Education

Plant Pathology is a multidisciplinary field that is taught in three departments, including Agriculture and Food Science (D-AGRL), Biology (D-BIOL) and Environmental Science (D-UMNW). We supervise between 5 and 9 diploma projects per year and between 4 and 11 semester studies per year. In addition to these activities, Plant Pathology is taught at the post-diploma level in courses offered within the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center as well as in the Microbiology curriculum that is shared between the University of Zurich and the ETH. In 2005 we began teaching specialized plant pathology courses via video links with our Brazilian partner UNESP.

Our teaching is closely connected to our research activities. We introduce students to the most modern technologies utilized for management of plant diseases, while providing a firm grounding in fundamental principles of plant pathology. Our courses emphasize the importance of ecological processes in achieving sustainable disease management.

Web-based courses are in advanced stages of development. An advanced course on pathogen population genetics is hosted by the American Phytopathological Society Education web site.

An advanced field pathology course is offered to PhD students and advanced undergraduates each year. This course gives students an opportunity to visit experimental fields and research laboratories around Europe. In the past years, the Plant Pathology students have visited France, Romania, West and Central Switzerland, Greece, South and West Switzerland, and Northern Italy.