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The young students and the organising team of the Children’s University at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences can look back on an eventful year. The highlight for the children, who had attended at least four lectures during the year, was the presentation of the Children’s University diplomas on 9 November. The Mittweida mascot ‘Mitti’ had come to the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences especially for this special occasion. This year, 104 children received the certificate signed by the university’s rector. Many of them had more than four attendance stamps on their Children’s University cards, as 2024 was a record year to date with seven lectures.
Robin Biebl from the Children’s University team at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences says: “Having already supplemented the four regular lectures a year with the Summer Children’s University outside the lecture theatre back in 2023, we’ve gone one better in 2024. In May, we held the Mini Children’s University as part of the Night of Sciences (Nacht der Wissenschaften) in Mittweida, and in June we took two buses full of children on an ‘away trip’ to Wilhelm-Oswald Park in Großbothen. In total, we recorded 1,563 visits to the Children’s University, not counting the accompanying adults.”
Outlook: An exciting programme for 2025
The programme for 2025 has already been finalised and builds on the diversity of the previous year. For example, there will once again be a trip to Großbothen for ‘Experimenting in the Park’. Whilst guest lecturers from outside the university came from Mittweida Hospital in 2024 for the ‘Saving Lives’ lecture, on 17 May 2025 officers from the Saxony Police Prevention Unit will be educating the children on the safe use of digital media. Other topics include ‘Hollywood in Mittweida – How a Film Is Made’ on 29 March, astronomy on 20 September and world cultures on 29 November. The Mini Children’s University at the Night of Sciences on 20 June will focus on sustainable building materials.
Robin Biebl: “The range of topics stems, on the one hand, from the wishes of the children and parents, which we have been gathering throughout the year. On the other hand, it is our mission to highlight the STEM subjects and raise the children’s awareness of these areas.”
The Children’s University at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences is organised by the university’s Institute for Competence, Communication and Languages (IKKS). For each lecture, Robin Biebl receives support not only from the respective lecturers, but also from a team of staff and students at the university in setting up the numerous experiments, managing admission and broadcasting the lecture to the neighbouring lecture theatre, where grandparents can follow the lecture.
The IKKS has also planned events for adults again for the coming year: the ‘7th Public Lecture Series’ at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, comprising seven events under the heading ‘What is normal?’, will begin on 18 March 2025.
A look back: The Children’s University in the winter term of 2024
The two lectures in September and November were linked by a single theme: mobility. But on one occasion the focus was on people in their cars, whilst on the other it was on animals in the wild.
At the event ‘Smart Vehicles – How Do Self-Driving Cars Work?’ on 14 September, Professor Jan Thomanek and Christian Thormann from the Faculty Engineering Sciences demonstrated how, using the logical sequence ‘See – Think – Act’, the technology in autonomous cars mimics human behaviour: Sensors ‘see’ – for example, obstacles – , computers ‘think’ and actuators ‘act’, that is, they take over the tasks that drivers would normally perform with their hands and feet. During the lecture, the children put various sensors to the test by acting as living obstacles and programmed the ‘brains’ of self-driving mini-cars. The lecture also provided an opportunity for many of the parents to discuss the opportunities and risks of autonomous vehicles amongst themselves and with the lecturers.
The roads on which cars travel often pose obstacles for animals. To ensure that animals can still move around within and between their habitats – their ‘biotopes’ – ‘green bridges’ have been built over the roads. These are an example of so-called ‘biotope networks’, which were the focus of the lecture on 9 November. The two lecturers, Julia Pietsch from the university’s Climate Protection Management department and Lisa Prudnikow, a PhD student in the Biotechnology and Chemistry Department, presented further possibilities and practically involved the children – among other things, as ‘Luisa the Hazel Mouse’, ‘Karla the bumblebee’ and ‘Julius the brown trout’, to demonstrate how people can help the animals. Together, the children even built a fish ladder right across the lecture theatre, allowing Julius the brown trout to swim upwards.
Full details of the 2025 Children’s University programme will be published in good time on the Children’s University website. Don’t miss out on any news – sign up to the Children’s University newsletter or follow the Children’s University on Instagram.
In addition, the programme leaflet will be available again from the end of January at all regional primary schools and in some shops and establishments in Mittweida.
