Certificate of International Profile (CIP) at the School of Applied Linguistics

Throughout the programme, you gain a deeper understanding of global challenges and the ways in which different systems and societies are linked. At the same time, you learn how to work effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, building the ability to communicate, collaborate, and adapt in international contexts. By engaging with different perspectives and experiences, you develop greater self-awareness and critical thinking. These competences not only support your personal growth but also enhance your professional profile, increasing your employability and preparing you for careers in international and interdisciplinary environments.

Why join the programme?

The CIP offers you the opportunity to make the competences you develop during your studies clearly visible. These include international experience, intercultural skills, and language competences that enable you to navigate global contexts with confidence and reflection.

The certificate helps you to:

• further develop your individual profile,
• present your qualifications convincingly for the international job market, and
• have your additional competences formally recognised.

In doing so, you not only gain new perspectives on complex issues, but also enhance your attractiveness to future employers. Throughout the programme, your international and intercultural development is closely supported and academically embedded.

At the same time, the CIP is part of a broader international landscape: comparable programmes exist across European universities and are linked to initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals and EU education policies. This highlights the growing importance of global competences in today’s interconnected world.

What you will learn

Throughout the CIP, you will gradually develop three interconnected areas of competence. These are not learned separately, but evolve together through your learning experiences.

You will build:

• Intercultural competence, meaning the ability to understand different cultural perspectives, reflect on your own assumptions, and communicate effectively across cultures
• Global citizenship competence, including the ability to engage with global challenges such as sustainability, inequality, and social responsibility
• Plurilingual and pluricultural competence, which involves using multiple languages in meaningful ways and navigating multilingual and multicultural environments

These competences are always linked to your study programme and real-world experience, which you will engage with in reflexive practices, as meaningful learning takes place when you actively apply and critically examine what you have learned.

Components of the CIP

The CIP is structured in a way that allows you to combine different types of learning activities during your studies at ZHAW to develop your individual international profile.

Immersive Experiences

• Immersive experiences in intercultural or international settings that are part of your study programme
• Examples for such experience are a semester or internship abroad, a summer or winter school abroad, participation in a blended intensive programme or virtual exchange, a work placement with a global focus, or similar

Competence Development

• Courses from your study programme that include global or intercultural elements
• Additional learning opportunities outside your regular study programme such as language courses or thematic modules
• The Global Experience Module (GEM) in which you in which you consolidate and reflect on the international and intercultural experiences you’ve gained 

Language(s)

• Develop your foreign language skills to an advanced level (C1) by the time you graduate, which you can demonstrate through certificates from recognised language institutes
• If you choose a language other than English, you will additionally demonstrate your English proficiency at least at B2 level
• You will complete subject-specific modules taught in English
• Components are evaluated and recognised on an individual basis once you have signed up for the CIP. We encourage you to reach out to us if you would like to discuss requirements or the recognition of your components.

How it works

The process of completing the CIP can be understood as a continuous learning journey alongside your studies.

Typically, this involves:

1. Planning your pathway by identifying suitable courses and opportunities within your regular study programme after you’ve signed up for the CIP
2. Participating in learning activities, including courses, language development, and intercultural experiences
3. Engaging in immersion, where you interact with diverse cultures and perspectives
4. Reflecting on your development throughout the process
5. Submitting a final reflection as part of the Global Experience Module, demonstrating your competence development
6. Confirmation of the fulfilment of all CIP components by your international office, and issuance of your CIP

By completing these steps, you demonstrate that you have developed the key competences and will receive the CIP as an additional certificate.

Registration and Admission

All students enrolled in a Bachelor’s programme have the opportunity to register for the Certificate of International Profile. You can sign up from your third semester onwards and no later than before enrolling in the Bachelor’s thesis module.

To complete the certificate, you must finish all required components within your regular period of study and before graduation.