Bologna – The Future of Teaching
"Bologna – Zukunft der Lehre" (Bologna – The future of teaching) is the name of a German-wide initiative of Stiftung Mercator and the Volkswagen Foundation. The two foundations are implementing this project to support university teaching and assume responsibility for future trends and practical improvements. Both foundations have each provided five million euros in funding.
The initiative comprises a total of three funding lines. Universities throughout Germany can apply for a grant:
1. The first funding line supports universities in the development and testing of new curricula for bachelor degree courses. The main aim is to provide an incentive that encourages universities to develop model bachelor degree courses by restructuring course content. However, bachelor courses with good prospects of success which have already commenced as pilot projects and curricula which are shared by several institutions are also eligible for funding.
2. The second funding line was created for teams of university teaching experts or competence centres to facilitate the use of existing and future knowledge and experience to improve teaching quality and to pool it in expert centres, specific disciplines or subject groups. Centres can also be run by several universities.
3. A third funding line provides funding for international conferences, workshops and symposiums. The two foundations also organized four regional conferences in north, east, south and west Germany in May, June and July 2009. These conferences provided forums for debate on the improvement of teaching quality and sources of inspiration for future initiatives.
All university departments are eligible to apply for grants under the funding lines. In the first two funding lines, applications are made in a two-stage process. The closing date for project outline submissions was 31 July 2009. Applications can be submitted at any time for the third funding line.
Use the Application Form to apply for funding. It is available as a download.