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The smile project offers insights into cutting-edge IT research for schoolgirls from the 5th grade to university entry. The BMBF-funded workshops of the University of Bremen have set themselves the goal of presenting the attractiveness and diversity of IT professions to schoolgirls.

Digitalisation and artificial intelligence play a central role in our world of life and work. Both topics will influence and change our society, the working world and our life in the coming decades comprehensively and lastingly. But in order to help shape and participate in the future, we need to understand the subject matter: IT professions are trendy and offer prospects for the future with above-average earning potential. However, as in other MINT subjects - mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology - women are also underrepresented in this area.

Workshops are free

The reason: Young girls and women often cannot imagine computer science as an occupational field. That's what smile wants to change. In workshops such as "My intelligent home", "My robot friend cleans up" and "OK Alexa", schoolgirls should gain insights into the field of computer science and develop a good understanding of the topic. Previous knowledge is not required. Participation in the workshops is free of charge.

Exhibition in the Botanika

How a houseplant becomes "smart" was researched by ten pupils of the 7th grade in a smile workshop. The plants equipped with sensors and microcontrollers can be seen in the Botanika foyer until 8 February.
Smile is a North German BMBF joint project with research laboratories at the University of Bremen and other laboratories in Hamburg and Oldenburg. The project is funded for the period from 01.04.2017 to 31.03.2020. The aim of the project is to make the offer more consistent.

Workshops (Choice):

My Intelligent Home

Grades 7 and 8
Thu 31 January and Fri 1 February 2019

The workshop "My Intelligent Home" for seventh and eighth graders examines how a home can intelligently support its users, why this is important in an ageing society, and how these technologies work. The students themselves learn how to program and control such systems. Previous knowledge is not required.

Meine Roboterfreundin räumt auf

grades 7, 8 and 9
from February 2019, weekly Friday afternoon from 15.00 pm

Never clean up again? Not quite, but the participants of this workshop can think about how a robot could do it for them. They learn their first programming steps and "control" their own robot.
This workshop also takes place during the Easter holidays for older schoolgirls:

Class levels 10 and higher (10,11,12,13, Q1,Q2):
Monday, 15 April to Thursday, 18 April 2019

OK Alexa

Grades 9, 10 and 11
Tue, 9 April to Fri, 12 April 2019

Voice controls like Siri, Alexa etc. surround us today in our everyday life in many places. But how does this actually work? The participants learn this in the OK Alexa workshop and design and program their own system.