Virtual Lab Day: "This is what I want to do!"
The DWI participated in Virtual Lab Day on 15 September together with five other institutes. This gave pupils from the tenth to thirteenth grades their first insights into leading research institutes in materials research. The Virtual Lab Day is part of the materials holidays, in which pupils are offered internships at research institutions during the autumn holidays. The project is financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
After a short round of introductions, things got started straight away: the pupils were first able to get to know the DWI better through a virtual tour of the institute. There, Claudia Formen and Janko Stoffels, chemical laboratory assistants, showed the participants around the institute. Afterwards, they also wanted to present the institute's research. So they took a look through the electron microscope with the pupils. Step by step, the participants were able to watch the preparation of an insect and the view through the microscope. Afterwards, an experiment on the production of organic substances was shown and explained. "This gives me a much better idea of everyday life in the lab," said one participant at the end of the video. The many questions also show a great interest in materials research at the DWI.
Claudia Formen, chemical laboratory technician and trainer, and Janko Stoffels, also a chemical laboratory technician at the DWI, guided the participants through the day. In addition, Dr. Wolfgang Luther, representative of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) Technology Centre and representatives of the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF) guided through the Lab Day.
At the end of the event, everyone agreed: the Lab Day was a complete success. "It only strengthened my resolve that this is what I want to do one day," says one participant at the end of the day. The DWI would like to thank all the participants, partners and organisers and hopes to see one or two of them again in autumn at the materials holidays.
In addition to the DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, the Helmholtz Centre Hereon, the Leibniz Institute for Materials-oriented Technologies (IWT), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Leibniz Institute for Composite Materials (IVW), the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM), the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF) also took part in a total of four events. The pupils not only got to know the different institutes, but also gained an impression of their research. For example, they observed experiments on catalysis, listened to lectures by scientists and learned about sustainable, resource-saving technologies.