National Comenius Leadership Fellow grant for Jan Riezebos

The Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) and The Dutch Research Council (NWO) have decided to award the national Comenius Leadership Fellow grant 2022 to Jan Riezebos, professor of Educational Innovation at the Faculty of Economics and Business.

This grant for experienced professionals in higher education is offered by the minister of education. The grant includes membership of the national Comenius Leadership Fellow network and a prize of 500,000 euros to be spent on implementing an educational innovation within the University of Groningen. The educational improvement should be of direct benefit to students in Dutch higher education; thus, it is also important that the innovation is disseminated in the national context too. NRO and NWO have been involved in the application and assessment process. It is the first time that an employee of the University of Groningen has received this national grant.

The innovation project for which Riezebos received the grant was developed together with the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, the Centre for Information Technology, and the Teaching Academy Groningen. It is titled "Creating value of student diversity through logistical innovations" and includes research and implementation of logistical support tools and classroom management tools for staff and students in Brightspace, such as tools for grouping students and informing lecturers on the students that have enrolled their course. Moreover, the project includes training for teachers in becoming aware and knowing how to deal with various aspects of student diversity. The project will run for 3.5 years.