Award for university teaching: Award ceremony inspires scientists!

Award for university teaching: Award ceremony inspires scientists!

On March 31, 2025, the academic community was once again shocked and honored. The University of Münster has announced significant awards and honors for groundbreaking achievements in university teaching and research. Prof. Dr. Benedikt Heuckmann from the Center for Biology Didactics was awarded the “Ars Legendi Faculty Prize for Excellent University Teaching in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences 2025” in the Biology category. This is a sign of the continuous improvement in the quality of teaching at the university.

Among the award winners was Dr. Jan Horstmann, who received both the Poster Slam and the Poster Award at the “Digital Humanities in German-speaking Regions 2025” conference in Bielefeld. Additionally, several professors and researchers were recognized for their contributions to the scientific community. Prof. Dr. Christine Putnis from the Institute of Mineralogy was awarded the Werner Stumm Medal by the European Association of Geochemistry for her sustained and influential research on geochemical processes.

Other university prizes and awards

Another important prize was awarded to Maja Dornbusch, a computer science student. She received the prize from the “Women and Informatics” specialist group of the Society for Informatics for her bachelor’s thesis on the responsible design of technologies. This work was created in the “Efficient Algorithms and Algorithm Engineering” working group of Prof. Dr. Jan Vahrenhold.

Additionally, Dr. Jake Huang receives an Alexander von Humboldt research fellowship for postdocs and is conducting research in the working group of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Zeier at the Institute for Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry. These scholarships support researchers in further developing their projects and strengthening international collaborations.

Unfortunately, the University of Münster also had to mourn losses. Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Thiedig, who died on December 5, 2024, was one of the esteemed professors at the Institute for Geology and Paleontology. Prof. Dr. also died. Jürgen Lethmate on February 24th and Prof. Dr. Eberhard Nieschlag on February 28, 2025, both earned academic degrees. Prof. Dr. Siegfried J. Schmidt, born on October 28, 1940, died on March 3, 2025 and leaves a gap in the Faculty of Communication Studies.

Innovations in higher education teaching

Strengthening teaching remains a central concern for many universities. The establishment of the Innovation in University Teaching Foundation aims to increase the quality and diversity of teaching formats at universities. This initiative is part of the federal-state agreement to promote university teaching, which was decided in 2019 and aims to support innovative teaching concepts. Since 2021, 150 million euros have been available annually to help renew and improve university teaching.

The foundation not only promotes the development of new study formats, but also the exchange and networking of teachers and researchers. Projects are supported that address both the strategic and structural strengthening of universities and specific challenges in teaching. A platform is provided to make the best ideas and proven approaches available to other universities. The foundation sees itself as a driver for innovation in university teaching, given the great need for new approaches to teaching.

These initiatives encourage the university scene in Germany to continuously develop and work on educational quality. As the awards show, efforts to develop innovative teaching formats and enable students to play an active role in their learning process are increasingly being recognized. This is a positive signal for the future of academic education in Germany.