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2013|14 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

Girls’ Day at Fraunhofer Stuttgart campus In Germany we currently have the best educated cohort of young women of all times, with girls making up more than 50 percent of high-school graduates. Despite this, girls still tend to opt disproportionately in favor of typical female jobs or courses when choosing an apprenticeship or higher stud- ies. Girls’ Day – a nationwide event initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) – at the Fraunhofer campus in Stuttgart gives young women an in- sight into the Fraunhofer Institutes and the careers available in engineering, IT and the natural sciences. The researchers open the doors to laboratories and test areas, offices and workshops, where they use practical examples to demonstrate how interesting their work is. For girls, this is a good chance to find out more about what scientists do through talking to the scientists in real life, on a one-to-one basis. 2013 saw once again 89 interested participants in Stuttgart, some of whom visited the “How to manufacture emulsions and sham- poos” and “Here’s looking at you, kid” information stations at the Fraunhofer IGB. The next Girls’ Day will take place on March 27, 2014. 4 0 Fraunhofer Talent School After a year’s break, the Fraunhofer Stuttgart Talent School took place again in 2013. Dr. Kai Sohn, deputy head of the Molecular Biotechnology Department, led a workshop on the topic of genetic analysis for the fourth time. The aim of the workshop, titled “CSI Stuttgart – from genetic fingerprint to identification of the perpetrator” was to create a better un- derstanding of the fundamentals of the genetic code. For this, DNA was isolated from the participants’ saliva samples and characterized molecularly. Every participant got to take home his or her personal “DNA portrait”. The high-school students were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to gain insights into the way a scientist works and into fascinating research topics. Kai Sohn will hold another workshop in 2014, once again contributing to the success of the Fraunhofer Stuttgart Talent School. PROMOTING YOUNG TALENTS – EXHIBITIONS The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is keen to make early contact with the researchers of tomorrow and give them exciting insights into research opportunities. Thus the Fraunhofer IGB is active in both promoting young talents and getting young people interested in research and technology. We do this through events at the Fraunhofer campus in Stuttgart, as well as exhibits at various exhibitions. 1 1 + 2 HIGHLIGHTS 2013

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