Dr. Laura Rupp receives the highest honor, the Comenius Leadership Fellow grant worth €500,000. Dr. Jorim Tielbeek and Dr. Yvette Taminiau each receive the Comenius Senior Fellow grant of €100,000. Dr. Marieke Toffolo, Dr. Elza van Deel, Dr. Marloes Jansen and Dr. Jan Baan each receive the Comenius Teaching Fellow grant of €50,000.
These grants, awarded by the National Regieorgaan Onderwijsonderzoek (NRO), enable the Fellows to carry out their educational innovation projects and bring their educational vision to life. The review committee praises the projects for their "creative and impactful approach, which renews and improves higher education".
"At VU Amsterdam, we strive to educate students to become engaged citizens with a broad perspective on the world. This recognition, with both the Comenius Leadership Fellow grant and several other Comenius grants, is a brilliant example of how our efforts in educational innovation are visible and appreciated by the outside world. It also aligns with our Broader Mind-vision, which focuses on promoting social engagement and personal growth. We are extremely proud of these achievements and look forward with excitement and confidence to the innovative contributions our teachers will make to education. I am convinced that with this recognition as a springboard, we will make even more impact in the educational landscape!" said Rector Magnificus Jeroen Geurts.
The winners' projects cover topics such as the A Broader Mind vision, innovation, and initiatives for learning through Community Service Learning (CSL):
Dr. Laura Rupp (Faculty of Humanities) receives the Comenius Leadership Fellow grant and works on the project ‘Global English and International Dutch on the VU Campus’, which promotes inclusive education through a language diversity program for Dutch and English.
Senior Fellow grant recipient Dr. Yvette Taminiau (Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Organization Sciences) starts the project ‘Professional Companion,’ aimed at better aligning culturally diverse VU students with their future professional fields. Dr. Jorim Tielbeek receives the grant for the project ‘RECEPT: Rebuilding Education: Co-creation and Empowerment for Planetary Transformation,’ where teachers and students jointly co-create existing education with the goal of developing action perspectives for the planetary crisis.
The recipients of the Teaching Fellow grant are Dr. Marieke Toffolo (Behavioral and Movement Sciences), who develops ‘Street Psychology,’ where psychology students give workshops on psychology to high school students; Dr. Elza van Deel (AmsterdamUMC), who creates ‘The Doctor-Patient,’ where biomedical professionals with personal medical experiences serve as role models; Dr. Marloes Jansen and co-applicant Drs. Esther Schagen (Social Sciences), who launched ‘Building a Professional Identity,’ a learning path for communication students that integrates academic theory with practical skills; and Dr. Jan Baan who develops a course in which fourth-year Academic Pabo students utilize their research skills to answer relevant questions from school boards.
