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Young researchers from Thuringia win major environmental prizes!
On March 9, 2025, winners of the regional “Jugend forscht” competition in Thuringia were honored - creative projects on the environment and technology.
Young researchers from Thuringia win major environmental prizes!
On March 9, 2025, young researchers in Thuringia will be in the spotlight after achieving impressive results in this year's “Jugend forscht” regional competition. In a highly competitive environment, students presented innovative projects that spanned chemistry as well as other disciplines.
Particularly noteworthy is the “Nature bubbles” project by Amaya Pfannschmidt, Greta Meixner and Janna Marie Merboth from the Steigerwald elementary school in Erfurt. They developed environmentally friendly soap bubbles made from sugar beet syrup, rye flour and corn starch and won first place in the “Jugend forscht junior” category in chemistry. Her performance will now take her to the Thuringia state competition, which will take place on April 2nd in Jena.
Successful projects from various disciplines
The Weimar-Schöndorf elementary school also scored points. Matteo Thein, Emilio Noel Wacke and Ole Til Barth achieved first place in the field of biology with their project “Tiny little things really big – microorganisms under the microscope”. The “Albert Schweitzer” state high school in Erfurt presented several successful projects. Elina Grüning, Kim Dufft and Lara Ostrowski won first place with their orthopedic aid for the risk analysis of rhizarthrosis in the field of work.
Jonas Bock, Florian Luc Heyne and Zeynep Tomruk secured another first place with a project on the use of salt water in the production of foamed bitumen. In addition, Jakob Blachnik, Konrad Martin Drissen and Arthur Heinrich Handke developed a deep learning model for analyzing forest fire risks, which earned them first place in the field of mathematics/computer science.
- Amaya Pfannschmidt, Greta Meixner, Janna Marie Merboth – „Nature bubbles“ (1. Platz, Chemie)
- Matteo Thein, Emilio Noel Wacke, Ole Til Barth – „Winzig Kleines ganz groß“ (1. Platz, Biologie)
- Elina Grüning, Kim Dufft, Lara Ostrowski – „RhiTech“ (1. Platz, Arbeitswelt)
- Jonas Bock, Florian Luc Heyne, Zeynep Tomruk – Schaumbitumen (1. Platz, Sonderpreis Ressourceneffizienz)
- Jakob Blachnik, Konrad Martin Drissen, Arthur Heinrich Handke – Waldbrandrisiken (1. Platz, Mathematik/Informatik)
In addition, interdisciplinary projects were also recognized. These include Matthis Bienert, Karl Bennet Zebe and Anton Ritter from the Steigerwald elementary school for their “Bacteria Detectives” project, as well as Tessa Sophie Kurth, Ineke Albus and Oscar Glaser from the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium for “OrthoFiber” in the technology area. A total of 107 participants from ten schools and student research centers took part in this competition and presented 46 projects. 72 prizes were awarded.
Future outlook and further competitions
The next regional competition will take place on February 25, 2026 at the Bauhaus University Weimar, which acts as the sponsoring institution. This year, “Jugend forscht” is also celebrating its 60th anniversary with a total of seven regional competitions in Thuringia, which underlines the importance and popularity of the competition.
In addition to the successes of “Jugend forscht” the Federal Environmental Competition (BUW) a platform for young people to submit their ideas and projects in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development. With the motto “From knowledge to sustainable action” young people are encouraged to find creative solutions. Registrations are possible until March 15, 2025.
Overall, the projects of the “Jugend forscht” participants show a high level of commitment, creativity and scientific thinking, which are of great importance for the future of research in Germany.