Three lecturers at HSB receive Bremen University Award for Excellence in Teaching

Senator Kathrin Moosdorf commented: "Outstanding teaching is enormously important for Bremen as a centre of science. Today, we are honouring a project with the Bremen University Prize that has made a special contribution to the education of young scientists. Outstanding teaching is characterised by the fact that the acquisition of skills by students takes centre stage and that teachers and students meet on an equal footing. The award winners are a shining example of this."

Vice-president of Academic Affairs and Internationalisation, Prof Dr Annika Maschwitz: "I would like to congratulate the teaching team on this award and thank them for their commitment! The prize is also a great honour for Hochschule Bremen. It is another example of how important it is to us at our university to offer our students practical and international teaching that enables them to prepare for their professional lives in the best possible way and to develop personally."

About the awarded project

In the International Degree Programme Industrial and Environmental Biology B .Sc. (ISTAB) at Hochschule Bremen, Bachelor students complete an obligatory semester abroad in a freely chosen international research group in the 6th semester. Through the Internationalisation@Home practical module, the three award-winning lecturers enable their students to have digital yet personal and intensive contact with international practice partners in advance, thus preparing them in the best possible way for their upcoming practical semester abroad. The interdisciplinary team teaching is a cooperation with the Language Centre of the Universities in the State of Bremen (SZHB) and emerged from the AddInno project at Hochschule Bremen. It is funded by the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching.

The project team is thrilled about the honour: ‘We are delighted to receive this award. It is also a great honour for our work. Our concept is actually simple. Sometimes you just need a good idea and, above all, an open and motivated team that wants to try something different. We are all enthusiastic and motivated.’

Dr Anja Kamp and Prof. Dr Stefan Veltel work as a research assistant and university lecturer respectively at Hochschule Bremen in the International Degree Programme Industrial and Environmental Biology B .Sc. (ISTAB). Jeremy Hookway is an English lecturer at Hochschule Bremen from the SZHB.

Students feel encouraged and inspired by the project

The project team also receives great appreciation from its students, who were present at the award ceremony: "Stefan, Anja and Jeremy, with this module you have given us the courage to find our voice in dialogue with established scientists. With this module, you have inspired us not only to organise useful internships for the upcoming year abroad, but also to make decisions about our professional careers and take ambitious paths by discovering interests within biology. It is a great honour to be part of a course that provides us with so many positive experiences and international perspectives through dedicated and inspiring teachers."

About the Bremen University Prize

The Bremen University Prize for Excellence in Teaching was awarded for the first time in 2020. It is awarded every two years. The prize is intended to raise the profile of the outstanding importance of university teaching for Bremen as a centre of science and at the same time create a career-boosting incentive to become even more involved in university teaching.

It is endowed with a total of up to 40,000 euros and can be awarded in the two categories ‘Teaching and Skills Transfer’ and ‘Curricular Innovations and Team Teaching’ for outstanding and innovative achievements in teaching, examination, counselling and student support at a university in Bremen. This year, for the first time, there was no winner in the ‘Teaching and Skills Transfer’ category. Although many good and innovative projects were submitted, none of them were able to fully convince the jury. The reason for this is the high requirements and criteria stipulated by the Bremen University Award.