The seventh meeting of the Junior Academy Zittau workshop took place on September 12, 2024. Teachers, practical advisors from regional schools and the university came together to support the establishment of the Junior Academy Zittau with the DLR_School_Lab at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. The DLR_School_Lab at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is being set up and operated in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR ). The opening is planned for the beginning of 2025.

Reason for and objectives of the Junior Academy Zittau workshop

The aim of the workshop is to create a meeting place where teachers and practical advisors from regional schools can engage in regular dialog with employees of the HSZG. Through this exchange, the cooperation between the HSZG and the schools is to be further expanded and sustainably strengthened. The aim is to jointly develop, test and evaluate needs-oriented and target group-appropriate extracurricular educational offers, such as experiments and, in future, afternoon and vacation offers. By actively involving teachers and practical advisors in the development process of the experiments, concrete references to curriculum content can be established and the individual needs and interests of the pupils can be better taken into account.

With the Junior Academy Zittau and the DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz, the university management is pursuing the goal of inspiring pupils for science and technology and offering unique learning experiences. In addition to imparting specialist knowledge and encouraging independent experimentation, the pupils gain exciting insights into current research at the university and DLR.

Work in the workshop

The first meeting of the workshop focused on getting to know each other. Professor Sophia Keil, Vice-Rector for Education and International Affairs, presented the university's strategic initiative "Zukunftslernort Oberlausitz" (ZukLOS), followed by Christian Tiller, Academic Director of ZukLOS, who explained the objectives of the workshop. Together, they invited those present to help shape the Junior Academy Zittau. The expectations of the Junior Academy Zittau with the DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz, the needs of the schools and the organization of the cooperation were then discussed in a Word Café. The discussion produced the following important results, among others: The teachers expressed the desire for extracurricular educational offers that can ideally be carried out with an entire class in 4-hour blocks or 90-minute units. The schools' high demand for experimental equipment that can be borrowed was also emphasized. Furthermore, the teachers expressed great interest in long-term cooperation and the joint development of extracurricular educational programs, especially in the context of the Junior Academy Zittau.

At the second meeting of the workshop, the first experiments on DLR's key research areas were selected, which the schools believe should be offered in the DLR_School_Lab at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. This selection covers a wide range of topics such as robotics, IT and security, weightlessness, fuel cells and lightweight construction. The teachers also expressed the desire to work together in the workshop to develop materials for the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the experiments. At the same time, they emphasized the importance of reliability with regard to the availability of these offers for the schools.

At the third meeting of the workshop, Mr. Riedel from the ZukLOS team reported on the visit to the DLR_School_Lab Berlin, which Professor Keil and her colleagues had explored together. The aim of the visit was to get to know the experiments on site, to accompany the implementation of the experiments with a school class and to discuss the next steps for the establishment of the DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz. Five working groups were then formed on various topics (e.g. natural fibers, heat pumps, scientific experiments and biotechnology) in order to develop experiments related to the Saxon curricula.

In the following meetings four to six, Mr. Tiller from the ZukLOS core team first reported on the main activities of ZukLOS in recent weeks and explained the current status of the Junior Academy. The working groups then briefly presented the current development status of their experiments. The work within the groups then continued intensively in order to further develop the experiments and adapt them to the learning situation of the pupils.

At the meeting on September 12, Dr. rer. nat. habil. Thomas Fester was introduced as the new ZukLOS employee. He took over the operational management of ZukLOS on August 1, 2024. In the coming months, he will be largely responsible for the opening of the DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz and will develop experiments together with Mr. Tiller, the Scientific Director of ZukLOS, teaching staff and HSZG employees.

In addition, Mr. Orest Lytvyn has been recruited as a volunteer. Mr. Lytvyn is completing a one-year Voluntary Social Year in Science, Technology and Sustainability (FJN) at ZukLOS. During this year, he will play a key role in setting up and running the Junior Academy Zittau in conjunction with the DLR_School_Lab at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. His tasks will include supervising pupils in carrying out experiments and helping to develop and refine experiments on the main research areas of the HSZG and other research institutions, in particular the DZA and CASUS. He will also provide support for special events such as school project days, STEM project weeks and children's academies.

The next steps are to record the needs of the working groups and procure the necessary materials. There are also plans to test the developed experiments with two classes from each of the participating schools. The feedback from the pupils and teachers will be incorporated into the optimization of the experiments. The first implementation of the planned experiments is planned for the end of the year.