This is a seminar that takes place every two years.
Are you eager to learn how to program? This seminar introduces you to JavaScript, HTML, and CSS in a hands-on and accessible way. With the help of AI tools, you’ll learn to write, understand, and improve code – no prior knowledge required.
You may think there’s no longer any point in learning how to program given increasingly powerful large language models (LLMs), which excel at programming. Admittedly, learning how to best make use of LLMs is more important now than learning how to program to make the most of your computer. However, the increasing pervasiveness of AI in all fields of science and academic professions underlines the importance of computing and thus of code. For now, AI still needs supervision, and in order to supervise an assistant (be it an AI tool or another person), you need to be able to do the job yourself. Besides, coding is still fun, and the acquired skills, such as analytical thinking, edge-case testing, and debugging, are widely applicable.
The goal of this seminar is to help you get started with AI-assisted programming so that you know what issues to look out for and how to solve them. The seminar will introduce you to the basics of web development (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) as it’s the fastest and easiest way to bring your own ideas to life. All you need is curiosity, motivation – and your own laptop. Everything else you’ll learn along the way.
Lecturer: Kaspar Etter, MSc in Computer Science, alumnus of the Swiss Study Foundation, Website
Coordination: Marco Büsch (Swiss Study Foundation)
Administration: Nathalie Ellington (Swiss Study Foundation)
Target audience: Primarily students from non-technical fields with no programming experience. (This seminar alternates annually with the informatics seminar. The two seminars complement each other.)
Number of participants: Max. 18
Deadline: Sunday, August 10, 2025
