SINUS - A Trademark for Improving Mathematics and Science Education in Germany

Based on international comparative field studies - such as the TIMS study, the public and politics in Germany had to recognise that the German school education did not show the expected quality. Therefore the former Bund-Länder Commission for Education Planning and Research Promotion (BLK) decided to launch the pilot study "Increasing Efficiency in Mathematics and Science Education" (abbreviated as SINUS) in 1998. With this programme, improvement in the quality of education was to be initiated, tested and finally systematically spread on a scientific basis.

The aim of the SINUS Transfer programme was to improve the competence in both mathematics and science subjects by disseminating the results of the SINUS programme on a much larger scale.
The SINUS Transfer programme was launched in two phases (2003 - 2005; 2005 - 2007) with 13 federal states participating. Nearly 1800 schools were covered at the beginning of the second phase.

In August 2007 all of the participating federal states started a third phase or rather, implemented the contents of SINUS Transfer in new projects. From this point on, the organisation was carried out by each of the states (Länder) in a decentralised manner.

SINUS Transfer was the largest school development project that has ever been carried out in Germany.