idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Internationally renowned inclusion expert Professor Vera Moser has held Goethe University Frankfurt’s “Kathrin and Stefan Quandt Endowed Professorship for Inclusion Research” since 2020. Funded by the Quandt family of entrepreneurs, this top professorship focuses exclusively on the topic. The continuation of the ten-year funding was tied to the professorship receiving a positive evaluation after five years. An external body has now evaluated the endowed professorship for inclusion research, giving it an extremely positive assessment.
Unanimously and firmly very positive – this is the verdict of the international expert report on the continuation of funding for the “Kathrin and Stefan Quandt Endowed Professorship for Inclusion Research”, which Prof. Vera Moser has held since 2020. In their evaluation, the three experts from the universities of Zurich, Graz and Stockholm attest to the professorship's outstanding achievements – both in the areas of research, teaching and the promotion of young talent, as well as with regard to cooperation within the university and the subject’s external impact on the international expert community.
How can more children with disabilities be taught in mainstream schools? Set up in 2020, the endowed professorship for inclusion research and its team have been tasked with scientifically supporting the transformation of school education towards a “school of diversity” and contributing to the corresponding training of teachers. Vera Moser tackled these tasks in an extraordinary manner, the experts say, pointing out that her research is exceptionally productive compared to other professorships in inclusion and educational science – as shown by four approved third-party funded projects to date with a total volume of more than €500,000.
The evaluation also highlights that Vera Moser initiated new research findings in school inclusion research, thereby ensuring national and international visibility in her field. She is part of an interdisciplinary and participatory team researching the removal of barriers that exist in schools from the perspective of autistic pupils; one of her colleagues, Dr. Anne Piezunka, is researching the topic of “psychological violence” as exercised by teachers. On behalf of Frankfurt Municipality, Vera Moser is also investigating the reasons for the continuously rising demand for school places for pupils with a special educational focus on “intellectual development”. Together with her colleague Prof. Merle Hummrich, Vera Moser initiated Goethe University’s [in:just] research initiative, which deals with questions of inclusion, justice and experiences of recognition in the education system.
With respect to teaching, the reviewers emphasized Vera Moser's special ability to combine theoretical approaches with practical applications – an ability that contributes to her students’ high level of learning success and qualifies young academics in a special way. The inclusion researcher is also extremely active in communicating scientific findings to a broader audience as well as in the context of policy communication; for example, she was invited to serve as an advisory member of Germany’s Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (SWK) on various topics.
The experts expressly recommend continuing the endowed professorship for the next five years. The donor couple, entrepreneur Stefan Quandt and his wife Kathrin, were “happy to make the decision to continue funding the professorship for the second half of the contract term (another five years)”, said the letter of commitment, dated early February 2025.
The initiative for the professorship came from the Quandt entrepreneurial family five years ago. The couple had seen for themselves that the status quo of inclusion in schools was not prepared for the political demands placed upon it by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2009. Goethe University Frankfurt was able to recruit internationally renowned inclusion expert Prof. Vera Moser from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin to the new professorship. The endowed professorship was funded for ten years – provided that its work would be assessed positively at the halfway point.
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
Cultural sciences, Philosophy / ethics, Psychology, Social studies, Teaching / education
transregional, national
Miscellaneous scientific news/publications, Schools and science
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
