Students in Alexander Mathis\u2019 classes sometimes leave with chocolate bars or even EPFL hoodies \u2013 prizes that reward stand-out work or particularly meaningful contributions in class. \u201cThis system creates a friendly sense of competition that encourages students to push themselves and speak up in lectures, while keeping the atmosphere relaxed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But beyond the giveaways, Mathis \u2013 an assistant professor and head of the Mathis Group of Computational Neuroscience & AI \u2013 takes his teaching seriously, building his courses around a combination of strong theoretical foundations and advanced real-world applications. \u201cWhat makes me most proud is when students say in their feedback that what I teach will make a real difference in their careers,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Mathis, who hails from Bregenz, Austria, believes that real learning happens only when students are genuinely motivated. \u201cMy goal is to help students understand why they\u2019re learning something in the first place,\u201d he explains. \u201cToo many of them still focus on the wrong things: they\u2019re more concerned about how they should study in order to get good grades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning to take the helm<\/strong><\/p>\n Although Mathis says he has always enjoyed teaching, he admits that his first classes at EPFL in 2021 were a steep learning curve. He was no newcomer to the role, having previously worked as a teaching assistant in Germany and a lecturer in the US. But teaching at EPFL during the second COVID-19 lockdown was a different experience altogether: \u201cIn that first semester, I often found myself alone in front of over 100 students. What\u2019s more, I\u2019d planned twice as much material as could fit into a single semester.\u201d<\/p>\n Another challenge Mathis has faced is coordinating his teaching assistants. Five years ago, around 140 students were enrolled in his bachelor\u2019s class. Today, that number is close to 200. At the same time, his team of teaching assistants has expanded to around 20 people. Mathis admits that \u201cmanaging all of that can be quite daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n Mathematics, computers and animals<\/strong><\/p>\n As a teenager, Mathis would probably have been surprised to learn that he would one day teach to lecture halls packed with students. However, he always knew he would attend university. Fascinated by mathematics and its logical structure from an early age, he chose to study the subject at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich. \u201cIt felt like a world away from the math I\u2019d been doing in high school,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was something of a shock \u2013 but a positive one!\u201d<\/p>\n Pure mathematics may have come naturally to Mathis, but he soon realized that it wasn\u2019t where he wanted to build his career. \u201cWhat interested me was applying math to issues I genuinely cared about,\u201d he explains. \u201cDuring my time at university, I also enjoyed programming and tinkering with computers on the side.\u201d Nature and animals were another longstanding interest: \u201cI\u2019d spend time observing them and trying to understand their behavior. Now, my work combines my three passions: mathematics, computer science and life science.\u201d<\/p>\n An unexpected move into neuroscience<\/strong><\/p>\n Mathis\u2019 career took a decisive turn when he discovered neuroscience. \u201cTo be honest, I didn\u2019t know much about it at first,\u201d he admits. While completing his master\u2019s degree in mathematics at LMU Munich, he came across an opening for a PhD position in computational neuroscience, and decided to seize the opportunity. \u201cI had to work hard to catch up during my PhD,\u201d he says. \u201cBut my background in mathematics helped. For instance, it allowed me to explain some previously unknown aspects of grid cells,\u201d or neurons that fire in regular patterns and help the brain navigate its surroundings.<\/p>\n Mathis soon developed a deep fascination for neuroscience. After earning his PhD, he headed to Harvard University for a postdoc in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. In 2020, he joined EPFL and went on to found his own his own research group working at the intersection of computational neuroscience and machine learning.<\/p>\n The pitfalls of generative AI<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite his enthusiasm for technology, Mathis \u2013 like teachers everywhere \u2013 is also grappling with the impact of generative AI in the classroom: \u201cSome students mistakenly believe they can rely on these tools instead of building strong programming skills.\u201d ChatGPT emerged during the five years when he taught software engineering. It was a development that forced him to adapt his approach. \u201cMy goal for the near term is to rethink my classes from the ground up so they better reflect the reality of the world we live in today,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6264,"template":"","project":[],"faculty":[],"public":[],"themes":[],"news-category":[38],"class_list":["post-6263","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-category-epfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/6263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project?post=6263"},{"taxonomy":"faculty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty?post=6263"},{"taxonomy":"public","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/public?post=6263"},{"taxonomy":"themes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/themes?post=6263"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuro-x.epfl.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=6263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}