Team

Katja Köhler is the Head of CAL and the Educational Developer at D-BIOL. Katja was trained in cell biology, genetics, and developmental biology as a postdoc (Curie Institute, France, University of Zurich, and ETH Zurich) and became a senior scientist at ETH in 2011. She teaches genetics and cell biology in a flipped classroom course for first-semester Medical & Health science students and is involved in the education of future biology teachers in two courses for the biology teaching diploma curriculum. In addition, Katja is part of the future Learning Initiative at ETH where she is supervising interdisciplinary PhD projects in learning sciences on advancing biology education at the university level.

Ulrich Genick is a lecturer at D-BIOL and gained experience in teaching and research as a postdoc (Salk Institute, USA), assistant professor (Brandeis University, USA), and senior scientist (Nestle Research Center, Lausanne) in the areas of bioinformatics, structural biology, and biophysical chemistry. In 2014, he became a senior scientist at ETH Zurich. He teaches biochemistry in a course for 2nd semester Medical & Health science students and genome-wide analyses in a course for Biology bachelor students. Ulrich is also the D-BIOL representative at the Student Project House.

Julia M. I. Barth is a course developer for the Biology curriculum at the Center for Active Learning (CAL). In this role, she helps shape how biology is taught by designing courses, incorporating active learning elements, and integrating theoretical knowledge with research practice. She studied Biology at the University of Konstanz, earned her Ph.D. at ETH Zurich, and as a trained molecular biologist brings broad experience in developmental biology, genetics, and cell biology. In her postdoctoral research at the University of Basel, she uses genomic data to investigate the determinants of genetic diversity – including selection, introgression, mutation, and life-history and ecological traits.

Florin obtained his master degree in Mathematics with a focus in probability theory and his teaching diploma at ETH Zurich. While working for four years as a high school teacher at the Kantonsschule Baden, he became interested in the applications of Mathematics in Natural Sciences. After finishing his Bachelor degree in Biology at ETH, he joined CAL in 2020. Florin is working on projects at the interface of Biology and Mathematics and is organizing a first-semester group work for Biology students. He is also involved in developing and implementing online exams for biology courses.

Samuel Tobler obtained a master’s degree in biology with a focus on plant biochemistry and a doctorate in learning sciences and higher education at ETH Zurich. His doctoral research was part of a joint project between D-GESS (Manu Kapur) and D-BIOL (Ernst Hafen and Katja Köhler) within the interdisciplinary ETH Future Learning Initiative (FLI). His work explores the cognitive and affective dimensions of narrative instructional designs in higher education, as well as the development and evaluation of AI-based teaching tools to advance undergraduate science education. In addition to his work at the Center for Active Learning, he teaches biology at high school.