External Calls for Proposal

The Stifterverband is awarding the Ars legendi prize for excellent university teaching for the 18th time. The prize, which is endowed with 30,000 euros, is intended to emphasise the special importance of university teaching for the training of young academics and to create a career-effective incentive to become involved in university teaching and to promote it beyond one's own sphere of activity.

This year's call for applications is dedicated to the topic of ‘Democracy Education’. Universities have a central responsibility to enable students to act in a reflective, value-based and responsible manner in a pluralistic, democratic society. The Ars legendi Award for Excellence in University Teaching 2025 recognises teachers who take on this challenge with particular commitment and integrate democracy as an educational mission into their teaching, regardless of the respective subject area.

The following requirements are decisive for an award:

• The teacher systematically integrates democracy education into their teaching and makes democratic processes and principles tangible for students.
• The teacher designs teaching-learning scenarios in such a way that students are encouraged to actively engage with democratic challenges and take on social responsibility.
• The teacher provides impulses for the structural anchoring of democracy education in university teaching.
• The teacher acts as a democratic role model.

A key quality criterion of the Ars legendi Award is the consideration of the perspectives of different university actors. An application is only complete if the following three statements are submitted:
(1) that of the faculty/department,
(2) those of the student council or other student representatives,
(3) those of the candidates.

Application deadline is 3rd August 2025.

Further information on the application procedure, the application documents and background information on previous award winners can be found at https://www.stifterverband.org/ars-legendi-preisExternal link.

The “The world is my campus” call for proposals aims to promote exemplary projects that reform
degree courses or redesign courses in order to support students more strongly in their role as future          responsible actors in science and society. The focus here is on promoting individual responsibility, anchoring current scientific issues in studies and actively shaping society's future through democratic        educational experiences.

Key data of the funding

Start of funding: July 1, 2026

Duration: max. 4 years

Max. amount of funding: 3.5 million euros

Funding decision: Beginning of May 2026

Type of funding: Funding is provided for exemplary projects for the (re)design of degree courses, in particular through the development of inter- or transdisciplinary curricula and stronger links to social contexts - also across universities. The funding enables, among other things, the release of teaching staff and the financing of personnel, material and investment resources.

Eligibility and application procedure

The university management is eligible to apply; each university can submit a maximum of one individual application and participate in a maximum of one joint application.

The approval of all participating institutions is required for the further development or redesign of a degree program during the funding period. This must be documented by a resolution of the responsible body, usually the faculty council, and attached to the application in the form of minutes. In the case of inter-faculty projects, the approval of all institutions concerned is required.

Submission deadline for university applications: October 30, 2025

Upstream University Procedure

In order to obtain a general overview of the planned measures at faculty level, the university management requests that each faculty submit an expression of interest by July 2, 2025 to ale@uni-jena.de (by email only). In the expression of interest, the following aspects must be briefly presented on no more than one page:

• Description of the curricular development project (What is planned?)
• Objectives of the project (What is the aim?)
• Suitable measures for implementing the project (In which direction should the measures go?)

On the basis of the expressions of interest, considerations are made as to which priorities the university as a whole can set itself. The faculties will then be informed by July 11, 2025 about the strategic direction of the overall application and the selection of the submitted projects. From mid-July, the faculties will be able to work on the detailed orientation of the selected projects for the actual application.

University-internal submission deadline: September 19, 2025 by e-mail to ale@uni-jena.de

Further information on the call for proposals

Detailed information on the call for proposals can be found on the following website of the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching: https://stiftung-hochschullehre.de/foerderung/die-welt-ist-mein-campus/External link

With the Futureversities program, the Stifterverband and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation support innovative universities that want to further develop and structurally anchor effective approaches to overcoming systemic challenges. The aim is to sustainably strengthen universities as places of sustainable education, social responsibility and agile innovation.

Funding duration, funding period and amount of funding per project

Up to six German universities will be funded with 100,000 euros each over a period of two years. The funding period begins in November/December 2025. In addition to financial support, the funding also includes workshops, coaching, peer learning and international impetus.

Who is eligible for funding?

Entire universities, faculties or project teams that want to further develop and scale up proven and effective solutions in the areas of access and integration, future-oriented curricula, innovative learning experiences or structural agility can apply.

Application procedure

The application deadline is September 15, 2025, and applicants must submit a project outline, a financial plan and a letter of endorsement from the university management. Interested parties are also invited to take part in a digital information workshop on July 3 and 4, 2025 (registration via website).

Important information on the internal university procedure:

 If you are interested in submitting an application and, above all, if you need advice, please contact the Academy for Teaching Development (ALe) office by July 15, 2025 so that the application situation within the University of Jena can be recorded.

In order to receive the letter of endorsement from the university management, all complete application documents (incl. financing plan) must then be sent to the ALe in a second step by September 1, 2025 (exclusively by e-mail: ale@uni-jena.de). The endorsement of the university management will then be obtained by the ALe office as soon as possible and sent to the applicants for independent submission of the application by September 15, 2025 at the latest.

Weitere Informationen zur Ausschreibung

Detailed information on the call for applications can be found on the following website of the Stifterverband: https://www.stifterverband.org/futureversitiesExternal link

For over 25 years, the German Employer Award for Education has honored innovative educational institutions that strengthen the education system through exemplary concepts. In 2025, the award's motto is “Strengthen cohesion - promote democracy!”.

We are looking for universities, schools, vocational schools and daycare centers that enable young people to actively participate in our democratic society in a special way - for example through projects on media skills, social learning, intercultural dialogue or digital participation.

Individuals, teams or leaders whose work is aimed at teaching democratic values, community skills and digital literacy and is firmly anchored in the profile of their institution can apply in the Higher Education category.

Prize money:

1st place: €10,000

Further three awards: €2,500 each

The award ceremony will take place on November 25, 2025 in Berlin at the German Employers' Day.

The deadline for applications is August 20, 2025.

Further information on the competition can be found at: https://die.arbeitgeber.de/arbeitgeberpreis-fuer-bildung/External link

Previous tenders were as follows:

• 'Freiraum 2026' - Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching
• 'Lehrarchitektur.' Shaping the university of the future
• 'Freiraum 2025' – Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching
• 'Freiraum 2023' – Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching
• 'Fokus Portale/Fokus Netzwerke' – Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching
• 'Freiraum 2022' – Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching
• Empowering University Teaching through Digitalisation

Previous tenders were as follows:

• eTeach free spaces in the eTeaching Network Thuringia
• Cooperative impulse projects in the eTeach network Thuringia 2024
• Cooperative impulse projects in the eTeach network Thuringia 2023
• Cooperative impulse projects in the eTeach network Thuringia 2022

Previous tenders in this area were as follows:

• Ars legendi prize for excellent university teaching 2024
• Ars legendi prize for excellent university teaching 2023
• Ars legendi Faculty prize in Medicine
• Ars legendi Faculty prize in Mathematics and Natural science

Previous tenders in this area were as follows:

• Fellowships for Innovations in digital University Teaching 2025/26
• Fellowships for Innovations in digital University Teaching 2024/25
• Fellowships for Innovations in digital University Teaching 2023/24
• Fellowships for Innovations in digital University Teaching 2022/23
• Fellowships for Innovations in digital University Teaching 2021/22

Previous tenders in this area were as follows:

• MINTchallenge: expertise in sustainable development
• SMART qualifies 2022: MINT for digital world
• SMART qualifies: MINTplus - plusMINT

Previous tenders were as follows:

• Digital Education Area - FMER announcement on the development of a digital education platform
• Promotion of artificial intelligence in higher education (federal-state initiative)

Previous tenders were as follows:

• Data Literacy Learning Steps (Stifterverband)
• AI-Campus searches Teaching Fellows 
• Employer award for education 2022
• Room laboratories - Stifterverband and Dieter Schwarz Stiftung (Stifterverband)
• DigitalChangeMaker Fellowships (Stifterverband)
• 'Kolleg Didaktik:digital': Junior Fellwoships of the Joachim Hertz Stiftung
• Curricula of the future