The second round of the Qualitätspakt Lehre, the German government’s fund for quality in teaching, has awarded around €400 million to 102 German higher education institutions.
The money will go to universities that excel in teaching and student satisfaction, as a counterpart to Germany’s Exzellenzinitiative for excellent research. It will be given in stages between 2012 and 2016.
“We want to offer good study opportunities to the ever-increasing number of students, and support them on their path to a successful degree,” said Annette Schavan, the research minister. “One focal point is projects that offer support and orientation to students in their first term, which is so very important for their further progression towards their degree.”
The second funding round of the programme received applications from 169 higher education institutions in Germany. Of the winners, 40 are universities, 43 universities of applied sciences and 19 are arts and music colleges.
The programme’s third funding round will start in 2017. Altogether the programme, which runs from 2010 to 2020, is worth €2 billion.