Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education
The FEBS Education Committee has the mission of promoting education of the highest quality in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Europe at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In order to realize this important objective: (1) we encourage the development of innovative teaching methods; (2) we disseminate advice on educational resources; (3) we arrange at least one education event at each FEBS Congress; and (4) we arrange other educational events from time to time such as workshops on educational issues in FEBS member countries on request.
FEBS Education Events 2019
4th ‘FEBS Education Ambassadors Meeting’
Tbilisi, Georgia; April 5–6, 2019
A meeting for Ambassadors from each FEBS Constituent Society to share progress and ideas on educational issues across Europe.
FEBS Tbilisi Education Workshop
April 8–9, 2019
FEBS/IUBMB Special Sessions on Education at the 44th FEBS Congress
Krakow, Poland; 6–11 July 2019; https://2019.febscongress.org
Session 1 – Creative teaching: Effective learning in life sciences education
Monday July 8; 16:15–18:15; Co-organized by the FEBS and IUBMB Education Committees
How do we go about fostering effective learning in our students through the use of creative teaching methods? How do we bring together student-centred approach, active learning and ideal doses of creative activity? This session will explore the nature and value of creative teaching and propose a number of strategies that life sciences educators should consider if they hope to graduate the future scientists of 21st century society.
Chairs: Luciane Vieira de Mello, UK; Laszlo Dux, Hungary
• Enhancing your classroom teaching by integration of open online courses, Peter de Jong, Netherlands
• Student-activating methods of teaching in life sciences, Michal Nowakowski, Poland
• Undergraduate teaching laboratories – the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, Bill Heslop, UK
• Panel discussion and Q&A
Session 2 – Title TBC
Tuesday July 9; 16:15–18:15; Co-organized by the FEBS and IUBMB Education Committees
Internationally recognized educational innovators Eric Mazur and Joan J. Guinovart will be the speakers of this session. Now is the time for FEBS educators to listen to their motivational talks and be inspired.
Chairs: Gul Guner Akdogan, Turkey; Jean-Luc Souciet, France
• TBA, Eric Mazur, USA
• Revamping postdoctoral training and education, Joan J. Guinovart, Spain
Posters on educational and related issues are invited for the 44th FEBS Congress: see abstract topics.
A new Education section in FEBS Open Bio
Following a proposal from the FEBS Education Committee, the open access journal FEBS Open Bio has started a new section devoted to original and valuable publications in biochemical and molecular life sciences education. The overall aim of this initiative is to foster good educational practices, stimulate the development of innovative teaching methods, and disseminate advice on educational techniques and resources. For further details, including about the appointed Editors, peer review and how to submit, see the FEBS Open Bio editorial announcing this initiative. Publication costs will be covered by FEBS.
Resources, reports and enquiries
For resources from FEBS Education events, please visit the FEBS Education Platform at: www.febs-edu.eu. The FEBS Education Platform is maintained by the FEBS Education Committee and supplements general information on the FEBS website, serving to disseminate FEBS education activities and to share resources.
The work of the FEBS Education Committee is reported to FEBS Council and in the Education Committee appendix of the FEBS Annual Report. Occasional reports also appear in FEBS News. For enquiries on FEBS Education events (focused on pedagogical issues), please contact Gül Güner Akdogan, Chair, FEBS Education Committee, via the Contact Us section of the website. For members of the Education Committee, click here.
A short history
The FEBS Education Committee had its roots in the FEBS 'Working Group on Teaching Biochemistry', which was founded in 2001 by Prof. Jean Wallach (Lyon, France). Between 2001 and 2006, it was active in promoting educational events at yearly FEBS Congresses. In the Council Meeting held in Istanbul in 2006, the 'FEBS Working Group on Teaching Biochemistry' was converted to the 'FEBS Education Committee', with Prof. Edward Wood (Leeds, UK) as the founding Chair. Prof. Gül Güner Akdogan (Izmir, Turkey) took over following the sad loss of Ed Wood in December 2008. She was elected as Chair of the Committee at the Council Meeting held in Prague in 2009, and has been re-elected for subsequent terms (third-term election in Berlin in 2015).
In addition to arranging education events at the annual FEBS Congress, since 2008 a significant activity of the Education Committee has been the organization of workshops on educational issues upon request or in collaboration with FEBS Constituent Societies throughout the FEBS area: Sofia, 16–17 October, 2008; Cluj-Napoca, 30 September, 2009; Athens, 14 May, 2010; Opatija, 18–19 September, 2010; Tallinn, 14 May, 2011; Slovakia (Smolenice), 12–14 September 2011; Ljubljana, 3–4 November 2011; Izmir, 29–30 March 2012; Yerevan, 8–9 October 2012 (pictured above); Cambridge, 17–18 December 2012; Gdansk, 13 July 2013; Tbilisi, 8–9 October 2013; Sofia, 22 November 2013; Debrecen, 24–25 August 2014; Belgrade, 18–19 September 2014; Cambridge, 30–31 March 2015; Sarajevo, 3–4 September 2015; Oslo,18–19 September 2015; Athens, 8–9 October 2015; Riga, 24–25 November 2016; Kaunas, 26–27 June 2017; Sofia, 17 November 2017; Zagreb, 4–5 April 2018; Chester, 12–13 April 2018; Izmir, 5–6 September 2018.
Other recent activities include the initiation of 'FEBS Ambassadors on Education' Meetings to create a platform for education representatives from FEBS Constituent Societes to brain-storm on educational issues across Europe (Prague 2016, Paris 2017, Zagreb 2018), an IUBMB–FEBS conference on New Horizons in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education (Rehovot, 6–8 September 2017), and an IUBMB-supported Research and Careers Skills Workshop (Izmir, 7 September 2018).