This year's winners of the Berninghausen Award (from left to right): Natascha Ueckmann, Julia Borst, Ansgar Gerhardus, Heinz Rothgang and Michael Claridge. © Harald Rehling/University of BremenThis year's winners of the Berninghausen Award (from left to right): Natascha Ueckmann, Julia Borst, Ansgar Gerhardus, Heinz Rothgang and Michael Claridge. © Harald Rehling/University of Bremen
Berninghausen Prize for excellent teaching awarded to Heinz Rothgang.

Often the daily routines of university campus life fall short of the Humboldtian ideal of an interdependence between excellent research and excellent teaching. Too many students, too much expense, too little time - there are enough reasons why even at universities students are experiencing too much teacher-centred teaching. With their concept for a three-semester long research/teaching project in the Master of Public Health Programme, Heinz Rothgang and Ansgar Gerhardus have succeeded in changing that. The Master in Public Health is intricately related to practice and interdisciplinary as well, but presupposes a profound knowledge of theories and methodology. Since many students have practical experience and are headed back to practice the research part of their Master often falls short of expectations.

In the three-semester long research/teaching project therefore, students are organizede into small groups which set out to develop scientifically sound concepts of intervention and evaluation based on a health issue of their choice. But that is not all. In cooperation with partner institutions such as health insurers or clinics the students also implement their ideas in the real world. Research becomes tangible, research results are authentic, and students are especially motivated. The Master in Public Health Programme already converted its full teaching concept to projects. The student feedback clearly endorses this change. The interdependence of research and teaching, theory and practice, instruction and independent work, university and external partners is well received.

The Berninghausen Prize has been awarded yearly since 1992 by the Society of the Friends of the University of Bremen and Jacobs University Bremen and is endowed with 2.000 Euros.


Contact:
Prof. Dr. Heinz Rothgang
SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy
Mary-Somerville-Straße 3
28359 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-58557
E-Mail: rothgang@uni-bremen.de