News
Fascination of Plants Day 18 May 2024
Created by the European Plant Science Organization, May 18th is International Fascination of Plants Day. The seventh occurrence will be launched by plant scientists across the world under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO). Plant biologists estimate the number of plant species to be about 250,000. And so, the day draws attention to the diversity of plants in color, shape, and function within their local ecosystem. Understanding plants is a necessity in a world leaning towards more sustainable production of food, horticulture, forestry, but also nonfood goods like wood, chemicals, energy, and medicine.
Check out the Swiss country page to explore various workshops at the Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich:https://plantday18may.org/category/europe/switzerland/
Marine Ecology and Art - Field course
The field course will take place at the Scottish Association for Marine Research, Oban Scotland. Students will investigate both the marine environment and the culture and people of the coastal area. Central to the course, is the question of what roles do our imagination and creativity play in shaping a society that values life on earth and respects the limits of its planetary boundaries? We will visit the people and projects involved in marine science and coastal economies, exploring marine diversity and the ecology of different coastlines, stepping back into ecological history to gain a better understanding of the foundations and basic principles of modern ecology. We will also investigate how people are restoring the marine environment and deriving new economic opportunities from it. We will use scientific as well as artistic documentation methods and tools.
Course description (PDF, 93 KB)
Contact: Dr. Juanita Schläpfer
Monthly MondAI
The Monthly MondAI series will continue in the spring semester.
A brownbag event series from lecturers for lecturers – Networking and best practices for AI-based tools in teaching and learning at D-USYS.
All participants are kindly requested to register before the events: register here
Monthly MondAI #4: Insights from pioneers: March 4, 2024, 12.00-13.30, CHN F 42, ETH Zurich
The HS23 'pioneer' lecturers of the Innovedum project will have a roundtable discussion about the insights gained from working with AI-based tools in their courses. They will share their experiences regarding adaptation strategies, preferred tools, the range of tasks on which AI-based tools were used, the assessment of students‘ work, and, potentially, any open questions.
Monthly MondAI #5: AI-based tools beyond writing : April 8, 2024, 12.00-13.30, Location TBA
This Monthly MondAI event will highlight the diversity of educational applications of AI-based tools. To help lecturers conceptualize their own teaching scenarios, we will showcase examples where AI-based tools were used for tasks beyond scientific writing, including coding, visualization, gamification, and more. Get some hands-on training on different educational examples with AI-based tools.
Monthly MondAI #6: Students' perspectives: May 6, 2024, 12.00-13.30, Location TBA
Students who have already collected valuable experiences while working with AI-based tools will offer their perspectives on how they incorporate AI-based tools in the learning process. The students will demonstrate a few typical use cases and discuss with participating lecturers some best practices for AI-based tools in and outside of the classroom.
contact: Dr. Réka Mihalka
Systems Thinking and Design for Social Change and in Policymaking
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Learn how systems thinking can inform, model and impact policymaking. Society, scientists,and policymakers have to deal with wicked problems that can be assessed and solved only if seen in a systems context. In several modules that combine theory and hands-on workshops, we will move from system analysis to guidance in transforming social practices and policymaking. Participants will get to know a toolbox of techniques used in system mappingand system design. The course is designed as a series of half-day workshops with different experts and different tools. Participants are asked to bring their own problems and cases.
Lecturers: Melanie Paschke (PSC), Tobias Luthe (ETHZ), Laura Ferrarello (EPFL), Anais Sagaesser (scaling4good & innosuisse), Swen Bos (Empa)
Contact: Luisa Last
