Call for proposals by the Quality Improvement Committee for project funding of teaching and studies in 2025/2026

In this call for proposals, 280,000 euros are available for allocation by the Quality Improvement Committee in 2025, based on the following terms:

The submitted projects should not exceed a budget of 50,000 euros.
Eligible expenses include personnel costs (e.g. student assistants), materials, travel expenses, events, infrastructural measures (e.g. renovation of lecture halls, procurement of IT equipment).
The goal of the submitted projects is to improve study and teaching conditions.
Funding is only available for newly established projects; follow-up funding or partial funding of existing projects is not eligible.
We recommend aligning the submitted measures with one of the cross-sectional topics of the University of Münster (e.g. diversity, civic education, sustainability, digitalisation).
We recommend aligning the projects with the Mission Statement on Study and Teaching of the University of Münster.

Further information regarding funding can be found under No. 4 “Financing”.

Eligible Applicants

Deans and faculty boards are excluded from this call for proposals.
The central units of the University of Münster are permitted to apply.
Multiple applications from the same applicant are permitted.
Projects must be submitted jointly by students and teaching staff.

Project management

To ensure access to SAP, the project manager must be an employee of the University of Münster.

Timeline

Application deadlines:
- 15 May for projects starting in the winter semester (October)
- 15 November for projects starting in the summer semester (April)
QVK funding decision: within 2 months after submission
Funding period: 2 semesters (1 academic year)

Application structure

Maximum 1,200 words, clearly formulated goal and description of the project’s added value
List of involved teaching staff and students (including email addresses) and the responsible project manager (for SAP)
Timeline
Itemised list of planned expenses
Brief statement on project’s outlook after the funding period concludes

Final report

Funded projects must be documented in a short final report (approx. 3 pages) after the end of funding. The report will be published on the QVK homepage.

2. Project type and goals

We recommend that the submitted proposals support and promote openness and creativity in university instruction. The funding should create opportunities to develop, test and evaluate ideas for teaching. We distribute funds preferentially to experimental and interdisciplinary concepts.

The projects should refer to the Mission Statement on Study and Teaching of the University of Münster.

The call for proposals offers a broad thematic scope. All projects that possess innovative potential and an interdisciplinary approach are welcome. Projects can only be submitted jointly by students and teaching staff.

3. Selection criteria and procedure

The submitted proposals are selected based on how well they meet the following criteria:

interdisciplinarity
innovativeness
clear involvement of students/departmental student bodies in the project

The applications are reviewed and selected by the Quality Improvement Committee of the Senate of the University of Münster. The committee’s decisions also aim to allocate funding across the University’s various profile areas.

4. Financing

If your proposal requires software, webspace or similar resources, please explain what is already offered by the University (e.g. by CIT).
- If the existing resources do not meet your needs, please provide a brief justification for why your desired fee-based tool is necessary.
- If you request funding for digital tools that come with licensing fees, please explain how the financing of these fees will be ensured after the funding period ends so that the acquired tool can be used long-term.
Development of teaching concepts: We assume that the development of teaching concepts will be carried out by the University staff responsible for this task. Briefly explain why, if necessary, concept development exceeds these capacities and how the long-term use of the funded teaching concepts is ensured.
Data protection (als in acc. with GDPR) and consent:
- If you request funds to collect data (e.g. photos, videos, interviews, personal data), please address the data protection and consent issues: How will you ensure that the data subjects can grant their informed consent? How do you plan to use the data you collect, and how is its long-term use ensured, including maintaining declarations of consent?
Excursions: An excursion in itself is not innovative. Briefly explain what elements make your excursion innovative.
Catering and meal expenses: Meal expenses for students – regardless of where they are incurred, e.g. at a study location in Münster or during an excursion – are not eligible for funding. Likewise, catering expenses for guests in courses/at university events are not eligible for funding.
Travel expenses: Travel expenses for students within the area covered by their semester ticket are not eligible for funding.
Travel and accommodation expenses, guest fees: Funding for travel and accommodation expenses can be provided if the participant possesses specific expertise relevant to the project. However, guest fees for these persons are not eligible for funding. For reasons of sustainability (especially with respect to avoiding CO2 emissions), please consider whether Zoom meetings could be a feasible alternative to meeting in person.

Submission: Please submit your proposal via email as a PDF attachment to zentrale.qvk@uni-muenster.de with the subject line: "Project central QV 2025."

Deadline for projects starting in April 2026: 15 November 2025.

If you have any questions, please contact the chair of the Quality Improvement Committee of the Senate of the University of Münster, Christopher Margraf, at zentrale.qvk@uni-muenster.de.