In total 74 proposals have been successful: 37 grants are going to universities of applied sciences, 36 to universities, and one grant has been awarded to a joint project. The grants this year focus on three themes: ‘personalized education’, ‘equal opportunities’ and ‘connecting higher education with society’.

The grants inspired a wide range of projects, from a ‘virtual reality tool’ for exploring the 3D structure of molecules (VU Amsterdam) to a project in which the insights gained in honors education are used to motivate students most at risk of dropping out (Saxion University of Applied Sciences).

Caroline Hummels, professor at Industrial Design, is receiving the Comenius Senior Fellow grant. This is intended for experienced lecturers with at least five years' work experience. The program she runs is described as follows: 'Eindhoven University of Technology is innovating the education at its Department of Industrial Design. STIMULEER stands for Socio-Technical system Innovation enabled through a MUlti-stakeholder LEarning Eco-system. Instead of traditional teaching materials, students work in interdisciplinary teams on societal issues, in a civic context. They are supported by new technology that enables monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, in this way the students are trained in new skills.'

Culture change

The Comenius program, named after the 17th century educationalist Johannes Amos Comenius, was set up in 2016 and funded with proceeds from the loan system. The grants give an impulse to educational innovation and, ideally, contribute to a culture change. Especially at the universities, the main emphasis is on scientific research and often education deserves more attention than it gets.

In 2016 a single grant worth 50,000 euros was awarded, last year there were ten, and this year the program has been considerably expanded once again. This is moving towards a future in which 20 million euros are distributed every year.

Network

For the first time, the Comenius program is awarding three types of grant. The most accessible is known as the Comenius Teaching Fellow grant, which was awarded back in March. The grant in the sum of 50,000 euros is given to young lecturers who are keen to improve and innovate the education they provide. Of the 145 applications, 46 were successful.

The new Comenius Senior Fellow grant has been awarded to 22 lecturers, one of whom is Caroline Hummels, who want to use it to introduce innovations at program level. Seventy-eight proposals were submitted.

Also new is what is known as the Comenius Leadership Fellow grant worth 250,000 euros intended to enable lecturers to implement their innovations at departmental or even institutional level. Six of 23 applications were successful, of which three went to higher vocational education, two to universities, and one to a joint project.

The grants will be presented on May 16. On this occasion, the fellows will also be accepted into the new Comenius Network of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.