Anyone who claims that young people today lack an interest in the natural sciences and fail to achieve success in those fields clearly hasn’t yet taken a look around the plus-MINT boarding school Steinmühle. There, in fact, the students have racked up one victory after another in the “Jugend forscht” competitions. Akaash Bhagwat (14) and Emil Zuckermann (12) recently took first place in physics at the state level in this competition.

A Dedicated Team of Teachers

There’s a whole team of students at Steinmühle High School who are investing a lot of enthusiasm and time in the subjects of math, computer science, natural sciences, and technology. An amazing fact: Not a single one of them went home empty-handed from this year’s “Jugend forscht” competition! The fact that Steinmühle in Marburg stands out from surrounding high schools with these results also makes the teachers proud. STEM coordinator Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf says, “Our students are eager to do research, and we as a team of teachers support them in that.”

It goes without saying that this team itself consists of die-hard scientists. However Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, Dr. Sven Freibert, Malte Klimczak, Dr. Eva Neumann, Antje Seel, and Dr. Patrick Szabo manage to do it—they manage to inspire the young people.

“An outstanding piece of work”

The laudatory speech for the winners of the Hessian state competition “Jugend forscht” in physics, Akaash Bhagwat and Emil Zuckermann, certainly offers deep insight: “…They presented an outstanding project on the topic “Smart Fluids—Smart Cars?”, which impressed us with its exceptionally high level of motivation and genuine interest in the subject.
We particularly appreciated your highly structured scientific approach, in which you systematically varied influencing factors independently of one another, conducted measurement series meticulously, and evaluated your results in a clear, meaningful, and reproducible manner,” the laudatory speech states.

What had Akaash and Emil done?

Since both students are huge car fans, it was obvious: their joint research project would be about cars. The two teenagers investigated the viscosity of MR fluids. Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are smart functional fluids that change their viscosity—that is, their viscous properties—from liquid to semisolid within milliseconds when exposed to a magnetic field. Using various measurement methods, Akaash and Emil developed a working prototype for adaptive shock absorbers. — A success that earned them press coverage, including an article and a video, about their research.

Considering that in the previous regional qualifying round, all 6 of the 6 teams from Schule & Internat Steinmühle that competed had emerged victorious, that fact alone must be described as absolutely extraordinary. The fact that several Steinmühle teams subsequently competed at the very top at the state level is evident from the following list:

The “Jugend forscht” winning teams in the regional competition (RW) and the state competition (LW):

Felix Sacher (10th grade) and Sophie Sacher (6th grade) / Topic: AIceBear cares everywhere—AI assistance system for chronically ill children: RW 1st place in the “Working World” category, LW 2nd place in the “Working World” category & Special Prize from the German Hearing Aid Industry Association

Aurelia Wild, Marietheres Schwabe, Fatma Sepetcigil (5th grade) / Topic: Making Baby Diapers More Eco-Friendly—Plant Power Instead of Superabsorbents: RW 1st Place in Chemistry, LW Geolino Special Prize (Participation in the “Jugend Forscht Junior” competition)

Marlene Jerrentrup, Ida Watzlawek (6th grade) / Topic: Living Foam Experiment: Elephant Toothpaste: RW 1st Place in Chemistry, LW 2nd Place in Chemistry & Special Prize from the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) (Participation in the “Jugend Forscht Junior” competition)

Lotte Wagner, Isabella Kuhl (7th grade) / Topic: The Formula for Flight: RW 1st place in physics, LW 2nd place in physics & special award for attention to detail (participation in the “Jugend Forscht Junior” competition)

Lara Khatib, Giorgia Kuhn (8th grade) / Topic: The Gen2 Horse Paper: RW 1st Place in the “Working World” category, LW Special Prize for Materials and Substances (Institute of Materials Science and Engineering). Participation in the “Jugend Forscht Junior” competition.

Akaash Bhagwat (8th grade), Emil Zuckermann (6th grade) / Topic: Smart Fluids—Smart Cars? MR fluids as metamorphic shock absorbers; RW: 1st place in Physics & Special Prize in Physics (game prize); LW: 1st place in Physics and the plusMINT Special Prize for Creativity in Physics. “Fascination with Electric Cars” experiment kit.

Unfortunately, there is no national competition in this category.

Oberhessische Presse, April 7, 2026

The Steinmühle sent six projects to the regional “Jugend Forscht” competition over the weekend—and returned with six first-place finishes! All of the Steinmühle’s participating projects won the regional title in their respective fields! As a result, the Marburg high school will travel to Kassel from March 20 to 21 with a total of 11 students and five projects to compete in the state competition of “Jugend Forscht Junior.” One group will compete in the state competition for older students in Darmstadt.

Ideas… they don’t really exist. Marietheres Schwabe, Aurelia Wild, and Fatma Sepetcigil from 5th grade had one. In their research, they focused on making baby diapers more eco-friendly—using plant power instead of superabsorbents.

Under the guidance of teachers Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf and Dr. Patrick Szabo, the group’s project in the “Working World” course sought an ecological alternative to the non-biodegradable superabsorbent used in baby diapers. In extensive tests of absorption capacity, absorption speed, and pressure stability, the students found that a mixture of apple pectin and konjac powder works very well. This combination of materials even passed the practical test in a “modified diaper” with Aurelia’s little brother.

A Closer Look at Elephant Toothpaste

Marlene Jerrentrup and Ida Watzlawek from 6th grade, under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Szabo and Antje Seel, conducted a “Living Foam” experiment in their chemistry class: Elephant Toothpaste

The group investigated how temperature, the amount of yeast, the amount of dish soap, and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide affect the amount of foam produced. Among other things, the young researchers found that you should use a lot of yeast, but not too much dish soap.

Unraveling the Formula for Flight

Isabella Kuhl and Lotte Wagner, seventh-graders, tested the formula for flight under the supervision of Malte Klimczak and Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf in the physics department.

The two researchers re-examined a recently discovered formula that can be used to calculate the wingbeat frequency of insects and birds based on the animals’ masses and wing areas. To do this, they measured and analyzed free-flying insects and butterflies they had raised themselves using video analysis. They also investigated how changes in the mass of an ornithopter (a wind-up model bird) affect its flight behavior.

A special project by young car enthusiasts

Akaash Bhagwat (8th grade) and Emil Zuckermann (6th grade) focused their project on the potential interaction between smart fluids and smart cars. Under the guidance of Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf and Dr. Sven-A. Freibert in their physics class, they investigated the fascinating properties of magnetorheological fluids and subsequently conducted experiments they designed themselves, which demonstrated how viscosity and damping behavior can be specifically controlled by magnetic fields. Finally, the students filled the shock absorbers of a model car with the magnetorheological fluid and demonstrated adaptive damping using a ramp test.

Paper made from horse manure has been further developed

Lara Khatib and Giorgia Kuhn from 8th grade worked on further developing their project, which involves producing eco-friendly paper from horse manure. Under the guidance of Dr. Sven Freibert and Dr. Eva Neumann, the two students were able to significantly improve the production of their eco-friendly paper from horse manure in this follow-up project as part of the “Working World” course. Among other things, adding starch reduced the paper’s brittleness. The result is a second-generation (Gen2) paper that is sturdy, thin, uniform, and easy to write on.

The AIceBear is a seasoned competitor

The AIceBear has already traveled with siblings Sophie and Felix Sacher to many competitions, including one in Singapore (as we reported). Now, the project—an AI-driven assistance system for chronically ill children—has been presented at Jugend Forscht in the “Working World” category and has qualified directly for the state competition. To present it to the jury, they’ll be heading to Darmstadt at the end of March, while the younger students will have to explain their experiments to the experts in Kassel.

The students are feeling confident about the next round.