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
PFAS in the environment - course repetition (Hybrid)
25. June 2024, in German and French, in Dübendorf and online, course fee: 370 CHF
Course management:
Dr. Alexandra Kroll
PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) are a group of several thousand industrial chemicals that are now found everywhere in the environment. The substances are extremely stable and are therefore also considered "eternal chemicals". PFAS can have very different physicochemical properties. While some of the substances are known to be toxic, the effects of many have been poorly studied to date. The EU is currently considering a ban on substances of concern.
The course provides an overview of the sources, occurrence and effects of PFAS on the environment and humans. It also discusses the difficult regulatory environment and the limits in the environment, drinking water and food. Another focus is risk communication on PFAS, which poses major challenges to authorities, researchers and the media due to the complexity of this group of substances.
*The lectures were recorded during the first course and are now shown as videos.
Going Dynamic – The Potential of Online Monitoring Tools for Wastewater and Surface Water Surveillance
6.-7. November 2024, in English, in Dübendorf and online, course fee: CHF 450
Course management:
Dr. Cornelia Kienle
This one and a half day course aims to provide an overview of the application of various online tools for environmental monitoring of water quality. The tools presented range from online biomonitoring over online chemical monitoring and online flow cytometry to online sensors.
Online tools are capable of assessing water quality with high temporal resolution thus allowing to capture patterns of peak events. Online biomonitoring systems monitor the responses of aquatic organisms in real time, while online chemical monitoring tracks the concentrations of a range of target substances at short intervals. In addition, online flow cytometry allows the composition of the bacterial community to be followed in real time and online sensors monitor various water quality parameters such as pH, conductivity and other abiotic parameters. All of these methods allow a much faster response and action in the event of an incident and are important tools for the water quality monitoring of the future.
An overview of the methods will be followed by presentations of selected case studies for water quality monitoring. In addition, future research needs and perspectives for the application of online monitoring tools in routine water quality surveillance and regulation will be discussed. The second day will be devoted to demonstrations of some of the methods presented.
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