Focus on teaching innovations: Prizes awarded for creative university projects

Focus on teaching innovations: Prizes awarded for creative university projects

On June 5, 2025, the “Spotlight on Teaching” event took place at the University of Regensburg, which dealt with important aspects of teaching and sustainable development. In this context, innovative concepts were discussed and educational myths were debunked. Professor Dr. At this event, Nikolaus Korber, Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Continuing Education, awarded teaching innovation prizes in three categories: curriculum, course and examination. These awards aim to promote the quality of university teaching and to recognize innovative teaching approaches, as well bmbf.de emphasized.

The teaching innovation award in the curriculum category went to Professor Dr. Wolfgang Dworschak for his curriculum in the (partial) degree program in Pedagogy for Intellectual Disabilities. The curriculum, which is characterized by a close connection between theory and practice, shows how important practical approaches are in teaching. In the course category, Professor Dr. Angela Ganter was honored for her master's seminar "Constitutional Debates: Contexts and Media", which combines ancient texts with modern media and promotes creative podcast contributions from students. In addition, the team around Dr. Laura Haas, Prof. Dr. Martin Rosentritt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Hahnel and PD Dr. Angelika Rauch received the Teaching Innovation Award in the Examination category for her OSCE examination format in dentistry, which enables a practical assessment of performance.

Discussion about sustainability and educational myths

The event was organized by the Innovation Hub of the Center for Higher Education (ZHW) under the direction of Dr. Birgit Hawelka organized and included a keynote speech by Dr. Stefan T. Siegel on evidence-informed sustainability education. In a panel discussion moderated by Thomas Neger, experts such as Professor Dr. Mandy Singer-Brodowski on the topic of “Sustainability in Teaching – Perspectives from Science and Teaching Practice”. This interactive discussion discussed various approaches to integrating sustainability into university teaching.

There was also a poster walk where special teaching projects from the advanced level of the university teaching certificate were presented. These formats serve to promote innovative ideas and concepts in the area of ​​university teaching and to intensify the exchange between teachers, for example lmu.de thematised.

Prizes for innovative teaching approaches

On Friday, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) awarded a total of 16 prizes for innovative teaching concepts as part of the Lehr@LMU program. The LMU Teaching Innovation Prize honors outstanding approaches that combine practice and research. This year, innovations such as the Law Clinic for preparing a popular lawsuit, e-exams with tablet computers and the inverted classroom concept for “Ultrafast Nanophotonics” were honored.

These awards and initiatives are part of a larger plan to strengthen studying and teaching at universities, as the establishment of the Innovation in University Teaching Foundation shows. This foundation, which has been supported with 150 million euros annually since 2021, promotes innovative study and teaching formats in order to continuously increase the quality of university teaching. The measures and successes demonstrate the universities' commitment to integrating innovative approaches into teaching and thus offering students a future-oriented education.