Stephan Baur from Geretsried gets his pupils interested in science through an exchange programme with a Nepalese school. He has now received the Klaus von Klitzing Prize 2024 for his special commitment.
A partner school at an altitude of around 3,500 metres in a remote valley in Nepal - only very few schools in Germany are likely to have this. Gymnasium Geretsried, south of Munich, is one of them: for 15 years, the Bavarian school has maintained an intensive exchange with Lophelling Boarding School, located high in the Annapurna region. The fact that 60 pupils from Geretsried have already been able to get to know the school on exchange trips and some have spent several months supporting the local teachers in science lessons after graduating from high school is mainly thanks to Stephan Baur: the teacher of mathematics, Computing Science and physics taught at various schools in Nepal for six months after his traineeship and was in charge of organising the co-operation when he subsequently became a teacher at Geretsried High School.
The teacher has now been awarded the Klaus von Klitzing Prize 2024 at the EWE Forum Alte Fleiwa in Oldenburg. Stephan Baur successfully prevailed against 56 competitors from all over Germany. The Klaus von Klitzing Prize, which is endowed with 15,000 euros, has been awarded jointly by the University of Oldenburg and the EWE Foundation since 2005. The prize recognises outstanding commitment in the subjects of Mathematics, Computing Science, Natural Sciences and Technology (STEM). In addition to Nobel Prize winner in physics Prof Dr Klaus von Klitzing, the jury includes representatives from the University of Oldenburg, the Oldenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the EWE Foundation, the Wesermarsch Economic Development Agency and the new headmistress of Graf-Anton-Günther-Schule, Nicole Voigtländer-Kunze. At a ceremony in the Graf Anton Günther School auditorium, Baur received the award from the school's namesake in person.
The jury was particularly impressed by Baur's voluntary work, for example in the Nepal Initiative Schongau association. The enthusiastic alpinist is also involved in science education and sustainable development in other countries: Baur has, for example, contributed to the curriculum of an electrical engineering bachelor's degree programme at the Burkina Faso Institute of Technology, which focuses on renewable energies. He also has contact with other educational institutions in Burkina Faso, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Togo and Ukraine. He gives workshops for teachers, creates teaching concepts and develops ideas for experiments that can be realised with simple and inexpensive means. His aim is to support teachers in these countries in making lessons in the STEM subjects more interesting and practical - and in particular to use exciting experiments that are relevant to everyday life.
How can remote regions be supplied with energy at low cost?
The pupils in Geretsried also benefit from his international involvement. "I start testing experiments here at the school and try to pass these experiments on to schools in developing countries," explains Baur. Renewable energies often play a role in his teaching units, such as solar energy, hydropower or heat supply. The 44-year-old is also working on these topics in his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), which he is pursuing alongside his work as a teacher. His doctoral thesis is about a cost-effective and simple energy supply, for example for families in remote regions of Nepal.
Baur's colleague Robert Weisser, Head of Physics at Geretsried Grammar School, emphasises that linking physics topics in the classroom with real projects around the world creates a special credibility: "He involves the students, they travel with him to Nepal and see what he is achieving there." Among other things, Baur encouraged the construction of a photovoltaic system and a hot water collector at the Lophelling Boarding School. Former students regularly spend several months at the Nepalese school after graduating from high school, assisting with lessons, helping with renovations and making sure that the projects that have been initiated continue on site. "What I find very special here is that everyone is super happy and radiates a strong zest for life despite the simple life," says Elin Ott, who is currently doing voluntary service at the Lophelling Boarding School.
Commitment to sustainability and intercultural understanding
With his wide-ranging commitment, Baur is a role model both professionally and personally, explained Prof Dr Andrea Strübind, Vice President of Studies and Teaching at the University of Oldenburg, at the award ceremony. "Stephan Baur knows how to inspire enthusiasm for the STEM subjects through his committed and practical teaching. He is a teacher who encourages young people all over the world to surpass themselves and work towards sustainability and intercultural understanding. As a university, we attach great importance to promoting precisely these kinds of outstanding skills in our student teachers at an early stage and in the long term."
Klaus von Klitzing, who spent his early school years in Oldenburg, is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart and a member of the International Solvay Institute. He is also a jury member of the Wittgenstein Prize, which is awarded by the Austrian Research Foundation. In 1980, he discovered a new quantum effect and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1985. The Von Klitzing constant named after him had a significant influence on modern semiconductor development and precision measurement technology. In 2006, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oldenburg, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.