"Youths research" at the Berlin-Buch Campus
Over two days, 95 Berlin students aged eight to 18 put their scientific talents to the test; this year's regional competition "Jugend forscht" and "Schüler experimentieren" took place in February under the motto "Get Your Head Together" at the Max Delbrück Center’s MDC.C. The program included guided tours of the laboratories at the Max Delbrück Center, the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP), and the biotech companies Cellphenomics, FyoniBio and Silence Therapeutics.
Weighing and pipetting - two participants at the Lab Olympics.
The federal champions of 2023, Elora Marx and Alois Bachmann, present their project again this year at the MDC.C.
In the field of physics, Rusheel Sai Nuthalapati (left) clinched first place for his project. Robin Schulze-Tammena and Richard Bonello are the second-place winners.
During the guided tour of Professor Matthias Selbach's laboratory...
First, there's cotton candy for Heike Graßmann (center) and her advisor Corinna Franke-Wöller (right)...
...afterwards, regional champion Oliver Fas explains his research project on magnesium supplements to them.
Magic happened in between: Magician Oliver Grammel at the awards ceremony.
The young researchers showed a high degree of commitment and presented their ideas in front of both a critical jury and an interested audience: Can a cotton candy machine produce textiles? How can one reduce the bacterial load on plastic bottles? Who is better – slime mold or architect? Others optimized model rockets for high-altitude flights, eavesdropped on fungi talking, or contemplated how to remove space debris efficiently. The 2023 national winners, Elora Marx and Alois Bachmann, competed again this year in the regional competition in category of Mathematics/Computer Science – and once again achieved a regional victory with an artificial intelligence they wrote themselves.
A robot that draws mandalas or a cotton candy machine that spins textile fibers – the students presented their projects at the exhibition.
Award ceremony and special prizes
Ten first prizes were presented at the award ceremony, five in the "Jugend forscht" category and five in the "Schüler experimentieren" category. In total, there were 50 student-submitted projects in the competition. The winners will now go on to the state competition at TU Berlin.
"Our prosperity depends on research and innovation. It starts early on. That's why the 'Jugend forscht' competition is an ideal entry into a successful future. Every year, I am deeply impressed by the exciting experiments and the research spirit shown by the participants," says Professor Heike Grassmann, administrative director of the Max Delbrück Center, at the award ceremony. "Congratulations to all participants, and I wish all regional winners the best of luck in the state competition!"
Regional winner Oliver Fas presents his project "On the trail of magnesium."
The Berlin-Buch Campus also awarded special prizes to two outstanding projects in biology: Amelie Stadermann from the Europäisches Gymnasium Bertha-von-Suttner with "The development of slime molds under abiotic factors" and the "Jugend forscht" project "Effects of urea, copper sulfate, and sodium chloride on different wheat varieties" by Lasse Klebe, Kurt-Tucholsky-Oberschule.
Regional winner Amelie Stadermann investigated the development of slime molds under abiotic factors. For this, the campus granted her free admission to the Long Night of Sciences.
The campus will be supporting the competition once again next year. "We see how stimulating this competition is for children and young people. It’s a huge motivational boost to orient themselves towards STEM and be enthusiastic about research," says Dr. Ulrich Scheller, Managing Director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH.
Text: CBB & Max Delbrück Center
Here are the winners of the Regional Competition 2024 for "Jugend forscht" (JF) and "Schüler experimentieren" (SE):
World of Work
Anton Vogt (SE)
Bettina-von-Arnim-Oberschule
"The tool chair bag"
Mikhail Soldatov (JF)
Herder-Gymnasium Berlin
"SmartStick"
Biology
Amelie Stadermann (SE)
Europäisches Gymnasium Bertha-von-Suttner
"The development of slime molds under abiotic factors"
Lasse Klebe (JF)
Kurt-Tucholsky-Oberschule
"Effects of urea, copper sulfate, and sodium chloride on different wheat varieties"
Chemistry
Oliver Fas (SE)
Bettina-von-Arnim-Oberschule
"On the trail of magnesium"
Mathematics/Computer Science
Alois Bachmann, Elora Marx (JF)
Humboldt-Gymnasium Berlin
"GENErAItion - Cell transcriptome analysis and generation with AI"
Physics
Rusheel Sai Nuthalapati (JF)
PhysLab-Zentrum für Schulkooperationen FU
"SimuMADR: A simulative fuel-efficient solution for space debris"
Technology
Alexander Schliwa, Piet Richter (SE)
Humboldt-Gymnasium
"Feeder"
Tim Reuter, Yannick Engel, Artur Korpulinski (SE)
Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule
"Construction of a mini transrapid"
Timo Rurack (JF)
Beethoven-Gymnasium
"StratosFlare: Optimization of model rockets for high-altitude flights"
