The SciLMi BITs are designed for in-service secondary school teachers of all subjects who teach students aged 12 to 18. They deliberately bring together teachers of science and non-science subjects, as cross-subject collaboration lies at the heart of the training.
\nApplicants
\nNo prior knowledge of the SciLMi Framework is required.
\nApplications can be submitted through an online tool, e.g. LimeSurvey. The application form collects the information needed to check eligibility and to ensure a balanced group.
\nTwo free-text questions are the basis of the blind review. To make the answers comparable, both questions refer to the applicant's own teaching context and are limited to 150 words.
\nThe first question shows whether applicants recognise the challenge the training addresses in their own teaching and how much they need the training. The second question shows how they intend to transfer what they learn beyond the course.
\nSocio-scientific issues span multiple perspectives and cannot be addressed by a single subject alone. A world facing such issues needs people who think across subject boundaries. Helping students connect learning across subjects thus becomes one of the key tasks of teachers. Supporting teachers in this task is a declared aim of SciLMi (→ SciLMi Approach).
\nThe selection therefore aims at the broadest possible range of subjects, without a fixed quota for individual subject groups such as STEM.
\nAfter the course content, participants valued the international encounter most (→ Course Format & Delivery: From BITs to PRO). The group should therefore also be as diverse as possible in terms of countries and teaching experience, and balanced in terms of gender.
\nThe minimum group size and composition are defined in the implementation criteria (→ Validation & Implementation Criteria).
\nApplications are assessed in a structured and transparent procedure:
\nFor each selected applicant, the team researches the best available train, bus, and flight connections at the time of notification and sets an individual maximum for travel reimbursement, which is stated in the offer. Where a train journey takes less than eight hours, rail travel is mandatory. This uses the funding as economically as possible and avoids the unequal financial burdens that flat, distance-based unit costs can create (→ D 7.3).
\nSelected applicants must actively accept their place: they confirm their participation by submitting proof of their travel booking within seven days of notification. Otherwise, the place is offered to the next applicant on the waiting list. Early booking also keeps travel costs low.
\nEach reviewer scores each free-text answer independently from 0 to 3. The scores take into account
\n3 – Specific and clearly related to the aims of the training
\n2 – Relevant, with a clear link to the applicant's own context
\n1 – Broadly relevant, but vague or generic
\n0 – Off-topic, minimal, or too generic to assess
\nTip: AI-generated applications Many free-text answers are now written with the help of AI. Reviewers should therefore check whether an answer merely restates the course description or contains individual elements, such as references to the applicant's own students, subject, school, or a concrete situation. The rubric's criteria of specificity and authenticity make this check part of the scoring, so that all reviewers apply the same standard.