Young researchers initiative

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Logo of the "Young Researchers Initiative"

The Young Researchers Initiative (IJF) promotes young MINT talent and supports schools in southern Germany in their educational mandate. Funded by the European Social Fund and more than 70 companies, foundations and universities, the non-profit education initiative is committed to the sustainable promotion of MINT education for children and young people.

The non-profit association emerged from the nanotechnology cluster and was founded in 2010 in Würzburg. Co-founders were Alfred Forchel and Christoph Petschenka , among others . Today the network includes more than 70 partners, including companies and foundations. In addition, the cooperation partners in the field of education include the University of Würzburg , the University of Regensburg , the University of Augsburg , the University of Hof , the University of Deggendorf and the University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt . The project "Competent for the world of work 4.0 - test working methods of the future on MINT topics" is funded by the European Social Fund in Bavaria (ESF) and the Federal Employment Agency, Regional Directorate Bavaria.

The IJF sees itself as a network actor for everyone who is active or interested in the field of STEM promotion. Together with the Bayerische Sparkassenstiftung , it operates the MINT-Allianz Bayern, the Bavaria-wide association of eight MINT regions. The education initiative also works with the Ministry of Labor, Education and Science to ensure the long-term relevance and validity of school visits.

From the beginning, Willi Weitzel took over the patronage of the Young Researchers Initiative and is an ambassador for the IJF.

aims

The MINT offers developed together with natural scientists, engineers, educators and didacticians should effectively contribute to:

  • to get excited about science and technology
  • To make future topics and technologies understandable
  • To arouse interest in scientific and technical professions and thus counteract the shortage of skilled workers in MINT professions
  • to sustainably strengthen the self-confidence of girls interested in MINT
  • To specifically address job descriptions and convey realistic images of STEM training professions
  • expand cooperation between companies and schools

With its school visits, the initiative imparts basic scientific skills through experiments. The aim is to enable "research-based and discovery-based learning" with carefully devised content, and the Young Researchers Initiative supplements physics, chemistry, biology and computer science lessons at secondary schools. In order to expand the offer, but also to keep it up to date and relevant, new experiments are constantly being developed on various MINT topics and existing ones are being adapted and improved.

Young students and scientists at the IJF show future opportunities and options for choosing a career in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in technology professions in the medium to long term. For teachers, the project offers advanced training with new ideas for experimentation and knowledge transfer.

For the further development and redesign of the IJF-MINT programs, educators, scientists and experts from educational and research institutions are regularly involved in working groups. In these working groups, existing concepts for school visits and teacher training are presented and optimized. In this way, scientific or technical topics are dealt with in an age-appropriate manner.

offer

Since the initiative has set itself the goal of arousing and promoting interest in MINT subjects and, above all, professions at an early age, the free offer is mainly aimed at children and young people. The diverse range of offers was designed for both primary school children and young people from higher grades.

Project days / school visits with experiment stations

In the school visit program of the initiative, natural scientists visit middle, secondary and community schools, grammar schools and BOS in classes from the 8th grade with their experimental equipment.

subjects

Training for teachers

In addition to school visits for children and young people, the education initiative also offers further training for teachers. In the various training programs, including webinars, the respective topic is discussed in preparation or in addition to the school visits, experiments are discussed in detail, but didactic advice is also important. The topics for the teacher training courses are broken down as follows:

Elementary schools

Further training

Extracurricular research and experimentation offers

In various special campaigns, the IJF tries to reach children and young people outside of the normal program. Past campaigns include, for example, STEM research days or a vacation research course in 2018, funded by Aktion Mensch. Here, 6- to 12-year-olds carried out exciting experiments on the topics of stable building, bionics and energy in the IJF's Experimentarium.

Appreciations

In November 2017, the initiative's “Make the future your idea” project was awarded the “Acts!” Seal for particularly effective engagement by the independent Phineo analysis company . The goals of the IJF had an impact beyond the borders of Bavaria because, for example, the project was able to gain a foothold in Baden-Württemberg when it went to school on the subject of "medical technology".

In 2018 the initiative was nominated for the German Engagement Prize 2018.

Georg Moser, head of the administrative authority of the European Social Fund , praised the effective educational work of the IJF and in this context recognized the educational initiative as particularly valuable.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ University support points of the Young Researchers Initiative. Accessed on January 11, 2019 .
  2. ^ Educational offerings of the IJF. Retrieved January 11, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Attending school "Medical Technology" at Ilsberger Realschule. Retrieved January 11, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Nomination of the Young Researchers Initiative for the German Engagement Prize 2018. Accessed on January 1, 2019 .
  5. ^ Action day “Europe in my region”. Retrieved January 11, 2019 .