With the new DLR_School_Lab, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and DLR are sending out a strong signal for extracurricular STEM education in the region.
On May 15, 2025, an important milestone for extracurricular STEM education (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) in Upper Lusatia was set at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences: With the ceremonial inauguration of the new DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz, the university, together with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), is opening an innovative extracurricular learning venue for pupils.
The new 350 square meter DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz is located in the Mandau-Höfe in Zittau - a modern center for industry, research and education. The aim of the new school laboratory is to get young people interested in science, technology and research at an early age and to show them new educational prospects in the region.
Around 300 guests attended the opening, including 100 invited personalities from politics, science and society as well as teachers from regional schools and 200 pupils and students.
In her welcoming address, the Chairwoman of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Prof. Dr.-Ing:
We are delighted to be creating a new source of inspiration for STEM education in the region with the DLR_School_Lab at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Here, pupils can experience science and its fascination at first hand with their own experiments. The joint facility of DLR and HSZG is an important contribution to discovering and sustainably promoting talent, as well as highlighting career prospects.
”Prof. Sophia Keil, Vice-Rector for Research, Transfer and Internationalization at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, also emphasizes the importance of this:
Young people are the architects of our future - their thirst for knowledge, their courage to rethink and their will to create are the raw materials for a sustainable society. With the new DLR_School_Lab Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, we are creating a unique learning and experience space for young people in our region. I am proud that, together with the German Aerospace Center, we have been able to create a place where curiosity meets research, scientific thinking is stimulated and perspectives for tomorrow are created.
”The Saxon State Secretary for Science, Prof. Dr. Heike Graßmann, adds:
Science lays the foundation for solutions - for the great challenges of our time as well as for everyday questions. It inspires and arouses curiosity - not only in young people, but throughout their lives. With the DLR_School_Lab at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, there is now an exciting extracurricular location in Upper Lusatia where the researchers of tomorrow can experience the fascination of science up close.
”A highlight of the event was the guest lecture by ESA astronaut Dr. Gerhard Thiele, who delighted the audience with fascinating insights into his space mission. Afterwards, pupils presented the scientific experiments in the DLR_School_Lab at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences to the guests. Over the past few days, they had tested the experiments together with the HSZG mentor team and now confidently took over the expert introduction. The day was rounded off with guided tours and a joint end to the day on campus.
The new school laboratory offers pupils in grades five to twelve a wide range of exciting experiments, particularly in the STEM subjects of physics, chemistry and biology. Highlights include:
Friederike Ogorek is part of the team of mentors who will be supervising the school classes in their experiments in future. The molecular biotechnology student emphasizes:
As a mentor at the DLR_School_Lab, we are on an equal footing with the pupils. We support them so that they can carry out the experiments as independently as possible and learn about key research topics at the university and DLR through experimentation. At the same time, we ourselves, the mentors, gain valuable educational experience for our future careers.
”With the new DLR_School_Lab - the 17th in Germany - the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is becoming part of a top-class network of extracurricular learning locations. Particularly noteworthy: It is the first DLR_School_Lab to be realized in cooperation with a university of applied sciences (HAW). DLR and the HSZG are thus jointly underlining the relevance of practical science education - right at the heart of regional education and research development.
The student laboratory is part of the strategic educational initiative "Zukunftslernort Oberlausitz" (ZukLOS) of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Supported with PMO funds from the assets of the parties and mass organizations of the former GDR, an innovative learning space is being created here that inspires young people for science, opens up new perspectives and contributes to securing skilled workers in the region.
The strategic educational initiative "Zukunftslernort Oberlausitz" (ZukLOS) of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences aims to create new learning and meeting places for people of all generations in the Oberlausitz region. The DLR_School_Lab Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz is one of several sub-projects that are being realized as part of ZukLOS. Find out more on the ZukLOS website
