Prof. Brunhilde Marquardt-Mau has received the Polytechnik Prize awarded by the Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main. A member of the University of Bremen’s Faculty of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Prof. Marquardt-Mau is a leading expert in the area of teaching natural sciences as a school subject.
She receives one of the four second-place prizes endowed with 5,000 euros. The 1st prize went to Prof. Kornelia Möller from Münster. Altogether, there were 34 contestants. The Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft awards the Polytechnik Prize for exemplary contributions in the area of teaching mathematics and science in nursery and elementary schools. The award giving ceremony took place on 12th November 2013 in the Senckenberg Naturmuseum in Frankfurt. The Federal Minister for Education and Research, Prof. Johanna Wanka, is patroness of the Polytechnik Prize.
Brunhilde Marquardt-Mau received the award for her work in establishing “ELISA-Lab” (Laboratory-based learning in schools) and “KIGA-Lab” (Kindergarten laboratory). The concept opens up opportunities for young children, students, teachers and educationalists to explore innovative topics by means of laboratory- and research-based classes. Example for this are “Children on the track of Charles Darwin”, a project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation during Darwin Year 2009, and a project on “Renewable Energies” supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt [German foundation for the environment]. Above all, Prof. Marquadt-Mau considers relevance and near-to-life subjects to be vital for the selection of research-based learning topics. Both the above projects were developed and implemented in collaboration with Dr. Regine Rojek (formerly of the University of Bremen). In 2005, the Bremen expert for science teaching in schools, Prof. Marquardt-Mau, was awarded the Berninghausen Prize for outstanding academic teaching, and in 2008 she won the Arbeitgeberpreis [Prize for teaching awarded by the confederation of German employers].
The Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft awards the Polytechnik Prize to German researchers for outstanding contributions to the research and development of didactics in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and engineering. The award is to promote and disseminate outstanding teaching concepts and contribute towards their implementation and acceptance. The Stiftung [foundation] was founded in 2005 by the Polytechnische Gesellschaft, a civic association in Frankfurt with an almost 200-year history. The foundation concentrates its efforts on 18 so-called “lead projects”: these act as focal points for tackling the urgent issues facing society – among them being awakening interest in science and technology. The foundation awards the Polytechnik Prize every two years within changing focal themes.
If you would like to receive more information, please contact:
University of Bremen
Faculty 12: Pedagogical and Educational Sciences
Prof.Dr. Brunhilde Marquardt-Mau
Phone: +49 421 218 69410
email: bmmprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
or
Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main
Stephan M. Hübener
Phone: +49 69 789889-16
email: huebnerprotect me ?!sptgprotect me ?!.de
