedful/modest/careful or had a sudden in-sight?
In this professional field it is very important to proceed carefully: I learned that quickly. The problems we try to solve are complex and it continues to happen (all too) often that despite the best intentions the desired outcome is not achieved. It is not always easy to predict what effect a particular intervention will have on a target group, and as a project manager I therefore have to be flexible and show much readiness to learn.
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