The award is based on student nominations and presented by the Vice-Chancellor, a clear sign that Hannah’s teaching makes a difference. “I’m deeply moved and humbled that students feel so strongly supported and engaged in our course that they nominated me for this great honour,” says Hannah.
Students: “We learnt to think like researchers”
Andreas Pettersson and Nellie Gustafsson, who took Hannah’s course Electronics for Physicists last year, describe it as an eye-opener.
“At first, we were afraid of making mistakes, but the course forces you to feel uncomfortable, and eventually you become comfortable with it. That’s an important insight,” says Andreas.
“Hannah helped me take initiative and come up with my own solutions. It’s about learning from mistakes and thinking ahead,” Nellie adds.
“We learn by doing when we are a little outside our comfort zones.”
Hannah’s classes mix experiments, discussions, worksheets and miniature lectures to guide students through new content and methods.
“I believe that mistakes, reflection, and re-attempts are essential for effective learning – yet that can be really scary,” says Hannah, “so I focus on establishing and maintaining an environment that promotes students’ mental and emotional well being.”
A big part of learning is reflection, which depends on high-quality feedback. Students receive detailed comments on their work. In exchange, Hannah receives detailed comments on her teaching through “exit tickets,” collected after each class.
“Students share with me what surprised, frustrated, and intrigued them in each session through the tickets,” says Hannah, “so we can have a transparent dialogue about my choices in designing the course and learning activities. Sometimes I adjust my course on the fly in response. We listen to each other.”
Alongside her teaching, Hannah conducts research in experimental particle physics with the ATLAS experiment at CERN and the Light Dark Matter eXperiment at SLAC. Passionate about combining research with education, she also supervises bachelor and master’s students. She includes many examples from her research in the course, inviting one of her research students to present to the class annually.
“I stayed in academia because I want to work with students. It’s amazing to support their growth,” she says.
Why students nominated Hannah Herde
The students who nominated Hannah for Lund University’s award for distinguished teaching wrote:
“Hannah Herde has an active teaching style that promotes student engagement and encourages all students to actively participate in discussions. She truly cares about her students and continuously takes in feedback from them. This feedback is implemented quickly and transparently. Hannah is excellent at contextualising what she teaches so that students understand its relevance. Something students particularly highlight is that Hannah is very inclusive and treats all students as equals, regardless of educational level or background.”
Hannah Herde will receive Lund University’s award for distinguished teaching during the University’s Annual Celebration on 23 January 2026.