futureEDUCATION Award: And the winners are…..

New award presented to 17 female honorees for their outstanding educational work in mathematics, computer science, science and technology (STEM)

Premiere: This year's Vienna Research Festival also saw the first ever presentation of the “futureEDUCATION Award”. The Vienna Business Agency awards this prize to educational concepts that explore approaches for teaching science and technology to children as young as preschool age. The award specifically recognises educators who are at the beginning of their professional careers.

A total of around 22,000 euros in prize money was awarded. In addition to the prizes for the award winners, this also includes funding for their educational institutions: Each award releases an equivalent amount of prize money for those schools and universities whose students are recipients of the “futureEDUCATION Award”. The only requirement is that the funds are invested in future STEM education.

Here are the winners of the futureEDUCATION Award 2022:

Julia Bachstein
Digitalisation in primary schools – consequences and effects

Louise Brecht and Melanie Lentner
Diabetes mellitus type 1 – General medical aspects and working with affected children in pre-school and family settings

Marlene Breyer
Teaching mathematics to gifted children. How can teachers at primary level specifically support and promote mathematically gifted pupils in the field of arithmetics?

Sarah Marie Elisabeth Clauss  
Using dilemma stories in science lessons to promote moral literacy and values education in primary schools

Teresa Martha Durig    
Possible ways of teaching about herbs in primary schools

Elisabeth Duschl         
Causes of the plastic waste problem with a special focus on ecosystem impacts on selected coral reefs

Krystyna-Kamilla Feldmann     
Possible uses of active learning in teaching mathematics at primary level two

Denise Garbardi
Mathematics – striking a hidden “chord” in music. Developing mathematical skills in early childhood, via the implication of musical opportunities in pre-school.

Julia Klein-Reiter and Celina Punk       
Use of media in connection with different types of learning, exemplified by the use of beginner robots in pre-schools and after-school clubs

Ramona Klemmer       
Error culture in mathematics teaching. Using errors to encourage learning in primary school

Anna Resch    
Promoting aptitude among gifted students in primary level mathematics

Katrin Schwarz
Planet board game

Sarah Spalenka           
Gender equity in mathematics teaching

Anne Elena Tiefenbacher        
Science-related Fermi tasks and their use in promoting aptitude among gifted students in primary level 2 mathematics

Silja Luisa Topfstedt    
Digitisation, sustainability and education Analysis of German-language primary school teaching / learning materials on environmental sustainability throughout the life cycle of smartphones

The entries were selected by a jury of specialist professors from the STEM fields. Each entry was awarded between 500 and 1,000 euros, depending on the level of work involved. The winners were selected on the basis of a shared set of criteria and a rating of “very good” or “good”.

The futureEDUCATION Award will be repeated in 2023, and submissions are expected to be open from February 2023.

Vienna, 9 September 2022