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“Science goes to School” receives Saxon Integration Award

The DIPP School Project “Science goes to school” was chosen out of 43 projects to be awarded the Sächsischer Integrationspreis. This award is initiated by the State Minister for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Christine Clauß, and the Officer for Aliens, Martin Gillo. It recognizes projects in Saxony that support tolerance and respect for people of different cultural, religious or ethnic backgrounds. Ten PhD students accepted the award in a ceremony at the Landtag of Saxony with Mathias Rößler, chair of the Parliament. The award carries a value of 500 Euros.

In the DIPP School project, multinational teams of PhD students offer a two hour-workshop with experiments run in English at Dresden schools. After that, the PhD students are available for discussion on career models and on life in Dresden as a foreigner. The sad starting point of the project was the murder of Marwa El-Sherbini in 2009 – the school project that teaches tolerance through science to young people was the response of some Dresden PhD students to that tragic event.

“Amongst the students it became apparent that we – the scientific community with its strong dependence on international collaborations – could and should contribute to transforming the city into a more tolerant environment. We wanted to demonstrate that open-mindedness and curiosity are key for success in science and in society. It is the ideas of people that count, and not where they are from nor how they look like”, says Marcus Jahnel, PhD student from Germany at the MPI-CBG and one of the initiators of the program. The students, however, really make an effort not to preach, but to teach: “We think that children need positive role models of tolerance and success”.

 

Avinash Chekuru from India joined this project because he likes teaching and interacting with society. “Moreover, motivating young scientists is an important aspect – I didn't experience this when I was in school”, he says. Anja Glenk (Germany) likes the grass roots involvement of the project: “The project came from the basis – we didn't talk much about organizing something, we just did it. It is still organized in a very informal way – but it works.” Portuguese researcher Vanessa Carlos adds: “Joining this project was an opportunity for me to give an example of tolerance, respect and show how fun it is to work in a multicultural environment.” All experiments are performed in English: “Trying to speak with young students the same language in all senses is a pleasant challenge”, explains Madina Karimova from Russia. “Having a common topic to talk about with pupils and young people can help to break the ice between us and local people, to let them see what we do and why are we here”. The project is also about fun: “It is great to inspire kids for science and to give them some insights into the crazy world that lies beyond their imagination”, says German PhD student Sebastian Dunst. This can also be a first detail to change things: “If we want things to change, we must get out of our cocoons and reach out to the community!” says Vanessa Carlos.