Mainz University of Applied Sciences supports faculty members who test new approaches to higher education through innovative teaching projects. For the 2025/26 funding round, 18 faculty members or teams submitted project proposals, requesting a total of nearly 60,000 euros.
The jury, consisting of student members Elena Scherer (Department of Economics), Inez Gyurcsó (Department of Engineering), and Micha Wempe (Department of Design), as well as faculty members Prof. Dr. Marta Pelegrín, Prof. Bernd Benninghoff, Prof. Dr. Christian Au, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Teaching, Prof. Kerstin Molter, who served as jury chair. Annemarie Freudenberg from the Center of Excellence for Teaching was present as a representative of the administration, and Dino Čubela, the competition’s coordinator, led the jury through the voting process.
After an intensive two-day evaluation process, seven projects in particular impressed the jury; these were announced at the LEHRimpuls 2025 event on November 13, 2025. These projects will receive a total of 59,038 euros in funding. The funded projects are expected to be presented again at LEHRimpuls in 2026 and showcased to the public.
Virtual Learning Factory: Logistics & Production
Project Leader | Prof. Dr. Ulrich Berbner, Department of Economics
The “Virtual Learning Factory” provides students with realistic insights into logistics and production scenarios that can be experienced interactively right in the classroom. One-time learning scenarios featuring 3D models and AI-based avatars form the basis for recurring teaching sequences.
The combination of digital, AI-supported elements and a clear subject-specific focus creates a forward-looking teaching format. Students benefit from a high degree of practical relevance, efficient knowledge transfer, and didactic innovation that specifically prepares them for complex tasks in logistics and production.
D³MS-PP: Data-Driven Decision Modeling for Sustainable Pharma Pipelines
Project Leaders | Prof. Dr. Christian Schäfer & Prof. Dr. Sabine Landwehr-Zloch, Department of Economics
The project integrates the Lumivero Decision Tool Suite—widely used in the pharmaceutical industry—into the curriculum, providing students with hands-on access to data-driven decision-making tools. Working in small teams, they develop models that simulate clinical development pathways, risks, and economic consequences.
This innovative combination of simulation tools and management education enhances students’ employability. They acquire analytical, judgmental, and modeling skills that are particularly in demand in data-driven, highly regulated industries, and learn to justify decisions at the intersection of economic efficiency, risk, and sustainability.
Multimedia Learning in Law: Podcasts and Videos as Innovative, Interdisciplinary Practice
Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Anke Reich | Department of Economics
In this project, legal topics are explored in an interdisciplinary, creative, and digital manner: Students select topics—such as data protection, labor law, or copyright law—and present their findings as podcasts or videos, sometimes with AI support. They are responsible for the concept, implementation, and quality of the content.
In this way, they not only deepen their subject knowledge but also develop teamwork skills, media and communication competencies, and the ability to use digital technologies thoughtfully. The format combines legal principles with contemporary production processes and offers high potential for motivation and knowledge transfer for both academic studies and professional practice.
FLORA-TiON
Project Leaders | Prof. Mirjam Leuze | Prof. Anja Stöffler, Department of Design
FLORA-TiON combines sound and media art with environmental awareness and allows students to experience plants as co-creative agents. Through bio-data sonification, field recording, and visual media, students explore the perception of nature and experiment with artistic and technological approaches.
The project fosters aesthetic curiosity, a spirit of technological experimentation, and ecological mindfulness in equal measure. Collaboration with renowned partner institutions expands the project’s reach and relevance and demonstrates how creative research at the intersection of art, science, and nature opens up new spaces for experience.
Mainz University of Applied Sciences Live Sessions
Project Director | Prof. Daniel Seidenender | Department of Design
The “Mainz University of Applied Sciences Live Sessions” place students right in the heart of the production process for a professional live broadcast. In two coordinated courses, eight concerts by local bands are produced—from camera work and direction to sound and mixing, all the way through to live streaming.
The format combines technical implementation, creative decision-making, teamwork, and media literacy. Students experience real-world production conditions, take on responsibility in various roles, and simultaneously contribute to the university’s visibility in the regional cultural scene.
Sustainable.Sweet.Seventeen
Project Leaders | Prof. Monika Aichele | Prof. Alexander Roidl, Department of Design
Among other things, “Sustainable.Sweet.Seventeen” is developing an open, international teaching platform and, with the “Museum of Krempel – A Satirical Online Collection of Everyday Excess,” humorously and critically highlights excessive consumerism. This deliberate provocation is both programmatic and pedagogically intentional.
Design, sustainability, and humor are deliberately intertwined to foster critical thinking, resilience, and future-oriented skills. The engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and intercultural collaboration highlight the project’s social relevance and make it a model of committed, reflective teaching.
AI-Based Simulation of Interaction with a Client in Database Instruction
Project Leader | Prof. Dr. Pascal Kordt | Department of Engineering
The project combines theory and practice in database instruction in a particularly vivid way: In a realistic, AI-supported interaction, students negotiate requirements, clarify ambiguities, and justify design decisions to a virtual client.
In this way, they not only develop modeling and implementation skills but also hone their communication, stakeholder management, and reflective thinking—key competencies for database-centric projects in real-world practice. The structured integration into the curriculum, clear assignment formats, and reusable scenarios ensure a lasting impact that extends beyond the individual module.
