Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg – for more than 500 years has been a place of scientific enlightenment, academic development and future-oriented research – is the largest university in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is an efficient, modern university, which maintains the highest requirements for teaching and research in social sciences and humanities as well as in natural sciences. At present, more than 18,000 students are enrolled at the university, which encompasses over 190 subjects in 10 faculties and 10 interdisciplinary research centres. There are also approximately 1,500 international students from over 110 countries. The university invests in renowned scientists, high-tech equipment, and a modern research environment to foster research, research-training and cooperation with industry, policy makers, and public actors. About 2000 scientists are employed to conduct basic and applied research in various thematic areas. Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg executes grants funded by national, EU, and international funding organisations as well as by industry with a total volume of about € 45 million per year.
Experienced in EU-funded projects from FP3 onward, the university keeps ready an EU-office with highly qualified administrative staff to support EU project management.
The Institute of Biology is a part of the Faculty of Natural sciences I. The Department of Biology education (and Geography education) of the Institute is mainly working on STEM Education and on out-door-education supported by ICT. The group consist of one university professor, five scientists (four of them on 0.5 position), one co-worker and one technician. The groups runs several laboratories and seminar rooms with full ICT equipment (laptops, hand-held-pcs, interactive white board etc. Cooperation exists with the departments of Chemistry education at the Leibniz-Institut for Science and Math education at the University of Kiel, the departments of chemistry education and biology education at the Leibniz-Universtiy of Hannover and several administrational departments of science education in the German Federal States of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Saxony- Anhalt.
Role in the Project: The expertise lies on professional development of in-service and pre-service teachers and on initiating and supporting STEM activities in the last decade.