"Jugend Forscht"—Our Trip to Kassel - Steinmühle

We did it! We—Maya Fischer, Marlene Wagner, and Anna-Lena Griesler—are proud to have come through two exciting days of competition.

On Friday at 8 a.m., it was time for us to say, “Off to Kassel!” Together with our advisor, Ms. Töhl, we set off from the Steinmühle. Upon arriving at the University of Kassel, we were warmly welcomed and immediately began setting up our booth. After a brief welcome by the competition director, Eva Kretzer, and our host, Prof. Axel Bangert, we had our first discussion with the jury, followed by a photo session. It wasn’t easy to satisfy the photographer, but the result is impressive (see below). The friendly jury seemed very interested and asked us some exciting questions about our topic, “Adhesives from Nature.” The second jury team, in particular, delved even deeper into the chemistry of adhesives.
Everyone enjoyed the lunch that followed, and we had some fun conversations—for example, about the different colors of glass bottles.
After the lunch break, we had some time to check out the other projects and play games like Jenga or Mogelmotte. Once that time was up, we speculated about what would happen in the next workshop. We were wrong in assuming it would be a drumming workshop. The juggling workshop (so we were completely off the mark) gave us plenty of opportunities to get to know the other participants better. Finally, we had pizza, after which we all headed back to the youth hostel satisfied and stuffed our bellies with candy.

Day 2—Once we arrived back at the university, we set up our booth again and, after another round of discussions, immediately headed into our lunch break. After lunch, the general public was also able to marvel at the various projects and ask questions about the individual topics. The awards ceremony, hosted by science journalist Sascha Ott, was a lot of fun for everyone, and we all had a good laugh, especially during the experiments. Just before things got serious for all the students, Steinmühle received a surprise: the Hopp Foundation’s School Prize (2,500 euros). When it was the Chemistry Department’s turn—third in line—we “only” received the Special Prize for Materials and Substances. Shortly before the end, after the technicians had received their prizes, four special prizes were awarded, and we were among the recipients: We were honored with the state prize for the best interdisciplinary project.
After the closing coffee and cake, we drove back to Steinmühle—tired, exhausted, and happy. For all of us, the two days were a very varied and exciting experience.

Anna-Lena Griesler (6c)