Teaching Award

Friedrich Schiller University Jena annually rewards excellent teaching concepts with Teaching Awards.

Teaching Award symbol: a golden paper plane flies ahead of three white paper planes

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The Teaching Award of the University of Jena

The teaching award is to recognize special commitment to teaching and make exemplary teaching concepts visible. All professors and academic employees at the University who are involved in teaching can be nominated. In addition to individuals, teams can be nominated as well. Direct applications are also accepted.

An award is presented for the best course concept. Since 2015, an additional award has been presented in a thematic priority area that changes every year.

The call for nominations for the Teaching Award is supported by the Sparkassenstiftung Jena-Saale-HolzlandExternal link.

General Teaching Award

Every year, the best course concept (€2,500*) is honoured with the Teaching Award by the Academy for Teaching Development's panel of experts.

The submission deadline for this year's teaching award nominations is 5 May 2024 (exclusion period).

_{*The prize money is earmarked for a specific purpose and must be used to further improve teaching at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.}

Who selects the award winners?

The panel of experts of the Academy for Teaching Development selects the award winners on the basis of the nomination documents received.
What are the selection criteria?
Teaching concepts rated as outstanding in at least one of the following criteria can receive a teaching award:
- innovative teaching methods and learning materials are used in a target group-specific manner
- the didactic design of the course supports the learning process and success of the students in a special way
- exemplary forms of interaction between teachers and students are used.
Who can be nominated?

All professors and academic employees working in teaching at Friedrich Schiller University Jena can be nominated. In addition to individual teachers, teams can also be nominated.
Who may nominate?
- students (a minimum of five)
- subject-specific student representative committees
- academic staff
- professors
How can nominations be submitted?

In addition to nominations by students and/or other teachers, direct applications are also possible.
A nomination form is available which must be completed in order to submit a nomination. The completed form, together with the other necessary nomination documents, must then be sent by email to the Academy for Teaching Development (ale@uni-jena.de) by the application deadline.

All annually updated call documents, including the nomination form, are usually released in February/March of the respective year.

Download of the Call for Nominations and the Nomination Form:

Thematic Teaching Award 2024

The panel of experts of the ALe published the thematic focused Teaching Award 2024: 'special commitment to teaching' in addition to the best course design (2.500 €*). The call for proposals for the focus is subject to the unique condition that only students (at least five) and student councils of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena are entitled to nominate.

The call for proposals for the thematic focus "Special commitment to teaching" is intended to recognise lecturers who show outstanding commitment to teaching in their course(s). This includes, for example, creating a climate and relationships conducive to learning. Nominations can also be made for lecturers who create ideal external working conditions and, not least as a result, make it possible for students to understand the learning content in a special way.

Other aspects can include:

continuous support of learning
feedback on learning progress and performance
transparent performance expectations
further development of own teaching
support for students with regard to examinations

The submission deadline for this year's teaching award nominations is 5 May 2024 (exclusion period).

_{*The prize money is earmarked for a specific purpose and must be used to further improve teaching at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.}

Who selects the award winners?

The panel of experts of the Academy for Teaching Development selects the award winners on the basis of the nomination documents received.
What are the selection criteria?
The Thematic Teaching Award 2024 can be awarded to teachers whose teaching is rated as outstanding according to at least one of the following criteria:
- The teacher creates a particularly learning-promoting climate in their own course(s) and establishes learning-promoting relationships in the respective learning groups.
- The teacher enables the students in a special way to understand the learning content and achieve the desired learning outcomes.
- The teacher creates ideal external working conditions. The structural and organisational design of the course enables students to concentrate on the learning content in a special way.
Who can be nominated?

All professors and academic employees working in teaching at Friedrich Schiller University Jena can be nominated. In addition to individual teachers, teams can also be nominated.
Who may nominate?
- students (a minimum of five)
- subject-specific student representative committees
How can nominations be submitted?

A nomination form is available which must be completed in order to submit a nomination. The completed form, together with the other necessary nomination documents, must then be sent by email to the Academy for Teaching Development (ale@uni-jena.de) by the application deadline.

All annually updated call documents, including the nomination form, are usually released in February/March of the respective year.