ETH Zurich presents the first KITE award for innovation in teaching
Highlights
At ETH Zurich, teaching and innovative teaching concepts are just as important as innovative research. Thus, ETH Lecturers’ Conference (KdL) has created the KITE Award for Key Innovation in Teaching at ETH with a view to supporting the development of excellent teaching concepts. Among the more than two dozen projects that had been nominated was also one from Professor Gisbert Schneider from D-CHAB, who made it into the group of the three finalists of the first KITE award
The KITE award honors teaching methods to motivate students to delve deeper into subjects and to prepare them for working life. It was presented for the first time during a ceremony on April 27, 2016, an event that kept the suspense until the end. After a stimulating award lecture by Professor Chorh Chuan Tan, the President of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a discussion, chaired by Professor Gerd Folkers, three short videos were shown that presented the innovations in teaching of the three finalists. The first video showed how Gisbert Schneider, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, let students create their own virtual little pharma companies. As part of such a little company students learn like in real life, in interdisciplinary groups, how drugs are discovered and developed, need to compete and may reach the market.
The video clearly showed how much fun students have and how well-trained they will continue a professional career in pharmaceutical research. The progressive series of transdisciplinary courses on the topic of “Computer-Assisted Drug Design” is aimed at students of natural and life sciences and helps them develop skills such as mathematical modelling, chemical synthesis and biochemical analysis of active substances. During a two-week practical block, small groups of students form virtual firms to develop and present a molecule with a particular pharmacological function.
Finally, the award winner was announced: Professor Mirko Meboldt for his “Innovation Project” and “Leading Engineering Projects and Coaching Design Teams” courses.
