Continuing Education
The Ecotox Centre is engaged in practice-oriented continuing education and training in the field of ecotoxicology with the goal of passing on expert knowledge and thus imparting professional skills. Selected courses are held in collaboration with the new Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology (SCAHT).
The further education courses are primarily intended for experts from administration, practice, research and industry. Every year, the Ecotox Centre usually offers a basic course on ecotoxicology and an application course and/or course on the impact on natural systems. Moreover, ad hoc workshops are held where the results of completed projects are presented and current topics are discussed.
In addition, the Ecotox Centre participates in education courses at university level and contributes its expertise in the field of applied ecotoxicology wherever needed. Teaching is done in close collaboration with ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, universities and technical colleges.
Course programme 2025
Introduction à l'écotoxicologie
17./18. November 2025, in French, in Lausanne, course fee: 650 CHF
Course management:
Rébecca Beauvais
The course teaches the basics of ecotoxicology, from the sources and fate of pollutants in the environment to risk assessment. The necessary concepts (legislation, derivation of quality criteria) and methods (bioassays, biomarkers, bioindicators) for the ecotoxicological assessment of water, sediment and soil are presented. Exercises and case studies are used for illustration.
Emissions and impact of tire particles in the environment
04. December 2025, in German and French, in Dübendorf
Course management:
see Eawag Peakkurs B36/25: see course
Evaluation of ecotoxicological tests
25./26. March 2026, in German, in Dübendorf, course fee: CHF 650
Course management:
Cornelia Kienle
In addition to standard ecotoxicologal tests (e.g. tests on algae or water fleas), there are a multitude of other test systems using aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The course provides an overview of the various ecotoxicological methods and presents certain test procedures in more detail in practical demonstrations. Using application examples, it shows which tests are suitable for which questions, how relevant they are and how they can be combined. As the course focuses primarily on the practical application of biotests, basic knowledge of ecotoxicology and ecotoxicological testing is an advantage.
The course focuses on:
- In vitro tests for the detection of substances with specific mechanisms of action (e.g., oestrogenic effect, inhibition of photosynthesis)
- Promising species for assessing water samples (e.g., duckweed, gammarids, chironomids) and overview of species used for soils
- Alternatives to conventional reproduction or mortality tests. These include, for example, ecotoxicity tests that provide data on behaviour (e.g. movement patterns, avoidance).
- Promising methods for field applications (e.g., gammarid feeding activity, online biomonitoring, Bait Lamina test)
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