In response, the Rectorate has been presenting the annual "Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching" since 2021. In addition to ongoing initiatives such as the Ars Docendi (national award for outstanding teaching at Austria's public universities, universities of applied sciences, private universities, teacher education colleges), these awards serve to showcase innovative approaches, drive excellence in teaching forward, and spotlight outstanding 'best practice' models.

The JKU Rectorate welcomes submissions for the 2025 Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching, opens a file

The awards will be presented in the following three categories:

Three awards in the "Best Practice" category will be be presented in recognition of outstanding educational concepts that have proven to be particularly successful as part of the courses as outlined in an academic degree program's curriculum and held during the 2023/2024 academic year; these are courses that could also serve as a model to other faculty members striving to become better educators.

The “Best Practice Awards” are generally not restricted by subject area and are open to all faculty members who submit high-quality and innovative educational concept. We are particularly pleased to welcome concepts that focus on one of the two topics selected for this year: “The Use of Emerging Technology in the Classroom” or “Gender- and Inclusion-based Education”. “Gender- and Inclusion-based Education” is regarded as an educational concept that includes all students into the learning process regardless of their gender or individual circumstances and facilitates equal opportunities to participate.

The Kepler Award in the “Best Practice” category is accompanied with prize money in the amount of € 1,500 per award. If there are any significant qualitative differences between the award winners, the overall amount can also be distributed in increments between the award winners. The prize money will be allocated to the winner’s department/institute’s budget which the award winners can use for university purposes, such as to augment their own courses/educational concepts in particular and/or toward conducting research. The award winner may exclusively use the amount in question based on his/her wishes. Award winners may also receive up to € 500 of the amount awarded as a performance bonus.

Submit applications for the Kepler Award in the “Best Practices” category by e-mail to:  kepler-award(at)jku.at by February 14, 2025. The application must include:

• a description of the educational concept of no more than 1000 characters, focusing on the key points and positive impact (the Kepler Awards jury may request additional information and a more detailed description of the educational concept in during the second phase of the selection process)
• the course name and course number(s) at the JKU in which the teaching/educational concept was used during the 2023/24 academic year
• the semester(s) during which the course(s) was held (WS 2023/24 and/or SS 2024)

We would like to invite all interested parties to apply and we look forward to receiving many interesting submissions!

In addition to the option of submitting your own application, a third party may also submit nominations relating to one of this year's two main topics. The following are eligible to submit proposals

• the JKU Austrian Student Union and its sub-organizations (based in particular on proposals submitted to the Austrian Student Union by students)
• Deans
• Subject-area spokespersons
• Study Commission chairs
• Heads of organizational units that have research and teaching responsibilities (institutes, departments)

Nominations of this kind can also be sent by e-mail to: kepler-award(at)jku.at by February 14, 2025, and must include the following information:

• the name of the course instructor/faculty member nominated for the award
• the JKU course title and course number related to the nomination
• the semester during which the course was held (WS 2023/24 or SS 2024)
• a statement summarizing the reason for the nomination (in no more than 1,000 characters), and focusing in particular on the criteria applicable to the respective subject area and how the criteria were met

Nominations submitted by a third party will only be taken into consideration for the award providing the nominee consents, and provides any additional detailed information the Kepler Awards jury deems necessary.

The best (timely) submissions for the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science & Research's award of the same name ("for outstanding teaching at Austria's public universities, universities of applied sciences, private universities, and teacher education colleges") will be awarded as part of the "Ars Docendi" category. The application guidelines for the Ars Docendi award have already been announced in the Bulletin published Dec. 18, 2024, is also available here, opens a file.

As with the Kepler Awards for the "Best Practice" category, the "Ars Docendi" category is endowed with prize money in the amount of € 1.500. In addition to the prize money, the award winner's institute/department will receive a € 1,000 credit to the institute/department's expense account, which the institute/department can use toward educational purposes, such as supporting his/her academic courses, and/or for research. The prize money can only be awarded to the award winner and used for purposes as specified by the award winner. The award winner may also receive up to € 500 of the amount awarded as a performance bonus.

The Kepler Award for Excellence in Teaching is tied to the Rectorate's support for outstanding Ars Docendi submissions (as outlined in the competition's terms and conditions). The Rectorate will use the Kepler Award jury's assessment as a guideline to render a decision as to whether or not to support other, non-award-winning submissions. In addition, the Rectorate reserves the right to support thematically applicable submissions for the "Best Practice" category (with the applicant's consent/permission) for the Ars Docendi.

Do not send a separate application for the Kepler Award in the “Ars Docendi” category. All of the submissions that adhere to the Ars Docendi guidelines will be uploaded to the platform www.gutelehre.at by no later than March 3, 2025, and sent by e-mail to kepler-award@jku.at, and will automatically be included in the decision for the JKU's in-house award.

The “Best Teacher” category are based on the same idea as in the first four editions of the “Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching”, meaning based on student course evaluations. As was the case last year, the overall outcome of all course evaluations for one instructor is decisive for the award.

The Department of Quality Control & Reporting will draw up a shortlist of candidates for the "Best Teacher" award (separately for each of the four faculties and the School of Education) based on responses to the question "Overall, I think the course is [...]:" with answer options ranging from 1 (very good) to 6 (very poor). The Kepler Award jury is responsible for selecting award winners from this shortlist and any deviation from the calculated results is only permitted upon submission of justified reasons.

Similar to the other two categories, the "Best Teacher" Kepler Awards are endowed with prize money in the amount of € 500 per award. The amount will be credited to award winner’s institute/department’s expense account. In addition to having the prize money allocated to the winner’s department/institute’s budget (which the award winners can use for university purposes, such as to augment their own courses/educational concepts in particular and/or toward conducting research), the entire amount can also be given directly to the award winner as a performance bonus.

Do not send a separate application for the "Best Teacher" Kepler Award. All faculty members whose courses received a minimum of 20 responses (weighted according to the number of faculty members) submitted during the 2023/2024 academic year (overall course evaluations) will be automatically eligible to win the award.

A jury of experts (varying in terms of members and depending on the award category) will render the decisions regarding the recipients of the "Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching".

The jury for the "Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching" in the categories of "Best Practice" and "Ars Docendi" consists of the Senate Chairperson, the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, a representative from the Austrian Students' Union, a representative from spokespersons from the Senate's professors' committee, a representative from the mid-level faculty committee, and  a representative from the student committee (or representatives delegated by them).

The jury for the "Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching" in the "Best Teacher" category is comprised of the Senate Chairperson, the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, a representative of the Austrian Students' Union, and the spokespersons of the professors' committee, the mid-level faculty committee, and the student committee (of the Faculty Assembly for the respective faculty or the Institute Conference at the School of Education, or representatives delegated by them).

Regardless of the jury's composition, members of the Working Group for Equal Opportunities, the Works Council for Academic Employees, and the Department of Quality Control will serve in an advisory capacity.

The award ceremony will take place in May 2025 in the JKU Ceremony Room as part of a special ceremony organized by the JKU University Senate and the JKU Rectorate.