TLC Didactic Innovation grant – Academic Citizenship

How can we help students become independent thinkers who engage thoughtfully with others and take responsibility for their contribution to society? This year’s theme connects with the UvA’s new educational vision, which places academic citizenship at its centre: bringing together scientific curiosity, critical and creative thinking, societal engagement and ethical responsibility.

The theme invites innovation in how students learn to question assumptions, consider different perspectives and act on academic knowledge. You might experiment with dialogue around contested issues, embed ethical dilemmas in disciplinary assignments or help students communicate research to a wider audience. Perhaps you want students to investigate questions with societal partners, critically examine their use of GenAI or take greater responsibility for learning together.

Academic citizenship develops both within the classroom and through connections beyond it. Across disciplines, there are opportunities to strengthen how students engage with knowledge, with each other and with the world. What could this look like in your teaching? Use the grant to develop, test and share an approach that makes academic citizenship a meaningful part of students’ learning.

The Innovation Festival will take place on Thursday 1 April 2027, from 15:00 to 17:00 at Spui25. All new grant holders, as well as those from 2026, are invited to present their plans or outcomes. The event is a chance to exchange innovative ideas, share experiences, and gather practical tips, celebrating creativity and collaboration in reimagining assessment.

The TLC Didactic Innovation grant provides support in various ways

The TLC Didactic Innovation grant is organised and supported by UvA Teaching & Learning Centre Central (TLC Central) in collaboration with the TLC Network. It gives you the opportunity to think up solutions to your teaching problem and test them. The grant consists of a budget you can use to work out the improvement idea. You get personal educational support: a coach (TLC educational expert) will guide you in the practical elaboration during the entire innovation process. Your coach will actively contribute ideas for the development of your concepts, methodologies, and/or products. You can exchange ideas and experiences with other teachers who receive a grant. You have the opportunity to collaborate with TLC Central to evaluate and potentially further develop the results of your project.

See all ongoing and completed projects TLC Didactic Innovation grant

• Contributes convincingly to the objective of the grant: improve the learning process/experience of students in your teaching, through a didactic innovation.
• Quality of the proposal. We assess the justification, the relationship between learning objectives and learning outcomes and the plan of approach.
• The feasibility of the project within the timeframe.
• Relevance to educational practice within the university.
• Teaching experience and background of the applicant(s).
• Distribution of applications across different courses/faculties.
• Measurability of the expected improvement.

• You are an educator/employee or a team of educators/employees of one or more subjects at the UvA and have a role in their development.
• You find it interesting to be involved in educational innovation.
• You are willing to explore literature on similar cases.
• You are willing to share your knowledge and inspire others.
• You have an appointment at the UvA for at least 0.5 FTE for the duration of the project.
• You have permission from your supervisor to spend time on this project.

• There are 6 grants this year
• A budget is available per grant, depending on the proposal submitted.
• Team members may choose to divide the budget on hours or tools.

• The applicant completes the application form.
• If the grant is awarded, the applicant must be able to demonstrate that their department head or supervisor will allow them sufficient time to carry out the project.
• The application is evaluated by a committee consisting of experts from various faculties, composed by TLC.
• During the course of the project, TLC organises meetings and three hours of coaching per granted project.
• Upon completion, the project is evaluated together with TLC. The results will be shared within the UvA and possibly included in a publication.

• The TLC Didactic Innovation grant can be applied for annually.
• The last application round of the TLC Didactic Innovation grant was open from 1 December 2026 until 30 January 2027.