Schleswig-Holstein’s State Order of Merit awarded to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ilka Parchmann

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ilka Parchmann, head of the IPN’s Department of Chemistry Education and a professor at Kiel University, has received the Order of Merit of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Minister-President Daniel Günther presented her with the award on August 18 at a ceremony in the Jahr100Haus at Molfsee open-air museum.

Günther marked the eightieth anniversary of the state’s foundation by awarding the Order of Merit to a total of five outstanding personalities from Schleswig-Holstein. The recipients of the Order alongside Ilka Parchmann were Dr. Christian Kuhnt, director of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival; Prof. Dr. Katja Matthes, director of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel; Reinhard Sager, a former head of a district authority; and Hans-Jakob Tiessen, former president of Schleswig-Holstein’s state association for the promotion of sport.

“All of you, by your remarkable commitment and your outstanding achievements, improve and enhance numerous areas of our day-to-day life together. This puts you among the people who make Schleswig-Holstein what it is,” said Minister-President Daniel Günther during the ceremony.

Services to STEM education

Since taking up her position as head of the IPN’s Department of Chemistry Education in 2009, Ilka Parchmann has made impactful contributions to the STEM education landscape in Schleswig-Holstein and beyond. One of her work’s chief concerns is linking learning in school with learning that happens outside the school setting. Her involvement has supported and advanced numerous initiatives and venues for learning, including the Kiel Science Outreach Lab, the Netzwerk Schülerforschungszentren Schleswig-Holstein that supports school students in conducting scientific research, a STEM research cluster, and the STEM Academy Schleswig-Holstein. She and her team are especially committed to helping children and young people access science via a variety of different routes, and have a special interest in inspiring girls and young women to engage with STEM subjects.

Ilka’s impact on chemistry education in schools is also enduring. Her Germany-wide “Chemistry in Context” project has provided key ideas and inspiration for the chemistry classroom, encouraging the use of real-world issues to teach content and guiding students to engage in scientific thinking.

Teacher education and science communication

The award additionally honors Ilka for her work in teacher education, both initial and in-service training. Ilka has spent many years helping improve teacher education in roles such as her current chairpersonship of the Allianz für Lehrkräftebildung (Alliance for Teacher Education) in Schleswig-Holstein.

The ceremony further recognized Ilka’s long track record of work for science communication. Across a number of contexts, in research settings such as Clusters of Excellence and Collaborative Research Centres, she is helping develop evidence-based approaches to making science comprehensible and accessible to various target groups, and creating formats with an emphasis on giving young people insights into current research. She is also the initiator of various projects promoting interaction between science, education, and science communication; one current project is the Kiel Science Communication Network.

In awarding Ilka Parchmann the Order of Merit, the state of Schleswig-Holstein has expressed its appreciation for these years of service and achievement in its STEM education and science communication fields.