UZH 3R Award

The UZH 3R Award is intended to highlight the efforts and successes of UZH staff in the field of 3Rs, both within and outside UZH, and thus promote the 3R principles at UZH.
The award is endowed with 5000 CHF and is presented annually.

The Call for the UZH 3R Award 2024 is open, deadline is 15.06.24, 23:59.

• The prize is awarded to a member of the university (individual or team) who makes a significant contribution in the field of the 3Rs.
• Candidates must be employed or enrolled at UZH.
• Candidates can be nominated by any UZH member.

• The contribution may take the form of proposals to modify existing research techniques or innovative approaches that improve ainmal welfare in animal experimentation or reduce or replace the use of animals.
• Published scientific papers or publicly available preprints by UZH researchers as well as education and training projects and initiatives for the implementation of 3R methods by UZH members at UZH can be nominated. The publication, project or initiative should have been published or taken place in the year prior to the year of the award (e.g. for 2023: 01.01.22-15.06.23).

The applications are judged on their 3R relevance (e.g. how many animals can a method save or how much stress on animals is reduced by a method, etc.) and their scope (implementation efforts, establishment, dissemination at the UZH, throughout Switzerland, internationally), scientific projects should also be of good scientific quality (see e.g. also Policy Animal Research).

• Completed application form. (DOCX, 973 KB)
• Copy of the scientific publication or supporting documents describing the project / initiative (images, videos, entries on the website or similar).
• Nominations must be submitted in English.
• All documents are treated confidentially.

Please, send the application to paulin.jirkof@uzh.ch

Deadline 2024: 15.06.24

The selection committee consists of external experts with expertise in alternative methods, animal research and animal husbandry, biostatistics and/or ethics.

Giuseppe Esposito: Replacing animals in microsurgical education and training

By using human placentas, Giuseppe Esposito was able to eliminate the use of experimental rats in his microsurgical courses. Due to their numerous vessels of various sizes, conditions during surgery can be well simulated with this initial model and surgeons can be successfully trained. Here Giuseppe Esposito explains how he achieved full replacement in his courses: video.

Melanie Generali: iPSC Core Facility (iPSCore)

Induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, can in some cases replace laboratory animals in biomedical research. Melanie Generali has founded the iPSC Core Facility (iPSCore) at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine (IREM) of the University of Zurich, which is a unique research facility in Switzerland that supports researchers in producing and working with iPSCs. Learn more about Melanie Generali`s work in this video.

UZH News article on the winning projects.

Questions or feedback to Paulin Jirkof, paulin.jirkof@uzh.ch