UU teacher Peter Pelzer nominated for national Teacher of the Year award

This is the tenth edition of the prize, which is organised by the Dutch National Students’ Association (ISO) and the Comenius Network, in recognition of innovators in education. The four nominees are Anke Liefbroer (Tilburg University), Hanneke Velthuijsen (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), Chris Attai (Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen) and Peter Pelzer (Utrecht University).

Pelzer was UU's Teacher of the Year last year. His win was announced in the Education Parade of 2023. He is one of the founders of Mixed Classroom, a course bringing Master's students, policymakers and other partners together. Since September 2022, he has been serving as Programme Director for Professional Education at the Faculty of Geosciences. As an educator, he pays a lot of attention to the most pressing questions of our times and the future, such as climate change and the housing crisis. 

Jury
Every higher education institution in the Netherlands is given the chance to nominate one of their lecturers for the prize. The jury consists of last year’s winner (Birgit Boogaard), another member of the teaching profession, two students and an ISO board member.

The winner not only receives a grant for educational innovation but will also join the board of the Comenius Network. Established in 2018, the network now has almost 500 members ranging from vocational to university education. It aims to share knowledge and develop a vision for educational improvement.

The Comenius Network’s Programme for Educational Improvement is making 7.6 million euros in grants available in this calendar year: 1.4 million euros to vocational education and 6.2 million to research universities and universities of applied sciences. The amounts awarded can range from 50,000 euros for a teaching fellow to 500,000 euros for a leadership fellow.