Nicola Brauch

Prof. Dr. Nicola Brauch is a Professor for History Didactics at the Ruhr University Bochum since 2014. She leads the BMBF-funded project “Empowering Police Officers and Teachers in Arguing Against Antisemitism” (EMPATHIA³) and contributes to curriculum development in history education, including the Public History Master’s program (accredited in 2017).

• Academic Leadership: Vice Dean of the Faculty of History (2019–2020), Managing Director of the Historical Institute (2015–2017), and Scientific Advisory Board member of CERES (since 2016) and the Institute for Social Movements Bochum (since 2017).

Research Profile spans three pillars:

• Theory: Conceptual logic of learning tasks, historical narratology, and epistemological beliefs about history.
• Empiricism: Competency measurement in historical thinking, assessor agreement in diagnostics, and multimedia impact on learning.
• Pragmatics: Didactic reconstruction of historical research, comparative performance measurement, and research-based learning in student laboratories.

Her thematic expertise includes Modern and Contemporary History (Amsterdam/Netherlands under Nazism, 1850–1914 international relations), Early Modern Period (England’s rise to power, Reformation), and Antiquity (Greek democracy, textbook archaeology).

Scientific Awards:

• Waldseemüller Prize (2007)
• Bernhard Welte Prize (2001)

Advising and Grants: Supervises doctoral students like Christina Freund (religious plurality in museums) and Lena Behrendt (professional competence via archival materials). Co-leads the Alfried Krupp Student Laboratory (since 2013) and contributes to HiTCH 3.0 (competency assessment in history education).