Traditional student events of the chemistry department in the summer semester 2022

This year, the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences first welcomed three students from the Christian-Weise-Gymnasium in Zittau as part of a two-week student internship. During the internship, the 10th-graders were able to gain insight into the structure of various types of internships at a university. Whether in biology, chemistry, or biotechnology—the participants received a thematically diverse overview of the content and working methods in the laboratories and in the field.
A big thank you goes out to everyone involved!

The “Chemistry Specialist Camp for 11th-Grade Students from High Schools in Eastern Saxony,” now in its 19th year, took place on June 29 and 30, 2022. A total of eight students from the high schools in Hoyerswerda, Löbau, and Zittau responded to this year’s call for applications.
Following the opening remarks by Prof. Gerd Fischer, the participants attended a lecture on the topic of “Solubility of Gypsum.” They then had the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge they had gained in a hands-on laboratory experiment led by Matthias Jeschke, and finally evaluated and discussed the results of the experiment.

In the evening, everyone enjoyed a cozy meal at the “Franko” restaurant, after which Jochen Kaminsky led the young participants on an entertaining “night watchman’s tour” through downtown Zittau. They spent the night in modern dorm rooms, which were kindly provided by the “Studentenwerk” (student union) in Dresden.
The second day began with a hearty breakfast at the “Kraatschn” student canteen. Afterward, in the organic chemistry labs, the students gained a brief insight into the synthesis of fluorescein.
Following a short lecture by Prof. Jan Mollitor on this topic, the students put their newly acquired knowledge into practice in the lab under the guidance of Maria Riemer. At the conclusion of the event, all participants received certificates and a small commemorative gift.

On July 12, 2022, this year’s final round of the Chemistry Competitions for 9th-grade students (Chemistry Olympiad) took place. This event is organized and conducted annually in cooperation with the State Office for Schools and Education (Bautzen branch) and the Chemistry Department at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.
The six top student teams, which had prevailed in the first round of the competition at their respective high schools, competed in chemistry calculations and laboratory experiments to secure the best possible good ranking.
In the end, a team from the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in Löbau narrowly edged out the students from the Friedrich-Schleiermacher-Gymnasium in Niesky and the second team from Löbau. Ultimately, however, all participants could consider themselves winners, as the joy of scientific work and experimentation was always the main focus.

After the award ceremony and presentation of prizes to all teams, an entertaining chemistry show lecture with numerous interesting experiments took place for the students and guests. The chemical background of the experiments was also explained to the audience.

The conclusion of the student events was very positive. All of the pupils showed great interest and enjoyed working in the natural sciences and conducting chemical experiments.