Do you have great ideas how to innovate and improve your education? Are you looking for support and funding to implement and test these ideas in your education?
Then you can apply for the Brinksma Innovation Grant 2025!
The BIG was established in 2017 in honour of former Rector Ed Brinksma. The Brinksma Innovation Grant, or BIG for short, is awarded to a staff member with an innovative educational concept. This is the 8th year that the prize has been awarded.
The BIG is an annual grant to an individual (academic) member of staff to develop and/or test an innovative didactic concept in a course or module at the University of Twente. As such, the BIG is a reward for staff who continuously improve their teaching.
The grant includes financial compensation of 0.2 FTE of the winner's appointment for a period of one calendar year, to be awarded to the department. In addition, the winner will have access to expert support from the CELT team and will receive funding of up to 2.5k for travel and other expenses associated with the project. Finally, the winner receives a small trophy (a bronze pig) associated with the Dutch abbreviation of the name of the grant.
How to apply
To apply for the BIG Grant, you should write a 4-page proposal about your educational innovation. The proposal should be accompanied by:
- An educational curriculum vitae;
- A letter of recommendation from at least one programme director;
- Written permission from the relevant Head of Department.
Criteria for the proposal
- The proposal consists of an educational design, concept, method or product, preferably supported by scientific publications or conference contributions (evidence-based);
- The proposal is no longer than 4 pages and includes a title, an abstract, the relevance of the project, the problem statement, the proposed solution, the theoretical background, the expected impact, an implementation plan and a plan for disseminating the results within (and possibly beyond) the University of Twente;
- The educational design, method or product is supported by a clear vision of educational innovation, based on the vision and strategy of the University of Twente;
- Remember that not all members of the jury members will be experts in your field. Try to avoid jargon and write your proposal in an understandable way.
Selection and celebration
The BIG 2025 ceremony will take place during the Week of Education on Monday 19 May. The exact time will be announced in due course.
The BIG jury will be made up of a Vice Dean Education, the previous BIG winner, a member of the Young Academy, a student and a member of CELT.
- the Vice Dean of Education - Ciano Aydin
- the previous BIG winner - Tracy Craig
- a member of the Young Academy - Chris Baeumer,
- a student - Heleen de Vos
- and a member of CELT - Marcus Pereira Pessoa
Deadline application date
Proposals can be sent to Angelique Assink, email a.h.assink@utwente.nl, Deadline Friday 28 March 2025, 12.00 hrs.
Contact
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Angelique Assink.