Universität innsbruck
Founded in 1669, the Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck is the largest university in the western part of Austria. Located at a traditional north-south crossroads connecting Europe, we are oriented internationally while positioned locally.
The University has 133 different programs, 5582 employees, and 27.867 students. In 2019, the University of Innsbruck celebrated its 350th anniversary. The University of Innsbruck considers this anniversary as a milestone on its way into the future. Setting new impulses, living openness, expanding the exchange with the environment, i.e. shaping the future together – these are the goals now and in the future.
Learning from the long and sometimes problematic history of the University, we build bridges into the future. Our strength is managing seemingly conflicting topics productively: asking globally oriented but regionally motivated research questions; self-confidently breaking with well-established knowledge while consciously respecting traditions; and capitalizing on academic freedom while treating it responsibly. In this environment of balanced diversity, everyone at the university acts as a member of society as well as a link to society.
This philosophy is reflected in our current main research areas: Alpine Space, Cultural Encounters – Cultural Conflicts, Economy, Politics & Society (EPoS), Molecular Biosciences, Physics, Scientific Computing, and the Digital Science Center (DiSC). All knowledge gained from our research is available to the public to initiate, foster, and advance informed discussions and sometimes vigorous debates inside and outside of the academic world.
Photo: Main Building, Universität Innsbruck
The Insitute of Subject Specific Education
The Institute of Subject Specific Education is one out of three Institutes building up the Faculty of Teacher Education. The Science, Mathematics, IT and Geography Education Research Group focuses on subject specific education in the given thematic areas. Research in Education for Sustainable Development offers opportunities for interdisciplinary research projects. In 2019 the European BigPicnic project was finished successfully. Research in education for Sustainable Eating, Food Security and food values was conducted by the biology education team together with the Institute of Archeology at the University College London (UCL) . In addition, a range of outreach activities addressing topics in the context of sustainable eating were offered to the public and a University Garden was established. This garden is now used in teacher and interdisciplinary educational settings. The Sommertechnikum MINT at the University of Innsbruck offers young women the opportunity to gain an insight into the scientific and economic work of a MINT specialist. The target group of Sommertechnikum MINT are female students between the ages of 15 and 20 who are interested in MINT subjects and want to gain experience in this field.
Suzanne Kapelari
Prof. Dr. Suzanne Kapelari, MA is Professor of Biology and Environmental Education and Dean of the Faculty of Teacher Education at the University of Innsbruck. She was and is head of several research and educational projects funded by the European Commission and national agencies. Her research focuses on teaching and learning in formal and non-formal learning environments in the context of education for sustainable development. Recent publications deal with issues of promoting critical thinking in science education, language-sensitive science education and socio-cultural aspects of science communication.
Lucas Weinberg
Lucas Weinberg is a doctoral student at the Institute of Didactics in Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Innsbruck. In recent years, he has gained experience in the project management of various educational projects in the implementation of participatory learning programmes. One example is the MOST project (Meaningful Open Schooling Connects Schools to Communities, 2020-2023), which aimed to establish regional “open schooling networks” throughout Europe. In his dissertation, he deals with approaches to climate education for pupils, focussing on education for sustainable development and the role of Alpine glaciers in climate change education.
