Evaluation of Teaching and Studies

Why conduct evaluations?

Evaluations serve to further adapt teaching to the needs of students and to give lecturers feedback on their teaching activities. In addition to the quality of individual courses, the evaluation also addresses conceptual issues relating to the degree program as a whole. Evaluation is one of the cornerstones of quality management in the department.

As a student, please take advantage of this opportunity to actively contribute to the further development of the degree program in Bonn—for yourself and for future generations of students. The surveys are only meaningful if there is active participation.

Evaluation committee

Dean's Office

eCampus evaluation results

How does the evaluation process work?

The evaluation process is organised internally in the department. The evaluation team is responsible for the central implementation and organisation of teaching evaluation in all courses offered by the department. In addition to lectures and study groups, the Bonn exam course and additional courses (key competencies, subject-specific foreign language training (FFA) and language courses) are also evaluated.

The evaluation takes place towards the end of the semester or towards the end of the course in question by surveying participants on the eCampus learning platform. The evaluation team posts the standardised surveys in the individual eCampus course groups. The evaluation period for regular courses is two weeks. The results are evaluated by the evaluation team for the respective course. Lecturers can view their personal evaluation results on eCampus and, upon request, receive the evaluation as a PDF file from the evaluation team.

The evaluations are also published in the eCampus course ‘Evaluation Results Law’, provided that the lecturer in question has agreed to the publication.

Information on data protection

Here you will find information on data protection in the context of the course evaluation process at the Department of Law.

Please note: Only the German version of the information on data protection is binding. You can find the corresponding PDF file in the German translation.

Teaching Awards

Rector's Teaching Award

The Rector’s Teaching Award is presented once a year at the graduation ceremony in July to one recipient per department. Recipients from the Department of Law may include lecturers and, every other year, study groups as well. The winner is determined based on the average of the evaluation results for their own courses. The overall rating of the course is taken into account.

For lecturers, all lectures they have taught over the past two semesters are included in the evaluation, provided each has been evaluated by at least five students. This includes lectures, seminars, colloquia, and the modules of the exam preparation course, but excludes courses on foreign legal terminology, foreign-language law courses, and courses in the FFA-program. For postdoctoral candidates, the evaluations of the study groups have led are also taken into account. The eligible courses of a lecturer must have been evaluated by a total of at least 80 students.

All study group leaders should also have the opportunity to win this award. For this reason, every two years, all study groups from the past four semesters are considered, provided they have been evaluated by a total of at least 50 students. To be eligible for the Rector’s Teaching Award, the respective instructors must still be employed at the University of Bonn.

Departmental Teaching Award

The Departmental Teaching Awards for outstanding teaching are presented annually at the faculty’s summer festival. For each academic pillar, the awards are given to one lecturer and one study group leader. Here, too, the requirement is that the respective faculty members—provided they are on permanent staff—will continue to be employed at the University of Bonn in the following semester. If the employment contract is fixed-term, continued employment at the University of Bonn is not required. The decisive date for assessing this requirement is the last meeting of the Evaluation Committee prior to the awarding of the teaching awards

Among lecturers, the award recipient is selected based on the same criteria used to award the Rector’s Teaching Award. However, the winner of the Rector’s Teaching Award cannot also receive the Departmental Teaching Award; in such cases, the runner-up receives the award.

The winners from the group of study group leaders are selected based on the evaluation results of the study groups from the last two semesters. Here, too, the overall evaluation of the course is taken into account, and the winner is determined based on the average of the results. Only study group leaders who have taught at least two study groups are eligible; these study group may have been held concurrently in one of the two relevant semesters or in both semesters. However, a course is only included in the calculation if it has been evaluated by at least nine study group participants. If a lecturer has taught study group in different areas of law, only those that meet the aforementioned requirements can be taken into account.

List of past winners

2026

Rector’s Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Alexander Scheuch

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Carsten König, Prof. Dr. Heiko Sauer, Prof. Wagner

Study group leaders: Svenja Hesse (Zivilrecht), Julian Hettihewa (Öffentliches Recht), Jonathan Porath (Strafrecht)

2025

Rector’s Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Alexander Scheuch

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Brinkmann, Prof. Dr. Sauer, Prof. Dr. Verrel

Study group leaders: Alexander Jansen (Zivilrecht), Julian Hettihewa (Öffentliches Recht), Elin Baumeister (Strafrecht)

2024

Rector’s Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Alexander Scheuch

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Brinkmann, Prof. Dr. Sauer, Prof. Dr. Wagner

Study group leaders: Sven Schubert (Zivilrecht), Arian Velis Wetzke (Öffentliches Recht), Christian Liefke (Strafrecht)

2023

Rector’s Teaching Award: Julian Hettihewa

Departmental Teaching Award: PD Dr. Matthias Fervers, Prof. Dr. Heiko Sauer, Prof. Dr. Torsten Verrel

Study group leaders: Dr. Ansgar Kalle (Zivilrecht), Carlos Cesarano (Öffentliches Recht), Dr. Jonas Schürger (Strafrecht)

2022

Rector’s Teaching Award: Frau PD Dr. Kathrin Brei

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Moritz Brinkmann, LL.M. (McGill), Prof. Dr. Heiko Sauer, Prof. Dr. Scarlett Jansen

Study group leaders: Thomas Schmitz-Justen (Zivilrecht), Julian Hettihewa (Öffentliches Recht), Ruth Schumacher (Strafrecht)

2021

Rector’s Teaching Award: Herr Peter Glaubach

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Koch, Prof. Dr. Sauer, Prof. Dr. Verrel

Study group leaders: Maxime von Dreusche (Zivilrecht), Philipp Voigt (Öffentliches Recht), Adrian Haubrich (Strafrecht)

2020

Rector’s Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Koch

Departmental Teaching Award: PD Dr. Brei, Prof. Dr. Dr. Di Fabio, Prof. Dr. Verrel

Study group leaders: Herr Engbarth (Zivilrecht), Herr Kohal (Öffentliches Recht), Herr Haubrich (Strafrecht)

2019

Rector’s Teaching Award: Frau von Kalm

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Koch, Prof. Dr. Dr. Di Fabio, Prof. Dr. Zaczyk

Study group leaders: Herr Kleindiek (Zivilrecht), Herr Dürr (Öffentliches Recht), Herr Glaubach (Strafrecht)

Repeat-study group: Frau Avenarius

CASTLE-study group: Frau von Kalm

2018

Rector’s Teaching Award: Dr. Stephan Seiwerth, LL.M. (Leuven)

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Brinkmann, LL.M. (McGill), Prof. Dr. Dr. Di Fabio, Prof. Dr. Zaczyk

Study group leaders: Herr Ernst (Zivilrecht), Herr Schefer (Öffentliches Recht), Herr Wach (Strafrecht)

Repeat-study group: Herr Engbarth

CASTLE-study group: Frau von Kalm

2017

Rector’s Teaching Award: JProf. Dr. Sanders, M.Jur. (Oxford)

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Brinkmann, LL.M. (McGill), Prof. Dr. Sauer, Prof. Dr. Zaczyk

Study group leaders: Herr Dr. Stephan Seiwerth, LL.M. (Leuven) (Zivilrecht), Frau Kristina Schönfeldt (Öffentliches Recht), Herr Alexander Wach (Strafrecht)

Repeat-study group: Frau Kristina Schönfeldt

2016

Rector’s Teaching Award: JProf. Dr. Sanders, M.Jur. (Oxford)

Departmental Teaching Award: Prof. Dr. Koch, Prof. Dr. Dr. Di Fabio, Prof. Dr. Zaczyk

Study group leaders: Herr Kowalski (Zivilrecht), Herr Steingrüber (Öffentliches Recht), Herr Wach (Strafrecht)

Repeat-study group: Herr Wienecke