The Teaching Excellence Awards raise awareness of good teaching. The perception and effects of good teaching depend on many factors. Therefore, divided into five different categories, the Teaching Excellence Awards represent a broad range of teaching styles.

From basic lectures to research-based courses at the intersection of science and society – lecturers and teaching staff at the University of Basel know how to get their students enthused about their studies and research papers. One prize is specifically dedicated to all those administrative and technical staff members behind the scenes who ensure that the studies are smooth and enjoyable.

The Teaching Excellence Awards honor this invaluable work. During the next two weeks you can nominate these lecturers and staff members and tell us why you think they deserve one of the five prizes. Nominations close on April 17, 2017.

Nomination and selection procedure

The winners will be chosen through a series of selection procedures. The nominations and statements by students and staff members are the first step of this process. As few as three nominations, each supported by a convincing, palpable and clear statement, suffice to take a candidate through to the next round. After this, the unit for Academic Teaching will make a pre-selection of all eligible candidates, which will be handed to each selection committee of the respective categories. These five committees will shortlist the nominees and finally choose the winner of their respective prize category.

The selection committees are comprised of various representatives from the realm of academic teaching (students, lecturers, deans, alumni and emeriti) across the different subject areas.

New Award: “Breaking new ground: Learning at the interface”

Teaching and studying at the University of Basel is neither restricted to individual subject areas nor to the academic realm. Therefore, the category “Breaking new ground” will focus on teaching activities at the interfaces. In this category you can nominate lecturers who enable their students to learn at interdisciplinary interfaces or at intersections between university and society.

For more detailed information about all of the categories (in German), please visit our website at www.unibas.ch/tea. A mere glance at all five categories shows the diversity of good teaching at the University of Basel:

• Modern Scholarship: The “Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching” honors lecturers who understand how to inspire their students and foster their individual development.
• State-of-the-art: “Top aktuell” honors courses that allow students to come into contact with state-of-the-art research.
• Strong Foundations: “Starke Fundamente” honors the best basic course that creates a solid basis for the students’ further studies.
• Breaking New Ground: This year, the “Beschreiten neuer Wege” award honors lecturers who facilitate studies at societal and interdisciplinary interfaces.
• Service to Teaching: “Dienst an der Lehre” honors those whose coordinated or technical support guarantees a smooth and enjoyable teaching and learning environment.