Just half a year after its highly acclaimed founding, the “Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching” has made its first funding decisions. Accordingly, a total of EUR 54 million will flow to Bavarian universities, universities of applied sciences (HAW) and art colleges from the federal-state program “Strengthening university teaching through digitization”. This is the highest funding amount of all federal states. Hof University of Applied Sciences also benefits from this with EUR 826,000.
“The individual application submitted by Hof University of Applied Sciences for digitally supported learning in STEM courses was classified as eligible for funding, as was another application submitted jointly with other Bavarian universities for digital testing,” Prof. Dr. Dietmar Wolff, Vice President Teaching at Hof University of Applied Sciences, is pleased with the decision. The funds are primarily intended to help educational institutions provide their students with a modern and digitized learning environment in times of pandemic and beyond.
Corona had created a great deal of pressure for universities to redevelop their studies and teaching. Digital teaching formats had to be established at lightning speed and the infrastructure had to be expanded rapidly. The promotion of innovations in studying and teaching is therefore currently of great importance.”
Prof. Dr. Anke Müller, Dean Faculty of Engineering
With its rapid funding announcement, the new foundation has therefore taken account of the special conditions of the current situation, university president Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann is convinced.
Most project participation in Bavaria
The project selection committee set up for the “Strengthening university teaching through digitization” funding announcement had selected the projects to be funded from all the applications submitted in a competitive and science-led process: A total of 264 applications were submitted nationwide, including 216 individual and 48 collaborative applications. A total of 139 of these were deemed eligible for funding. Within Germany, Bavaria was the most successful with 51 successful project participations
High total funding
The maximum funding period for the projects now deemed eligible is 36 months. A final financing plan must now be submitted for them, the review of which is the last step before formal funding approval. A total nationwide funding volume of around 330 million euros is available within the program for the years 2021 to 2024
High-quality teaching
With the Innovation in University Teaching program, the federal and state governments aim to permanently strengthen high-quality and internationally competitive teaching at German universities. To implement the program, the Innovation in University Teaching Foundation was established under the auspices of the Toepfer Stiftung gGmbH.
