Register now! STEM Academy Talent Camps during fall break

The STEM Academy's Talent Camps in the Schleswig-Holstein Student Research Center Network (SFZ-SH) will take place from October 11th to 14th at the Kiel Student Research Center. Young researchers from the 9th grade upwards will work with experts from Kiel University (CAU) and the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) on current research topics in the fields of energy and bionics. Registration for the free camps is now open.

Working with materials scientist Dr. Sandra Hansen and bionics expert Dr. Thies Büscher, the students spend four days developing ideas for sustainable energy research and technologies of the future that are modeled on nature. The participants will gain insights into current research at Kiel University and find out, for example, how raw materials for rechargeable batteries are obtained or how insects manage to adhere to surfaces. They will also visit other research institutions in the state and conduct experiments in the laboratories of the Kiel Student Research Center. Kiel students and doctoral candidates provide insights into their everyday life at the university and answer questions about their studies.

The Ministry for General and Vocational Education, Science, Research and Culture supports the Talent Camps as part of the STEM Academy. "With the Talent Camps at the Kiel Student Research Center, we give students from all over Schleswig-Holstein the opportunity to directly experience current research," says Minister Karin Prien. "The focus is on how research into nature can help us even more in the future to find technical solutions for our everyday lives and to meet the challenges of the future." At the same time, she said, the Talent Camps are the best advertising for the STEM professions, which are in high demand.

Students who have already worked on their own research ideas in the past, including in extracurricular settings, are invited to attend. But networking among the young people is also an important component, as Professor Ilka Parchmann, head of the Department of Chemistry Education at the IPN Kiel, explains: "The Talent Camps are aimed towards young people who are active in a student research center or, for example, have taken part in a competition such as Jugend forscht. At the vacation activity in the Kiel Student Research Center they can further deepen these experiences with others who are interested, meet like-minded people and network with each other."

The STEM Academy provides free overnight accommodations at the nearby GHotel to make it possible for all Schleswig-Holstein students to attend the Talent Camps. Participation in the event is also free of charge. Only the costs for travel to and from the event must be covered by the participants themselves.

All interested parties can register until September 15th, 2022 via the SFZ-SH website: https://bit.ly/3SMcISN. The number of participants is limited. The receipt of the registration will decide if more registrations are received than there are places available.

The most important facts in a nutshell:

What? STEM Academy Talent Camps.

When? October 11th to 14th, daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Where? Kiel Student Research Center, Am Botanischer Garten 16i, 24118 Kiel, Germany

Who? Students from grade 9 who are enthusiastic about research

Registration: www.sfz-sh.de/angebot/talentecamps-in-der-kieler-forschungswerkstatt-forschung-live-mit-erleben.html

Dr. Sandra Hansen

Phone: 0431-880 5651

E-mail: sandra.hansen@ipn.uni-kiel.de

Dr. Thies Büscher

Phone: 0431-880 1389

E-mail: tbuescher@leibniz-ipn.de

About the STEM Academy in the Schleswig-Holstein Student Research Centers Network

The STEM Academy in the Schleswig-Holstein network of student research centers (SFZ-SH) provides students with the broadest and most intensive support possible in the areas of math, science, computer science and technology (STEM). Interested as well as talented children and students can take advantage of additional offers through the student research centers as well as other partner institutions throughout Schleswig- Holstein. In addition, they can network and exchange ideas with researchers, but also with each other. In this way, involvement with STEM topics beyond the classroom should gradually take on a similar status in society as attendance at sports clubs or music schools.

The STEM Academy is a joint initiative of the Ministry of General and Vocational Education, Science, Research and Culture of the State of Schleswig-Holstein and the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN).