meerMINT – Research with kids
The best feedback came from the kids. No sooner had the summer project at meerMINT ended than the eager question arose: can we do it again during the autumn break? meerMINT wants to inspire children and teenagers to experiment and tinker in subjects that don't necessarily have a reputation among kids for being particularly exciting: mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology – MINT for short. Organised by the University of Bremen, meerMINT has been running since 2021. So that the project can continue to be successful, the organisers are looking for volunteers who want to pass on their experience to kids. Fun and praise guaranteed, see above.
"With meerMINT, we especially want to reach children and young people who don’t come from academic families and who don’t have much contact with STEM subjects," says mathematician and cluster manager Hanne Ballhausen, who has been leading the project since September 2021, and who earned her degree and doctorate at the University of Bremen. Like other similar projects in Germany, meerMINT is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). With the target groups in mind, meerMINT has set up four locations in the state of Bremen, called Docks, where groups of 5 to 15 kids can meet for courses and workshops, mainly during school holidays and at weekends. The Docks are located in Bremerhaven, in Bremen-Nord, and in the city of Bremen’s Gröpelingen and Vahr districts.
“Here the kids can dare to do something they’ve never done before. They can try things out and develop their inquiring minds," explains Ms Ballhausen. The possibilities for experiments and creative design are wide-ranging: digital microscopy and 3D printing, developing simple computer games, doing practical mathematics or physics experiments…and also making shower gel or batik T-shirts. "We want to encourage curiosity and playfulness," Ms Ballhausen adds. "And we want to introduce occupational fields, not just academic ones. We deal with questions like, what do you actually do with maths or physics?"
meerMINT depends on committed volunteers. If you’ve gotten the feeling that you want to get involved and bring your enthusiasm and perhaps also your own ideas, contact meerMINT cluster management at Uni Bremen: meermintprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de