Millions in funding for responsible teaching practices

Through its project “Shaping Responsibility – Transformative Education for Active Citizens” (SHARE), the KU aims to test innovative teaching and learning formats, further develop degree programs, and enable students to engage even more directly with real-world social issues. The project focuses on the establishment of a University-wide “Academy for Social Responsibility & Transformative Education.” It is intended to serve as a new platform for socially oriented and interdisciplinary teaching. Teaching staff are supported in developing new formats, and collaboration between departments and external partners is strengthened. Along the guiding principles of academic self-reflection, evaluation is also part of the Academy’s mission. Ultimately, successful approaches should also be made available to other universities — through open educational resources, specialized events, and nationwide networking opportunities, amongst others.

Ten degree programs are participating in this interdisciplinary initiative at its launch, including programs in Data Science, Journalism, Sustainability and Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Education, German as a Foreign Language, and Geography. In the future, students should not only acquire theoretical knowledge in seminars, but also increasingly apply and reflect on it in specific real-world contexts. At the same time, there are plans to involve students more closely in the further development of curricula, teaching formats, and educational goals.

Another priority is to expand cooperation with local governments, businesses, cultural institutions, and civil society organizations. Real-world social issues should thus play a greater role as the starting point for University-level learning and research processes, explains KU President Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien. She sees the funding as an important catalyst for the University's further development: "Our society faces major challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and disinformation." "The 'Shaping Responsibility' project will empower our students even more than before to take over an active role in shaping social transformation processes in a responsible manner."

The project is complemented by new support services for lecturers, digital collaboration platforms, and a “Transformation Lab” as a new teaching and learning space for innovative and interdisciplinary formats. Dr. Thomas Metten, who developed and coordinated the proposal for the KU, emphasizes the structural significance of the project: “This project will, for the first time, make it possible to broadly integrate transformative higher education into the various degree programs at the KU.” Social responsibility, democracy education, and sustainability thus become key profiling characteristics of a degree program at the KU. "With this move, the KU is taking the next step in strengthening its profile as an engaged and responsible University that actively contributes to shaping processes of social transformation."

The project will officially start on July 1, 2026, and is scheduled to last four years. The initial focus is on planning, coordination, and consultation. This will be followed by a multi-step process aimed at developing the participating degree programs further, establishing the Academy, and setting up new support and knowledge transfer structures. 

The project aims not only to provide students with an excellent academic education, but also to empower them to help shape social change in a thoughtful, evidence-based, and responsible manner, emphasizes Prof. Dr. Klaus Meier, Vice President for Studies and Teaching. In this context, he points to the special role of the KU in the German higher educational system: “As an engaged university, the KU combines teaching, research, and social responsibility in a forward-looking way. I am convinced that we are playing a pioneering role in the German university landscape”, said Meier. Having been selected by the jury of the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education encourages the KU to continue on this innovative path. “That is the excellence we strive for.”

With the SHARE project, the KU aims to align its teaching practice even more closely with social responsibility and academic reflection in the future. “Our teaching practice and academic programs at the KU will be even more shaped by a research-oriented focus on social responsibility.” We aim to empower and encourage our students, based on evidence and sound ethical principles, to engage with society. "They don't complain about crises; instead, they help find solutions and shape the future." In putting this into practice, the KU can build on extensive groundwork. These include extensive experience in service learning, existing transfer structures, the Citizen Science Lab, and the already established School of Transformation & Sustainability. 

According to the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education, a total of 219 applications were submitted for the “The World Is My Campus” call for proposals. Nationwide, 29 projects were selected for funding. In Bavaria, the KU is the only university besides Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg to receive funding; in addition, the colleges of Augsburg and Nuremberg, as well as the Nuremberg University of Music, were awarded funding.