Heidelberg Life Science Lab
The Heidelberg Life Science Lab has been an institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ, Heidelberg) since 2002 and has the task of promoting mathematically and scientifically-technically particularly interested and talented middle and upper school students. The focus is on the life sciences , which have a particular impact on Heidelberg as a location. At the same time, learning processes should be initiated that contribute to the development of interdisciplinary competencies and educationally relevant personality traits. New didactic approaches such as participation in authentic research and development activities, conveying subject-specific forms of representation and discourse and collaborative learning in knowledge-building communities are also tested.
Educational lines
The funding consists of an extracurricular program in the form of:
- In public Friday lectures, the curiosity of the students should be aroused. The lecture topics alternate between scientific, learning theory and philosophical content.
- The core work is carried out in working groups in which the pupils themselves determine the place, time and content of the collaborative project work under the mentorship of a scientist, teacher and student. Currently, 22 working groups have been set up that learn how to work propaedeutic science through authentic research activities: astrophysics, biochemistry, biomathematics, chemistry, experimental physics, computer science, climate and environment, art, mathematics, medicine, molecular cell biology, neuropsychology, pharmacy, philosophy, political science, quantum physics, robotics , Synthetic biology, systems biology, theoretical physics, economics, zoology.
- In weekend seminars, topics are dealt with that complement and expand the work of the working groups.
- National and international holiday academies enable participants to classify the skills they have acquired in an international context. In 2007 the International Science Academy Estonia carried out a cross-border exchange project for the first time in cooperation with the Teaduskool of the University of Tartu , the nationwide promotion of gifted students in Estonia. Since 2003, the high school graduates of the Life Science Lab have organized a four-week academy every two years with laboratory internships at the universities of Stanford and Berkeley .
Participation and application
Every student can participate continuously in the middle and high school. Participation is voluntary and ends with the Abitur. The high school graduates can continue to work on the project as alumni and give back their experience as student mentors. Since 2005, the project has been supported by the student association of alumni of the Heidelberg Life Science Lab eV, which bundles the alumni activities and promotes networking among former participants.
Pupils from the 8th grade can apply with a lecture of their own on a topic of their choice, which is discussed with a selection committee made up of project mentors and subject specialists. There are no admission quotas.
Social and scientific relevance
A fundamental characteristic of the Life Science Lab is the integration of research. The supervising mentors are active scientists from the DKFZ , the EMBL , the Universities of Heidelberg and Mannheim and the local Max Planck Institutes . The Heidelberg Life Science Lab is also supported by numerous cooperation partners from science, business and the public sector and works together with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research .
In 2009 the Life Science Lab was awarded the main prize in the “School meets Science” competition from the Robert Bosch Foundation . In 2010, the institution was honored with the “Selected Place of Ideas” award from the “ Germany - Land of Ideas ” initiative.
Individual evidence
- ^ Homepage of the Robert Bosch Foundation (accessed on February 17, 2011).
- ↑ Homepage of the location initiative “Germany - Land of Ideas” ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed April 17, 2015).
