Rules and Regulations (from October 2022) #

Preamble #

All personal designations in these rules and regulations refer equally to women and men, regardless of their grammatical form.

The terms “lecturer” or “assistant” include all persons who hold lectures, practicals, or exercises at TUM.

Art. 1: General Provisions #

The TRAFO is an award given to lecturers and assistants at TUM for outstanding teaching performance.
The aim of this award is to enhance teaching in comparison to research and to demonstrate the high quality of teaching at TUM to the outside world.
The terms “EI students” or “students of electrical engineering and information technology” refer to the following target group: Students of the “Professional Profiles” which include the Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (BSEI) and the Master of Science Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (MSEI) programs, as well as students of “Professional Profiles” that are bundled with these according to the TUM basic regulations.
Any lecturer/assistant who designs (lecture or central exercise - also with practical part) and holds at least one event for the EI students in the year of the award can be a prize winner. One prize will be awarded in the category “Best Lecturer” and two prizes in the category “Best Assistant”.
The TRAFO can be awarded to an individual or a team.
The TRAFO will be awarded on “Fakultätstag” of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology or the School of Computation, Information and Technology. If this cannot take place, the prize can also be awarded at the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology or the School of Computation, Information and Technology or at the FVV of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology or the School of Computation, Information and Technology.
The jury members consult with the university’s political representatives on nominating candidates for the prize of good teaching from the StMWK.

Art. 2: Jury #

The prize winners are determined by a student jury specially set up for this purpose.
This consists of at least 4 EI students, of whom at least 2 students have studied for at least 4 semesters.
Proposals for jury members can be submitted to the student council EI e.V. until a deadline determined by them.
A general meeting of the student council EI e.V. (hereinafter referred to as the MV) selects at least five suitable candidates from these proposals.
From the candidates suitable according to the preceding paragraph, an FVV selects four candidates with the most votes and all remaining candidates who have achieved an absolute majority for this academic year at the beginning of the academic year.
If a jury member does not adequately fulfill their duties, they can be released from their duties by an MV.
If a member of the jury drops out (e.g. due to exmatriculation or exclusion), a successor will be chosen by election at an MV provided the successor still has the opportunity to attend all relevant lectures. Otherwise, the jury will remain reduced in terms of its membership.
Upon request of an MV, the jury is obliged to report on the current state of its work in the non-public part of an MV.
The jury must meet regularly.
The meetings of the jury are not public.
Minutes are kept of the jury’s meetings.
Upon request of an MV, access to the minutes of the jury’s meetings must be granted within its non-public part.
Students who attend an event of a candidate for a prize and are not members of the jury may be consulted as advisors in the decision-making process.
The basis for all decisions must be outstanding qualities of a candidate and not deficiencies of other candidates.
The jury members are obliged to maintain confidentiality about their work.

Art. 3: Proposal of Prize Winners #

Proposals for prize winners can be submitted to the jury in each semester up to 4 weeks before the end of the lecture period. They are valid for the current academic year.
This period must be announced via relevant information platforms no later than 1 week after the relevant FVV.
All students of electrical engineering and information technology who are not employed at the same department as the proposed candidate at the time of the proposal are entitled to make a proposal.
If no proposals are submitted within this period, the jury can fall back on the proposals from the last award ceremony.
A proposal must be substantiated in writing, with the positive aspects of the teaching event being named in the justification.
The proposer has the right to be heard by the jury on their proposal.

Art. 4: Evaluation Criteria #

The criterion for the award must be the teaching activities of the lecturer/assistant.
The award is given for outstanding teaching.
The following criteria can be considered in the evaluation of individual candidates: Presentation of material, motivation of students by lecturers/assistants, structure of teaching events, structure of material, atmosphere in the teaching event and appearance of lecturers/assistants, rhetoric, style of presentation, use of appropriate presentation techniques and media, continuous adjustment of teaching events to current circumstances and scientific developments, above-average commitment to improving their own teaching event, legibility and suitability for publication, evaluation of the script - also in correlation with the lecture, currentness of the lecture, clarity of the material, coordination of the exercise with the lecture, response to students’ questions, inclusion of foreign languages in teaching events, office hours, coordination with other teaching events, and preparation for the exam in exercise events.
Not individual factors alone are of importance, but the interaction of the individual factors and the resulting overall picture of the teaching event.
The impression gained must be supplemented and verified by the opinions of the listeners of the respective event.

Art. 5: Selection of Candidates #

The jury makes a pre-selection from the proposed prize winners according to Art. 3. This can also include all proposed prize winners.
This selection must be made within two weeks after the end of the proposal period.
At least three lecturers and three assistants must be selected.
Before the decision-making process, at least one teaching event of each proposed candidate must be attended by at least two members of the jury.
The list of candidates must be unanimously agreed upon by the jury.
The criterion for selection must be the teaching activities of the lecturer/assistant.
The selection must be positively substantiated, i.e. it must only be pointed out why someone was chosen, not why someone was not chosen.
All selected persons must be informed of their candidacy by the jury within seven days of the selection day.
Each candidate can object to their candidacy within 48 hours.