The University of Education Karlsruhe (Germany) is the coordinating partner in the proPIC project and is responsible to lead and manage it. The University was established in its present form in 1962. Attended by 3.700 students and 180 researchers, the University provides a high standard in research and teaching in the field of education, with a focus on subject and age-group specific teaching and learning methodology as well as on educational processes in social, cultural and institutional contexts.

The University offers a teacher training programme for primary and lower-secondary school, including the «Europalehramt» (bilingual teaching) programme, which qualifies teachers to teach other specialist subjects in either French or English. In addition to the teacher training programmes, the University offers B.A. and M.A. programmes in the field of education as well as the possibility to carry out doctoral and post-doctoral research.

The profile of the institution as a whole emphasises European cultural studies, intercultural education, plurilingualism and media education. The University works closely with partner universities in many other countries and offers exchange opportunities for both students and lecturers.

Mareike Oesterle is a PhD student and research assistant at the University of Education Karlsruhe. She has a degree in primary and secondary teaching and is part of the Institute of Multilingualism, Karlsruhe University of Education, Germany. So far, she has been involved in a number of different projects (e.g. proPIC, VEO Europa and Beyond School) mainly aiming at developing innovative formats to support (future) teachers’ in their own Continuing Professional Development (CPD). In her PhD she currently investigates a transient professional community of teacher educators and explores possible ways to foster professional learning in a transnational context. Further interests are language learning and teaching, as well as the use of mobile technologies in teacher education.