ZFZ members present at the Trinational Studnet Congress in Offenburg
by Katharina Kaltenbach, Manuel Vogel
20 students from the Tuttlingen Student Research Center spent two exciting days on January 25th and 26th, 2024 at the “16th Trinational Student Congress of Natural Sciences and Technology” at the University in Offenburg. At the congress organized by the Freiburg Regional Council, the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, and the Académie de Strasbourg, a total of around 170 students from Germany, France, and Switzerland were invited to present their projects bilingually, in French and German.
After setting up the exhibition stands on Thursday, three of the groups reported how they had discovered, for example, how chromosomes can be colored reliably and with low levels of pollutants using a pigment from blackberries, and how fruit fly populations develop under the influence of pulsed high-frequency radiation, such as that emitted by cell phones or… a Wi-Fi router, develop, or how you can physically examine the behavior of a bicycle wheel in great detail. The students then visited each other at the forty exhibition stands, talked about their research, or exchanged ideas and tips. To overcome language barriers and create mutual understanding, the Tuttlingen SFZ team was supported by Alois Mollard and Adriana Stojanovic from Ms. Böer’s five-hour French course at the Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium. The entire course also helped with the translation of the exhibition posters in advance, thus creating a great bridge between languages and natural sciences.
After a lecture on training artificial intelligence using an easy-to-use app, the stage on Friday morning belonged to Benjamin Rüdiger, Lorenz Schwarz, and Niklas Storz (all grade 10, Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium). They were able to present their project “Saving water with brains” in front of all participants, the guests of honor from politics and the university as well as the press and SWR television, which they managed to do confidently with the help of the two translators. Afterward, there was another opportunity to exchange ideas with other young people before the event came to an interesting and challenging end with tours of the university’s laboratories. The students were accompanied by Katharina Kaltenbach and Ursula Böer.
For further details about ICSEfactory and to stay informed about upcoming events, please visit the international website or local partners’ website!
