The "Quality Pact for Teaching" is a federal-state programme with which the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has been promoting the improvement of study conditions and the quality of teaching at German universities since 2011. In 2011, University of Applied Sciences Fulda was the first university in Hesse to be successful with its application and has been active in the "Quality Pact for Teaching" since 2012 with its project "Diversity and Innovation for Teaching and Learning". After successful project work in the first funding phase until 2016, Fulda University of Applied Sciences was also selected for funding with its continuation "Diversity and Innovation for Teaching and Learning II" and can now continue to carry out and develop its activities until 2020. The approved project volume was 3.3 million euros in the first funding phase (2012 to 2016), and HFD expects to receive a further 2.7 million euros in the second funding phase from 2017 to 2020.

The concept of Fulda University of Applied Sciences envisages that students from all disciplines will benefit from this funding. The project aims at teaching and supervision directly in the departments, which will be conceptually strengthened across disciplines. The lecturers will be deployed in the departments in a way that fits them perfectly; the direct expansion and deepening of teaching and support offers (e.g. through parallel groups, additional offers) will be strengthened by activities with university-wide objectives that complement the teaching/learning offers. All activities are aimed at further increasing diversity in the origin and needs of students, flexibility and possible intensity in support and counselling, diversity in teaching/learning forms and the promotion of "new" and developing target groups.

The main project components in detail

Direct impact in the individual subject areas:

• Deployment of additional teachers according to need in all subject areas

Interlinked at central level with interdisciplinary activities:

• Project for successful handling of internationality/interculturality
• Establishment of learning support structures to promote self-studying skills
• Expansion of the writing lab
• Interface support for vocational qualification - university studies

More information on the Quality Pact for Teaching can be found here: http://www.qualitaetspakt-lehre.de/(Link in German)