Education

Plant Pathology is a multidisciplinary field that is taught in three curricula, including Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Biological Sciences. We supervise several BSc and MSc projects each year. In addition to these activities, Plant Pathology is taught in courses offered within the external page Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center as well as in the Microbiology and Immunology curriculum that is shared between the University of Zurich and the ETH.

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 and evolutionary processes in achieving sustainable disease management. An advanced course on pathogen population genetics is hosted by the external page American Phytopathological Society Education web site.

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