The motto of the 59th competition round, “Put Your Mind to It!”, is intended to encourage all interested children and young people to research, invent, and experiment. The aim is to show how small ideas can grow into major research projects. As part of initiatives to promote young talent, the competition is indispensable. Founded in 1965, “Jugend forscht” is today Europe’s largest science competition for young people, organized by the Jugend forscht Foundation and conducted at three levels.

The three Darmstadt Fraunhofer Institutes—IGD, LBF, and SIT—have been patrons of the Hessen-South regional competition for more than 15 years. The 2024 competition will be held on the premises of Fraunhofer LBF. There, 38 young researchers from 12 schools will present a total of 27 projects in the two categories “Schüler experimentieren” (ages 10 to 14) and “Jugend forscht” (ages 15 to 21). Each project is assigned to one of six subject areas: biology, chemistry, geo and space sciences, mathematics/computer science, physics, and technology. This year’s topics include, among others, the dynamic energy loss of buildings and greater sustainability in pharmacies. The competition director is once again Dr. Mathias Schott (Michelstadt Grammar School).

The winners of the Hessen-South regional competition qualify for the Hessen state competition. For the “Schüler experimentieren” category, this will take place on March 15 and 16, 2024 at the University of Kassel, and for the “Jugend forscht” category from March 20 to 21 at Merck in Darmstadt. The winners will later compete in the national competition.