Young, innovative and full of new ideas

A rocket car, artificial leather made from coffee grounds, alien celestial bodies or artificial intelligence (AI) for identifying wolves: Visitors to the PS.SPEICHER in Einbeck at the end of April were able to experience the spirit of invention at first hand. A total of 74 young researchers presented their diverse projects at the state contest “Jugend forscht – Schüler experimentieren” (“Youngsters Research – School Students Experiment”).

An interdisciplinary jury assessed 44 scientific projects in seven subject areas: Working World, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics and Technology. It selected the winners after two days. KWS and the PS.SPEICHER have sponsored the state contest for three years – and some of our colleagues were members of the jury.

One of them was Enrico B. Scheuermann, Senior Project Lead Connected Fields: “I’m on board because it’s fun to accompany young people on their path toward scientific work,” he explains. “We at KWS need to have an eye for innovation and new ideas, which is why ‘Jugend forscht’ is a great opportunity for everyone involved.”

A spirit of research and openness to innovation have been among the cornerstones of KWS since it was founded in 1856. True to our vision of “Seeding the future for generations,” we thus reach out to all generations and therefore support young researchers.

KWS trainees do their bit

At the contest in the PS.SPEICHER, our trainees were on hand to provide information about the various training opportunities at KWS, and those interested could also take part in exciting hands-on activities in the quality control lab and at Chemical Analytics.

One project in particular stood out at “Jugend forscht”: “Our soil – Our future.” Tom (9), Annika (9) and Lotta (10) from Bad Zwischenahn examined various soil samples for their composition and characteristics such as pH value, water absorption and animal species. The three wanted to find out how soil quality affects the growth of plants.

An imaginative idea – and the jury agreed, awarding it the state prize for the best interdisciplinary project. “The team from Ofen Primary School impressed us as a jury with its enthusiasm for the topic and their creative approach to its first research project,” says Sebastian Schwerdtfeger, Global Health, Safety and Environment Manager at KWS, who was a member of the jury for the Working World section. |