“Being a good researcher doesn't mean you'll be a good teacher”
was recently named the best teacher in the chemistry and chemical engineering section (SCGC) for 2023 - 2024 EPFL/Alain Herzog - CC-BY-SA 4.0
Horst Pick planned to spend just a few years at EPFL, but he’ll soon celebrate 30 years at our School – including nearly 20 as a teacher. In all this time, his approach to education hasn’t changed: he believes in the need for very close contact with his students.
Horst Pick has never sent out a CV in his life. He came to EPFL in 1995 to complete a postdoc, “and I ended up staying a few more years,” he jokes. He was recently named the best teacher in the chemistry and chemical engineering section (SCGC) for 2023, yet he originally studied molecular biology.
“Biology was the subject I got the best grades in at school,” he says. After graduating from high school, Pick wanted to become a doctor and signed up for an undergraduate program in biology – a subject he really took to: “I changed my mind about medicine and decided to pursue a career in biology instead.” He went on to earn a PhD in that field from the University of Basel.
That choice eventually led him to SGSC, which was looking for researchers and teachers in biology since the field was becoming an increasingly important component of chemistry.
Prioritizing close ties
Pick got his first taste of teaching in 2005. “I soon realized that being a good researcher doesn’t mean you’ll be a good teacher!” he says. “You have to develop a method, set learning objectives, create class materials and so on.” He found the process fairly time consuming at first, but “it got easier year after year, and I found I began to enjoy teaching more and more.”
Today, Pick gives three classes in EPFL’s master’s program in chemical engineering and biotechnology. Establishing close contact with students has always been central to his teaching philosophy. At the start of each semester, he undertakes not only to memorize all his students’ names, but also to determine their level and their class expectations in order to adapt his lectures accordingly. “I especially try to avoid lengthy monologues where mine is the only voice in the room. My students should be the center of attention, not me,” he says.
Personalized nutrition
There’s been no shortage of challenges for Pick in his two decades of teaching. The pandemic, for instance, was a big one. “I had to rethink my entire methodology, figure out how to keep my classes application-oriented even though they were given online, and most of all, how to stay in close contact with my students,” he says. “But in the end, I think the pandemic actually brought us closer.”
Another challenge relates to the broad range of students who take his classes. “Most of them are chemistry majors, but some of my classes are open to other disciplines too, such as microengineering, management, life science and materials science,” says Pick. “In those cases, I have to get a good feel for what each student needs and ‘nourish’ them accordingly.” Here, good listening skills and flexibility are key.
A bridge between business and academia
Pick likes to remind people that over 300 pharma and biotech companies are based in Switzerland. “They account for some 50,000 jobs in our country,” he says. Yet the success of these industries – “which make a significant contribution to Switzerland’s economy” – depends on having enough highly skilled workers. “One of EPFL’s goals as a technical university – and one of my goals as a teacher there – is to help supply these bright individuals.”
Pick sees part of his role as building a bridge between business and academia. “I regularly invite people from biotech companies to speak to my students – people whose work relates directly to the topics we cover in class,” he says. For students, the guest speakers provide at least two benefits: “First, putting them in contact with companies opens the door to potential internships and even jobs. And second, learning about concrete applications helps keep them motivated.”
Environmental biotech
Among the shifts that Pick has noticed in EPFL’s students over the past 20 years is a heightened interest in and concern for the climate. “There’s a lot of demand for classes that even remotely relate to environmental issues,” he says. As a result, Pick is thinking about “moving my lectures in that direction too, with a focus on how biotech can be harnessed for climate-related purposes.” He’s making the same change in his own research, seeking to develop technology that can help save our planet. “For instance, I’m taking part in a large project to create polymer-based packaging from microalgae.”