The MNF Teaching Hub is a community for anyone who teaches at the MNF — a place to reflect on teaching, exchange ideas, try out new approaches, and develop as teachers.

Our aim is to help instructors feel informed and confident in the choices they make about their teaching, whether they are teaching for the first time or have many years of experience. We keep an eye on research on teaching and learning and translate useful insights into approaches that make sense for science and mathematics teaching at the MNF.

If you ever find yourself wondering:

• How are others teaching and assessing now that students have ready access to AI?
• What should I make of this feedback from my students?
• How could I encourage more students to come to class and participate?

…then come and talk with us.

We meet regularly throughout the year for open exchange, reflection on our teaching – what is and isn’t working in our courses, and advice on updating our teaching practices.

We develop and offer courses and workshops on topics that are particularly relevant to teaching in the Faculty of Science. These include:

• Teaching onboarding for new professors at the MNF — a one-day workshop held every other February (2025, 2027, …) to introduce new professors to teaching at the MNF and connect them with colleagues and available support.
• Workshops on current teaching topics — for example, Facilitating active learning and engagement in university STEM education (November 2024) and Teaching diverse student audiences at the MNF (November 2026).
• Courses for PhD students — topics include general science teaching skills, orientation for TAs in lab courses, block course teaching, and supervision of bachelor’s and master’s student projects.

Left to right:

Sara Petchey, Dean’s office, sara.petchey@mnf.uzh.ch
Hendrik Wulf, Geography, hendrik.wulf@geo.uzh.ch
Tamaki Ohmura, Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, tamaki.ohmura@uzh.ch
Anna Deplazes, Molecular Life Sciences, anna.deplazeszemp@uzh.ch
Oliver Hawlitschek, Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, oliver.hawlitschek@uzh.ch
Sandro Olviera, Chemistry
(not pictured) Kathrin Würth, Biochemistry, k.wuerth@bioc.uzh.ch