New regional youth research competition for southern Brandenburg at BTU

The Brandenburg South Regional Competition of Jugend forscht is being held for the first time. The Jugend forscht e.V. foundation has given the 2026 competition round the motto "Maximum Perspective" and launched the new regional competition in partnership with BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. During the all-day event at BTU, the young researchers will present 25 independently developed research projects. After the technical evaluation by a 17-member jury from science and schools, a decision will be made on 4 March as to which projects will be awarded prizes and will represent the region at the Brandenburg state competition on 26 March at the Emil Fischer Gymnasium in Schwarzheide.

Broad spectrum of current topics

The variety of topics reflects relevant issues in science and technology as well as the different interests of young people. Projects from the Brandenburg South regional competition include the decomposition of plastic in water, the optimisation of a wind generator and the modelling of an energy system for Lusatia. In the field of digitalisation, applications of artificial intelligence are presented, for example to support easy language or to translate sign language. Other projects are dedicated to biological issues relating to species and environmental protection, agricultural contexts and physical phenomena such as sound waves or the bouncing behaviour of a football. 24 projects are competing in the Jugend forscht category (15-21 year olds) and one project will be presented in the Jugend forscht Junior category (from year 4).

"The range of topics impressively shows how diverse the interests of young people in the STEM field are," emphasises Prof. Dr Peer Schmidt, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg. "The regional competition offers an important platform to make these ideas visible and to fund the exchange between schools, science and society."

Exciting accompanying programme

The competition day at the BTU will be complemented by an interactive accompanying programme. A biology laboratory can be visited virtually using VR glasses, and 3D cells will be visible on a tracking wall. A robot dog, the virtual "Mission ISS" and a smoothie bike, where you can make fresh smoothies with your own muscle power, invite you to join in.

Public visiting hours

The Brandenburg South Regional Competition of Jugend forscht is open to interested visitors on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, from 2 pm to 4 pm.
This will be followed by the award ceremony.
The venue is the Konrad Zuse Media Centre of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Universitätsplatz 1 in 01968 Senftenberg.

About Jugend forscht

The Jugend forscht competition is Germany's best-known competition for school pupils and young people in the seven fields of Mathematics/Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Sciences, Working Environment and Technology. The organiser of the annual national competition is the Hamburg-based Jugend forscht e. V. foundation.
The competition takes place on three levels: regional competitions, at least one state competition and the best projects are presented at the national competition. The patron of the competition is the Federal President. A board of trustees, whose board chairperson is the Federal Minister of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, heads the Jugend forscht e. V. foundation.
The competitions are organised by sponsoring companies from various sectors.

The Jugend forscht Regional Competition Brandenburg South
is supported by:

Kjellberg Foundation
REWE Markt Kerstin Radke oHG / REWE Markt Jan Radke oHG
ZEDAS GmbH
GA Generic Assays GmbH

Contact us

Regional competition Jugend forscht for Brandenburg South at the BTU in Senftenberg

Youth researches competition management
Michael Schulz
Tel.: 01522 2620029