University marks the start of the academic year with excellence awards

On 27 October, the University honoured lecturers and a student association during the annual Rentrée Académique, the official opening of the new semester, for their outstanding commitment and work during the past year.

“Our teachers who received a Teaching Award today are role models. Their teaching is intrinsically linked to research. They take students to the frontier of knowledge, where discoveries are made. They are explorers of the 21^st century,” said rector Stéphane Pallage.

The academic year 2020/2021 will be special, said Stéphane Pallage, “because it is the year in which our University will adopt a vision and a strategy for the next two decades. It is also special because it is the year in which we will promote a gender equality policy. It is special because in 2020-2021, we will be a better and stronger community than ever.“

Claude Meisch, Minister for Higher Education and Research, joined the event via video, praising the University’s successful efforts to continue its research and teaching mission throughout the pandemic and commending the teaching staff’s hard work and commitment.

Honouring excellence in teaching and student initiative

The University of Luxembourg conferred six awards for excellence in teaching. These Teaching Awards are dedicated to professors and associate professors, to PhD candidates and post-docs who are greatly appreciated for their work.

The 2020 awardees are: Martin Theobald and Alfredo Capozucca (Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine), Anke Müßig and Damien Negre (Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance), and Robert Harmsen (Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education). The Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) decided to dedicate one of its two awards to all students, lecturers and administrative staff of the FHSE to honor their commitment and hard work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prize money was donated to the University’s hardship fund.

The recipients of the awards are chosen based on student recommendations, given to their respective faculty council.

The Erasmus Student Network Luxembourg received the Student Initiative Award for their contribution to the social integration and well-being of students, the promotion of values like selflessness and solidarity, and their support of the community.