Student Research Centre Südwürttemberg

The Student Research Centre (SRC):

At the Student Research Centre Südwürttemberg (SRC), founded in 1999, annually between 150-200 students of all ages work on projects in the fields of physics, mathematics, information technology, chemistry, biology and robotics. The CLAAS Foundation supports the SRC, as the SRC aims to increase young people's interest in science and engineering by means of well-designed projects and tasks. Reason being that the existing scarcity of engineering graduates in the foreseeable future is even getting worse. Leaving the regular school grades and time tables behind, at the SRC, pupils can choose topics to their own individual liking or prepare and take part in international competitions such as the Olympics in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Many times, the SRC participants have already returned home as proud recipients of gold and silver medals. In spite of these top performances, however, the SRC is not an institution for the highly gifted. Team building abilities and social competence are considered equally important as scientific performance and are thus supported likewise. 

Read more about the SRC at www.sfz-bw.de

The Student Research Centre Südwürttemberg (SRC) has reached a reputation far beyond the boundaries of Bad Saulgau. For more than nine years the SRC pupils have been very successfully working on their scientific experiments and research projects. The recent first prize at the international physics Olympics was again the cherry on the cake. In addition, Rudolf Lehn, who was the main initiator of the Student Research Centre and with great dedication now manages the daily business of the SRC, received the special award „Idea Maker 2008“. He accepted this special prize during a gala show called „Night of Innovation“ which was embedded in the exhibition „Park of ideas 2008“ in Stuttgart. The famous actor Mario Adorf presented the award to Rudolf Lehn.

The idea of the Student Research Centre is now catching on: A new Student Research Centre is to be established in Osnabrück. Various representatives from schools, political institutions and regional companies were present at the formation ceremony of the non-profit association of the Schülerforschungszentrum Osnabrück. A number of renowned companies and institutions, amongst them also the CLAAS Foundation, are jointly going to make their contribution in promoting natural science and technical issue amongst the young pupils. Also the state of Lower-Saxony supports the new research centre.

Sylvia Looks, member of the Executive Board of the CLAAS Foundation, explains the purpose of the SRC: „We intend to spark interest for natural sciences and technical matters in school children at a young age – at the SRC pupils may experiment more in depth, using other equipment than available at their schools.“ After school, in their spare time the technical enthusiasts will have the chance to carry out their own scientific research projects. The SRC will be building a bridge between science, business and school with the SRC being in the heart of a lively network. Early autumn the SRC will go into operation, starting with a first project focussing on robotics as the SRC pupils are going to participate in the International Field Robot Competition 2009 in the Netherlands.

How much fat is in milk? This is only one of many questions the students at the SFZ in Bad Saulgau wish to find an answer to. Using a beam of light beam and intelligent electronics the students manage to quantify the fat content.