Every semester almost 30.000 students take more than 2.000 lectures at TU Wien. TU faculty members do an amazing job that is the basis for the excellent reputation and worldwide success of TU Alumni. The awards and the festive award ceremony will put the teaching staff into the spotlight, who dedicate themselves to give our students the best possible education. 

What are the Best Teaching Awards?

The Best Teaching Awards Trophy is "made by and for TUW": the "owl" was designed and produced at TUW

  • Design: Dr. Shabnam Tauböck (Vice Rectorate for Academic Affairs) 
  • 3-D-printing in BronzeFill material: Projektass. Dipl.-Ing.Arko Steinwender (Institute of Management Science) 
  • Pedastel, concrete casting: Senior Scientist Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn.Johannes Kirnbauer (Research Division of Building Materials, Material Technology and Fire Safety Science) 

Watch our Video, opens an external URL in a new window to see how the trophy was produced. 

 

 

The Best Teaching Awards is bestowed in two categories:

1. Best Teacher Award 

It honours particularly committed teachers at TU Wien who offer their students exceptional teaching and who succeed in creating conditions for successful learning together with the students and for the students.

The nomination refers to the entire teaching performance and not only to a specific course of the teacher.

One Best Teacher Award is presented per faculty.

2. Best Lecture Award 

The award honors particularly outstanding courses taught by a team of teachers or by a single teacher. This category focuses on courses that have convinced students in a particularly positive way, for example through their innovative teaching concept, the way they are taught, or the use of media and tools.

A detailed description of the teaching concept is requested from the best nominated courses. The Best Lecture Award will be awarded on the basis of these concepts.

3. Special Award for Gender Sensitive Teaching

This award recognizes lectures that have a visible focus on gender sensitivity in their design such as:

  • gender-sensitive communication through the use of inclusive language
  • consciously counteracting discrimination and stereotyping
  • the inclusion of gender aspects at appropriate points.

The complete overview of the criteria can be found in the criteria catalog. Lectures that are held in winter term 2022/23 or summer term 2023 can be nominated for this new category. A detailed description of the lecture concept will be obtained from the best nominated lectures. In addition, self-nomination is also possible for the special award. For this purpose, please submit your lecture concept here: https://www.tuwien.at/studium/lehren-an-der-tuw/best-teaching-awards/selbstnominierung-sonderpreis-gendersensible-lehre. The special award for gender-sensitive teaching will be presented on the basis of these concepts.

Who can be nominated? 

All teachers of the TUW who have taught courses in the academic year 2022/23 (winter semester 2022/23 and summer semester 2023) can be nominated for a Best Teacher Award. Award winners from 2022 cannot be nominated in 2023.

Courses held in the academic year 2022/23 can also be nominated for the category "Best Lecture Award" and "Special Award for Gender Sensitive Teaching". Prize winners of the category "Best Lecture Award" of 2022 are excluded from the nomination and distinction in 2023.

Self-nomination is only possible for the "Special Award for Gender Sensitive Teaching". For this purpose, please submit your lecture concept here: https://www.tuwien.at/studium/lehren-an-der-tuw/best-teaching-awards/selbstnominierung-sonderpreis-gendersensible-lehre. Those involved in the organisation and handling of the Best Teaching Awards are excluded from nomination.

Who may nominate? 

All students and TU members are invited to nominate teachers and courses that have stood out particularly positively in their eyes. Courses that start after the end of the nomination period cannot be nominated. 

Three votes can be cast per person - one per category. 

Even though students experience teaching most directly, it is important to the Rectorate that teaching at TU Wien is viewed from a wide variety of perspectives. Therefore, all TU members will be given the opportunity to nominate teachers who, in their opinion, stand out for their extraordinary commitment to teaching.

How does the nomination process work in 2023? 

The nomination can be submitted from 30 March to 7 May 2023 after logging in via TISS, opens an external URL in a new window

In a first step, all nominating persons must submit a verbal justification for the nomination, describing the special qualities of the teacher and providing (at least) two examples to illustrate the justification. 

The second part of the nomination consists of a short questionnaire to be completed by students who have attended the course(s) of the nominated teacher(s). The questionnaire results in an individual profile of strengths, which is sent to the teacher as feedback together with the verbal justifications. This profile gives an additional concrete indication of where the students see the respective individual strengths and what makes the teacher(s) stand out. 

This profile includes different categories that refer to aspects such as the teacher or the teaching team, the didactic course design, student activation in teaching, dealing with students, learning outcomes, performance assessment and feedback in teaching, or the added value and benefit for students as well as the framework conditions of teaching.

The selection of the award winners will be made based on the nomination statements as well as on the number of nominations considering the size of the lecture(s) held. The overall result of the quantitative and qualitative submissions will determine the prize winners of each category at each faculty. 

The Vice Rectorate for Academic Affairs will carry out the selection process with the support of the Strategic Education Development Center. 

Each award is endowed with EUR 5.000 and can be used by the category winner for improving the conditions in the field of teaching (for example by additional tutors or study assistants), procurements for teaching (literature, infrastructure), personal development or conference participation or for supporting staff in these fields. 

Prize winners who are no longer TU-staff members at the time of the awarding my use the prize money for the following projects: presentation of scientific work at conferences or meetings; participation in scientific events; research activities at universities or research institutions in Austria or abroad; activities of knowledge transfer (publications of scientific work); personal development measures for the scientific career.

Nominations can be carried out via TISS, opens an external URL in a new window between March 30, 2023 and May 7, 2023

Finalists will be announced until May 11, 2023

The awarding ceremony of the Best Teaching Awards 2023 takes place on June 27, 2023