The Executive Director of Research, Dr. Jutta von Maurice, the Executive Director of Administration, Gerd Bolz, and André Müller-Kuller as a representative of the Coordinating Department of the NEPS took part in the 13^th EMSE Conference in Kiel on June 29 and 30, 2011. A central issue of the conference was the quality of teaching under the perspective of research findings, reference systems and observation instruments concerning the teaching quality and programs for the promotion of mathematic and scientific learning. Host of the 13^th EMSE Conference was the NEPS cooperation partner IPN (Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik, Leibniz Insitute for Science and Mathematics Education, Kiel).