STEM teacher of the year honoured

He invented the "Schillermobil" for his school - a molecular biology laboratory that can be set up and dismantled at any time. Dr Florian Schaller also knows how to inspire enthusiasm for his subjects of chemistry and biology. On Tuesday, the teacher received the Klaus von Klitzing Prize 2016 for this. The award, which is worth 15,000 euros and has been presented by the University of Oldenburg and the EWE Foundation in co-operation for twelve years, recognises outstanding commitment in the STEM subjects - Mathematics, Computing Science, Natural Sciences and Technology. "There are teachers and there are favourite teachers. Mr Schaller clearly falls into the second category," said medical student Lea Tollrian in her laudatory speech for her former favourite teacher Florian Schaller at the ceremony on Tuesday evening. The winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Prof Dr Klaus von Klitzing, then took to the stage to personally present Schaller with the prize named after him, having just returned from a trip to Tokyo. The senior teacher was overwhelmed: "The prize makes me very proud. I am delighted that my work has been recognised in this way outside of school. I am particularly pleased that it also opens up new ways to draw attention to what has been achieved at the Schiller School Bochum and to further intensify the work." Schaller won the competition against 36 other teachers from all over Germany. He impressed the jury above all with his idea of the "Schillermobile" for science learning and the general practical relevance of his tasks. Another decisive factor: colleagues and pupils know him as a team worker and a versatile and socially committed teacher. Schaller came to the teaching profession in a roundabout way. His doctorate in 1997 was followed by a second degree in Spanish and philosophy. After subsequent research work, he finally entered the teaching profession in 2007. "With his extraordinary commitment, his didactic and pedagogical skills and his inexhaustible inventiveness in communicating scientific content, Florian Schaller arouses a great deal of curiosity and enthusiasm for research in children and young people - and thus probably even paves the way for many of them to study science. As a university with a focus on research-oriented learning, we are of course particularly pleased to have such young talent," emphasised Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper, President of the University of Oldenburg. Matthias Brückmann, Chairman of the Board of the EWE Foundation, added: "The Klitzing Prize has succeeded in emphasising the importance of teachers for the educational and professional biographies of our children. At the same time, the award emphasises the importance of STEM disciplines for our educational, economic and scientific system."