Focus on materials for the future

The 16- to 18-year-old high school students, coming from Aachen, Bernau, Erlangen, Frankfurt (Oder), Hanover, Würzburg, Istanbul and Sofia, among other places, immersed themselves in the world of materials at Campus Senftenberg from June 26 to 30, 2023.

During lectures and experiments, they deepened their knowledge and acquired new knowledge about various classes of inorganic and organic materials as well as Polymeric Materials. Crystal growth, oxide materials, the construction of Li-ion batteries and organic dye synthesis were challenging project topics that the young people worked on in groups. After the presentations of the results, final certificates were the well-deserved reward.

A special highlight of the program was the visit to BASF Schwarzheide GmbH. During a tour of the plant, the students got to know state-of-the-art production facilities and learned about attractive career opportunities after graduation, among other things. During the camp, the participants stayed at the Hafencamp on Lake Senftenberg. They gained insights into the attractive region and student life, as they did on campus, for example at a barbecue with the Departmental Committee.

Once again, the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg under the leadership of its Center for Student Recruitment and Support - College and the national excellence school network MINT-EC jointly organized the MINT-EC camp in close cooperation.

The Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the BTU, Prof. Dr. Peer Schmidt, who represents the chair of Inorganic Chemistry at the university, was responsible for the scientific management of the camp.Professor Schmidt emphasized: "It is always a great pleasure for me to work on scientific topics with such inquisitive and highly motivated young people. The fact that we have such committed partners as the MINT-EC network and BASF at our side is of enormous value."
The BTU vice president was particularly pleased about the great response his experimental lecture "Chemistry of Fire" met with among the camp participants.

Betül, a high school student from Istanbul, particularly liked this lecture: "I registered with the desire to gain my first experience at a university in Germany and to experiment in chemical laboratories. I must say that I am really very impressed. The experiments were great, and everything was explained in a very understandable way. I enjoyed the lab work very much. In general, I can say that my expectations were fully met. Senftenberg is a beautiful small town, and the Materials Chemistry study programme at BTU would suit me and my interests very well."

Background
Since 2021, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg has been an official university partner of the national excellence school network MINT-EC of schools with upper secondary education and an outstanding mathematics, science and technology school profile. The official partnership is the result of the university's existing intensive cooperation with the network, which is under the auspices of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.
MINT-EC's main tasks include getting students interested in STEM study programmes, establishing cooperation networks between schools, companies, universities and research institutions, and providing further training for STEM teachers. The goals of the partnership between MINT-EC and the BTU are in particular to support students from schools with a focus on science and technology in their decision to study by learning about study options in the STEM subjects and to attract prospective students to study STEM subjects at the BTU.

The MINT-EC-Camp Materials Chemistry 2023 was supported by:
BASF Schwarzheide GmbH, the Association of the Chemical Industry e.V., Northeast Regional Association, the Institute for Environmental Technology and Recycling Senftenberg e.V. (IURS), the Zweckverband Lausitzer Seenland Brandenburg, the City of Senftenberg and the Friends of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg,the SPI Foundation - Brandenburg Regional Office.

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