University honours several professors with the golden badge of honour at the beginning of the semester

To kick off the summer semester, University President Prof. Stefan Leible invited his colleagues to the Audimax on Wednesday evening. The networking meeting was intended to give the newly appointed the opportunity to introduce themselves. In addition, the golden badge of honour of the University of Bayreuth was awarded for the first time on this evening. "I am very impressed by the special commitment that colleagues have shown since the beginning of the pandemic," says Leible. "Without their tireless work and adaptation to the pandemic situation, teaching for our students could not have been maintained so comprehensively."

That is why Prof Dr Martin Huber, Vice President for Teaching & Learning, and Professor Dr Torsten Eymann, Chief Information Officer and Vice President for Digitalization & Innovation until autumn 2021, received this award.

As Vice President for Teaching & Learning, Huber has shown enormous commitment to maintaining teaching operations over the past two years. He developed concepts to cope with the changed study conditions due to the closure of the universities to in-person classes and worked out solutions - often at very short notice - for the everyday life of teachers and students. Last but not least, he was in constant exchange with representatives of the other Bavarian universities and the Ministry of Science in order to be able to guarantee a uniform approach.

In addition to the Bavaria-wide coordination and decision-making rounds involved, Professor Huber took on the task at the University of Bayreuth of communicating these Bavaria-wide decisions to the University and, with the support of the deans of studies, applying them in a way that was tailored to the specific characteristics at the University of Bayreuth and its individual faculties.  "The University of Bayreuth owes Professor Dr. Martin Huber a debt of gratitude for his solution-oriented, constructive work in restructuring university teaching under the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, which took into account all the concerns and needs of teachers and students in a balanced and balancing manner," said Leible.

Professor Eymann rendered outstanding services in the conversion to online and hybrid teaching. It is thanks to him that, in cooperation with the IT Service Centre, recordings and video streaming options could be introduced smoothly and quickly at the University. In addition, Professor Eymann worked to ensure the necessary data protection security for electronic contact data collection when classroom teaching resumed.

The University of Bayreuth was one of the few universities to offer online exams early on, from May 2020. This, too, would not have been possible without Professor Eymann's commitment. "The University of Bayreuth is indebted to Professor Dr Torsten Eymann for his competence in transferring novel requirements into digitally supported, stable, and functional processes boasting a process-optimising effect which will endure even beyond the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic," says Leible.

The commitment of the deans of studies during the coronavirus pandemic was also acknowledged at the network meeting. Professors Mark-Matthias Bakran, Stephan Clemens, Michael Guthe, Florian Klaeger, Nina Nestler, Eberhard Rothfuß, Rudolf Schüßler, and Friedrich Sommer were also awarded the golden badge of honour.

Professor Sommer deserves special mention from the group of honoured deans of studies. As spokesperson for the deans of studies, he took on responsibility in a particularly exemplary manner and contributed to crisis management. As the interface between students and lecturers, he also always had an open ear for the wishes and problems of all involved.

"Our deans of studies have shown an enormous amount of commitment in recent years to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on teaching," emphasises Prof. Leible. "The change from face-to-face to online or hybrid teaching was not always easy, and would not have been possible in that form without the dedication of the deans of studies."

The University of Bayreuth's golden badge of honour was to be awarded for the first time on the academic anniversary in 2021. This had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. The awarding ceremony has now made up for that. The award recognises in-house University achievements that go far beyond the call of official duty, and have been performed for the benefit of the University of Bayreuth.