Trinational Student Congress on Science and Technology Makes a Lasting Impression
The goal of the two-day event organized by the Académie de Strasbourg and the Freiburg Regional Council, in close coordination with the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Baden-Württemberg was to inspire students starting in 9th grade to pursue careers in science and technology—fields of great importance in the border region—to break down language barriers, and to promote cross-border exchange.
At a “Market of Opportunities,” the approximately 150 young people from more than 20 different schools and institutions presented some 40 projects they had developed over the past few months in their science and technology classes. In doing so, they had addressed a wide range of current, socially relevant issues. Topics ranged from solar-powered trucks, autonomous driving, and modular parking lot canopies to making fine particulate matter visible, senior-friendly pedestrian traffic lights, smart first-aid kits, protein extraction from yeast cells as a meat substitute, smart weather stations, gluten, heating without a heater, and hair at its limit, all the way to casino games for the PC, disco boxes, bubble machines, and automatic beer dispensers. Isabelle Wolf, advisor to the rector of the Académie de Strasbourg, Volker Schebesta, State Secretary at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports, and Stephan Trahasch, Rector of Hochschule Offenburg, were impressed during their tour of the market by the young people’s dedication, research achievements, and creativity. This was also evident in the presentations, during which the individual project groups presented their respective findings to the other participants. For example, the research on the chemistry and physiology of grape leaves conducted by a German-French group shed light on how autumn colors develop in grapevines. The students from the Mildred Scheel School in Böblingen and the Lycée Amélie Zurcher in Wittelsheim were awarded first prize for this work at the closing ceremony honoring the best posters. Second prize went to a group from the Collège St. Etienne in Strasbourg, which, under the title “Leaf it Green, Keep it Green!”, had examined the effects of environmental pollution on leaves. And third prize went to a group from the Windeck Gymnasium in Bühl, which had investigated the chemistry of chocolate. The Student Prize, for which the participants themselves voted, went to a group from the Ferdinand-von-Steinbeis-Schule in Tuttlingen for their light photography using a one-pixel camera.
Lectures by professors and visits to various labs at Hochschule Offenburg provided a welcome change of pace for the students.
Wolf, Schebesta, and Trahasch agreed that, overall, this alternative form of learning sends a strong signal for cross-border cooperation and also promotes the students’ intercultural and language skills. And this is all the more important given that the Europe of tomorrow needs bright minds to tackle the challenges ahead.