The staff unit Diversity & Inclusion and TUM Family Service are launching a new initiative with the TUM Lead with Care Award. It honors managers who are particularly committed to integrating work and family life and who promote a supportive work culture through responsible action.
Our aim is to raise awareness of work-life balance at our university and highlight positive examples - an important contribution to attracting and retaining excellent specialists and managers in the long term.
The selection process for the “Lead with Care Award 2026” has been completed.
We would like to congratulate this year’s award winners:
- Dr. Astrid Bauer (Head of the Campus Office Weihenstephan, TUM School of Life Sciences)
- Prof. Dr. Lars Maegdefessel (Professorship of Molecular Vascular Medicine, TUM School of Medicine and Health)
- Prof. Dr. Doris Holzberger (Professorship of Psychology of Teaching and Learning, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology)
The next call for applications is expected to begin in October 2026. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed in time.
Managers (including management tandems) from the scientific and science-supporting/administrative areas of TUM who are particularly committed to successfully combining professional demands with family care responsibilities in their own team and/or towards students through innovative and effective measures can be nominated for the TUM Lead with Care Award. Nominations are given additional weight if the manager also exemplifies how leadership responsibilities can be successfully reconciled with family obligations.
The same manager can be nominated repeatedly, provided that they have not yet received an award.
Nominations may be submitted by all university members (staff, doctoral candidates, students) for their direct or superior manager. Nominators can be individuals or entire teams. Independent nominations of the same manager by different team members or by the entire team underscore the significance of a nomination.
We provide a nomination form for the TUM Balance Lead with Care and recommend its use. The document contains some guiding questions relating to the evaluation criteria, which help to justify the nomination in a clear and comprehensible manner. It also provides space for personal experiences and records special circumstances and the team structure, which may be taken into account in the evaluation.
The form facilitates the comparability of nominations. However, nominations can also be freely structured.
Please send your nomination with the subject line “TUM Lead with Care Award – Nomination” to familienservice(at)tum.de
The nominations received will be reviewed in advance by TUM Family Services.
The decision on the selection of the award winner will be made by a jury.
Members of the jury:
- Employees of TUM Family Services
- Representatives from the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning
- (Deputy) Equal Opportunity Officer
- (Deputy) Gender Equality Officer
The TUM Lead with Care Award is presented once a year at a formal ceremony. In addition to a certificate, the award-winning manager receives prize money of €1,000, which he or she decides how to use together with the team. Possible options include team activities such as (external) coaching or workshops, a team event, or a purchase to improve family friendliness at the respective organizational unit.