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Award-winning teaching at the Teaching Vets Symposium
The 11th Teaching Vets Symposium of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna took place on 30 April 2026. On this day, outstanding teachers are invited on stage and honoured. The critical jury (for most of the prizes) is made up of those whose judgement can be taken at face value: our students. The thematic focus this time was on our Third Mission Activities.
In addition to the two "classic" tasks of every university - namely research and teaching - universities also have a "third mission", namely the targeted and structured transfer of their knowledge beyond the student body to society and the economy.
Walter Baumgartner, Christian Dürnberger and Richard Zink were honoured with the new Third Mission Awards for their activities in the area of this third mission. The panel discussion entitled "Leading a sustainable third mission & science communication and making it usable for university teaching" provided a deep dive into the topic.
In a lively round table discussion:
- Walter Baumgartner (Österreichische Buiatrische Gesellschaft)
- Anja Böck (Complexity Science Hub)
- Christian Dürnberger (Messerli Research Institute for Human-Animal Interaction, Vetmeduni)
- Hanna Möller (University of Vienna, Science Communication Center Q)
- Willy Geiger (Podcast Bauer to the People)
- Robert Pichler (Wirtschaften am Land) and
- Richard Zink (Konrad Lorenz Institute for Comparative Behavioural Research, Vetmeduni)
Award winners in the individual categories
The Teaching Awards and the "Instructor" and "Students" of the Year 2026 awards were then presented. Teaching staff and students at Vetmeduni and practising veterinarians (instructors) were honoured.
Most recently, the traditional student award of the Vetmeduni University Student Union (HVU for short) - S.U.P.E.R. (Student Award to honour Phenomenal Commitment ) 2026 - was presented.
Teaching Awards
Teaching Award Vetmed - Non Clinical
Angelika Auer
Department of Biological Sciences and Pathobiology/Centre for Pathobiology/Unit Infectiology and Virology
Teaching Award Vetmed - Clinical
Moritz Bünger
Clinical Department of Farm Animals and Transformation of Food Systems/Clinical Centre for Population Medicine in Fish, Pigs and Poultry/Unit Swine Medicine
Teaching Award -Biomedicine/IMHAI
Natascha Leitner
Department of Biological Sciences and Pathobiology/Centre for Pathobiology/Unit Morphology
Students of the Year
Georg Gruber
Diploma Programme Veterinary Medicine
Maximilian Lahsnig
Bachelor Biomedicine and Biotechnology
To round off the event, visitors were invited to engage in informal dialogue at various Third Mission stations:
- "Curiosity meets wilderness " - Claudia Bieber, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology
- "Chickens are not helicopters - ramps instead of rotors " - Patrick Birkl, Centre for Animal Nutrition and Animal Welfare Sciences
- "Only those who overcome boundaries will discover new things" - Sonja Hartnack, Centre for Public Veterinary Medicine and One Health
- "Knowledge instead of fairy tales - wolf research in dialogue " - Lina Oberließen & Franziska Freudensprung, Core Facility Wolf Science Center
- "Educational research: The foundation for innovative teaching " - Evelyn Steinberg, Vice-Rectorate for Teaching, Teaching Innovation and Clinical Affairs
- "Cow strategy for hot days - preventing heat stress in cows " - Karen Wagener, Clinical Centre for Ruminants, Camelids and Herd Management
- "Do you speak "animal"? -Animal welfare knowledge for children " - Daniela Lipka, Tierschutz macht Schule
- Information on OER (Open Educational Resources) as a connecting element for the content stations - Ursula Ulrych, University Library
