Hamburg’s students have voted: The 2026 Hamburg Teaching Award goes to 18 faculty members who have impressed with their outstanding teaching, innovative teaching methods, and new instructional concepts. Among the award recipients is Prof. Dr. Bernd-Christian Renner, director of the Institute for Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH).
During a ceremonial Senate reception in the atrium of the State and University Library, Science Senator Maryam Blumenthal presented the award to the recipients. The award is given to faculty members at Hamburg’s six public universities and comes with a prize of 10,000 euros each. Nominations are submitted by Hamburg’s student body.
Motivating Students to Achieve Their Best
Senator for Science Maryam Blumenthal: “Good teaching opens doors – to successful educational paths regardless of background, to excellent science, and to a sustainable society. With the Hamburg Teaching Award, we honor people who passionately share their knowledge and motivate students to achieve their best. The work of the award recipients shows that where teaching is done with dedication, the pulse of science beats. And that is precisely what the Hamburg Teaching Award highlights. I would like to thank them for their commitment and congratulate all the award recipients on this honor!”
Prof. Dr. Bernd-Christian Renner of the TUHH was honored for his course “Procedural Programming for Computer Scientists.” According to the jury’s statement, this course conveyed a technically challenging topic through a teaching method that was novel in its form and designed to be inclusive. Particular emphasis was placed on the interactive, creative lecture style as well as the use of unconventional didactic elements and digital tools, which, when combined, form a coherent, engaging learning concept. The consistent combination of a narrative lecture style with continuous digital feedback, engaging assignment formats, and closely integrated support services creates an integrated teaching-and-learning concept that significantly advances traditional teaching formats. As a result, programming not only becomes easier to understand but is also experienced as an active, motivating, and lasting learning process.
About the Hamburg Teaching Award
Since 2009, students at participating public universities have been invited to submit nominations for the Hamburg Teaching Award. The nominations are then evaluated by an internal university jury in an open discussion with the students. The focus is on the instructors’ high level of subject-matter and pedagogical expertise, innovative teaching methods, quality assurance through feedback systems, the ability to motivate students, and establishing connections to academic or professional practice.
Read more on the award winners on hamburg.de
