EPFL Professor Wins Teaching Award for Hands-On Coding Approach
An EPFL computer science professor won a teaching award for his hands-on classes. He believes students must build fundamental skills and learn to prove their software works.
In short: An EPFL computer science professor won a teaching award for his hands-on classes. He believes students must build fundamental skills and learn to prove their software works.
Imagine building computer programs that can solve riddles and search for files from your very first day in class.
What happened, in plain words
Clément Pit-Claudel, an assistant professor at EPFL, received the 2026 EPFL Award for Best Teaching at the Magistral ceremony on Saturday, October 3. Pit-Claudel teaches a software construction class alongside Martin Odersky and Viktor Kunčak to hundreds of third-semester students. His hands-on teaching style has students write useful programs, take exams on computers across multiple rooms, and learn to prove their code works rather than just testing it.
Key points
- Hands-on learning from day one: Students write programs they can actually use, starting with basic code and adding new features as they learn throughout the semester.
- Testing code under real-world stress: Exams take place on computers across up to 14 rooms at EPFL and the University of Lausanne to test coding abilities under pressure.
- Focus on proof over simple testing: In his research lab and classes, students translate computer programs into mathematical equations to guarantee that the software works.
- Open science advocate: Pit-Claudel shares all of his course materials in open source so other universities can use them freely.
Terms explained
- Software verification — Checking mathematically that a computer program works correctly under every possible condition. Example: Checking a calculator app with math formulas to guarantee it never gives a wrong answer.
- Interactive theorem proving — Using computers to help create formal mathematical proofs that verify software logic. Example: Using a computer tool to prove step-by-step that a bridge design plan follows the laws of physics.
- Open source — Making software code and educational materials freely available for anyone to view and use. Example: A chef publishing their secret recipe online so anyone can bake the same bread for free.
Why it matters
As artificial intelligence helps more people write code, experts who can guarantee that critical software is safe and reliable remain essential for systems like air traffic control.
What we still don't know
The source describes one specific professor's teaching methods and awards at a single university, and does not represent a broad scientific study or educational consensus.
Based on reporting from EPFL. This is an independent explainer, written in our own words with AI assistance; EPFL has not reviewed or endorsed it. Read the original for the full details.