APPLICATION: Seed funding for ECIU Learning Offerings at TUHH 25/26!
Second funding phase: Sommer term 2025 and winter term 2025/26 (DEADLINE October 15th 2024)
The most important facts at a glance:
"The TU Hamburg is a place of education. Those who study with us prepare themselves for the challenges of the future and learn to broaden the horizons of technology, science and society."
This is how TU Hamburg’s mission statement for teaching begins. The teaching/learning format Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) as well as international and interdisciplinary courses are seen at TU Hamburg as a promising and innovative approach to living the mission statement in studies and teaching. Since 2019, several lecturers have experimented with CBL in pilot projects initiated by ECIU University at TU Hamburg. Innovations and the testing of new formats and processes are essential in order to realise the mission statement and the vision of ECIU University, to which TU Hamburg is also committed, at TU Hamburg and to support the further introduction of CBL.
This call for funding offers you, the lecturers at TU Hamburg, the opportunity to apply for financial support for the introduction of CBL, the opening for students of the ECIU partners and the further development of your course into an interdisciplinary course.
For the realisation of a course as an ECIU Challenge in the format of the CBL, the implementation is funded with €20,000 and the repetition with €4,000. The implementation of three ECIU Challenges can be funded per year.
For the implementation of a course as an ECIU Micromodule as an interdisciplinary course of 1-3 ECTS, the implementation is funded with €3,000 and the repetition with €2,000. The implementation of three ECIU micromodules can be funded per year.
The aim of the funding call is to support the further development of existing courses into international and interdisciplinary courses in the format of Challenge-Based Learning preferably in cooperation with ECIU partners.
The submission deadline for courses in SoSe 25 and WiSe 25/26 is Oct 15th 2024. The call for applications for SoSe 26 and WiSe 26/27 will be published in June 2025
If you have any questions or need advice, please contact Dr. Dorothea Ellinger via eciu@tuhh.de.
Funding Criteria:
The aim of the call for funding is to contribute to the further development of existing courses into international and interdisciplinary courses in the format of Challenge-Based Learning, preferably in cooperation with ECIU partners. In order to achieve this goal, this call for proposals is therefore aimed at the further development of existing curricular courses:
- in an accredited degree programme or from the NTA area, if a course has already been approved there,
- exclusively from the Master’s programme,
- taught exclusively in English, including English working materials.
Newly appointed professors can also apply with a new course to be planned, provided it is part of a study programme.
In order to receive funding, it must be demonstrated in an application that the through the (further) development:
- the course is opened up as a challenge or micromodule for students from ECIU partners,
- in addition to the students of the course, at least 10 places are made available for students of the ECIU partners (in accordance with the Presidential Board resolution of 13 September 2023, the sum of participating students from TU Hamburg and the ECIU partners must be at least 10 or more for recognition on their own teaching load)
- the didactic design enables the acquisition of interdisciplinary or international competences
- the didactic design is based on the principles of Challenge-Based Learning, to the extent permitted by the Challenge or Micro-Module format.
In accordance with the two ECIU teaching formats (Challenge and Micro-Module), the following additional criteria for funding apply:
Challenges
Challenges are learning opportunities in which learners in international and interdisciplinary teams tackle real challenges as a project and develop solutions that are ecologically, socially and economically sustainable. More information can be found here .
For Challenge to be funded, the following conditions must be met:
- Collaboration with a non-academic partner as a challenge provider, training partner or feedback provider is absolutely necessary. This does not have to be found when submitting the application, but an idea sketch of who would be considered must be available. The ECIU@TUHH team supports the search, but the responsible teacher must proactively participate in the search and agreements.
- An attendance phase for TUHH students is mandatory and hybrid participation must be made possible for ECIU students (if mobility of students from ECIU partners can be supported by their home university, participation in presence, otherwise online)
- Workload scope for students of 1, 3 or 6 ECTS
If the challenge is carried out in collaboration with two other ECIU partners as a blended intensive program , the host university can be funded with a further €6,000 from ERASMUS+ for its implementation. Active cooperation of the teaching staff in the application and processing is essential; support is provided by the International Office and the ECIU@TUHH team .
Micromodules
Micromodules are short learning offerings that help learners close knowledge gaps and improve skills in order to successfully participate in society’s challenges.
In order to receive funding from Micromodul, the following conditions must be met:
- Conducted online or hybrid (with TUHH students in attendance and ECIU students online), no mobility necessary
- Synchronous learning activities supervised by teachers are preferred; asynchronous self-work phases may make up a maximum of 49% of the time.
- Workload scope for students of 1 – 3 ECTS
Furthermore, the promotion is associated with:
- the course must be repeated at least one more time as an ECIU course. For courses that are funded for SoSe25, up to two additional repetitions can be funded. Courses for WiSe25/26 receive follow-up funding for WiSe27/28 if follow-up funding from the EU is approved.
- The experiences from conducting the funded event are presented either at a final event of I3ProTeachING as a poster or as part of the professorship.
- The willingness to share results within the teaching community of the ECIU network is declared (e.g. at ECIU Lunch&Learn, ECIU Tea(m)cher Kick-Off or the CBL workshops by and for teachers)
Courses that are prepared and conducted in collaboration with ECIU partners receive preferential funding. But collaboration is not a requirement. The list of partners can be found here . Please note that the budget can only be used for TUHH staff and activities; Employees from other ECIU universities cannot be financed with this. However, it is of course possible for partners to receive funding from their own institutions.
Scope of funding
Challenges
For the implementation of a course as an ECIU Challenge in the CBL format and in accordance with the above criteria, the implementation will be funded once with €20,000 and the repetition with €4,000. The implementation of three ECIU challenges can be funded per year.
Micromodule
For the implementation of a course as an ECIU micromodule as an interdisciplinary course worth 1-3 ECTS in accordance with the criteria above, the implementation is funded with €3,000 and the repetition with €2,000. The implementation of three ECIU micromodules can be funded per year.
From the EU-funded ECIUn+ project, €272,000 is available in accordance with the “ECIU capacity & competence development framework” to support the implementation of challenges and micromodules. The sum advertised per challenge or micromodule represents start-up financing , which may not be enough to cover all expenses incurred. The sums stated represent the maximum funding. The funding provided can be used, among other things, to increase a WiMi for conception and implementation, for participation in workshops or travel to CBL experts in the ECIU network, to hire student tutors and to train, for material expenses for materials for the implementation or the organization of the attendance phase of challenges. Funds for the repetition can be spent, among other things, on financing student tutors or expenses for materials for the implementation.
Please note that the budget is only available for TUHH staff and activities. This cannot be used to finance personnel costs from other ECIU universities or external partners. It may of course be possible for the partners to receive funding from their own institutions.
In order to achieve the goals agreed between TUHH and the ECIU project, expenditure will be carried out according to the following schem:
Application and selection process
Application process and documents
- Professors at TU Hamburg are invited to submit applications via eciu@tuhh.de. The proposals can be submitted in German or English.
- The deadline for submitting application documents is Oct 15th, 2024. Only proposals for courses with implememtations in SoSe25 and WiSe25/26 will be considered for funding. The call for applications for SoSe26 and WiSe26/27 will be published in June 2025.
- The jury decides (very likely) in the third week of November 2024 and will then inform you of the final decision as quickly as possible.
- Funding for teaching innovations in SoSe25 begins on March 1st, 2025 and for the winter semester in September 2025.
Advise and decide on the selection for funding:
- VP Teaching as representative of the project management ECIUn+@TUHH
- Education Point of Contact at the TUHH
- Employee from the ZLL as an expert in teaching and learning
- Employee from the SLS as an expert in administrative framework conditions and sustainable implementation in the teaching/learning offerings at the TUHH
A TUHH jury will evaluate all proposals (use the application form ) based on the quality and effectiveness of the plan, the credibility of the ways to achieve the expected results and impacts, and the clarity of the objectives.
All proposals must meet the formal requirements listed under funding criteria. Proposals assessed against the formal criteria will be evaluated against the following criteria (in order of importance):
- Additional benefit: The teaching innovation represents a substantial contribution to the further development of existing courses towards international and interdisciplinary events at the TUHH within the ECIU University.
- Implementation of CBL : The project contributes to the implementation of challenge-based learning (within the limits of the challenge and micro-module formats) in the existing courses at the TUHH.
- Expected impact on student learning and/or student experience: The projects should have an impact on student learning and on the applicant’s teaching experience. For this purpose, a suitable evaluation and experience exchange concept must be presented and implemented by the teacher.
- The repeated feasibility of the proposed initiative with the aim of permanently integrating this teaching format into the study program.
If you have any questions or need advice, please contact the ECIU@TUHH team or Dr. Dorothea Ellinger at eciu@tuhh.de .