Franz Theodor Lenner (16) and Jonah Willy Winzig (16) travelled to the GDNÄ assembly in Bremen on their own initiative. Both are students at the private Villa Elisabeth Gymnasium in Wildau, near Berlin. The state-recognised school places great emphasis on STEM education in small classes.

How did you find out about the conference?
Our science teacher, Dr Stefan Bläß, told us about it. In 2024, Mr Bläß arranged for some pupils from our school to travel to the conference in Potsdam. He spoke so enthusiastically about it that we subsequently bought tickets to Bremen at our own expense and booked a hotel. There are a few other pupils from our school here as well.

What are you hoping to gain from the conference?
We’re hoping to gain insights into current scientific research and have lots of fruitful discussions with professors. Last night we already had the chance to speak to NASA’s former chief scientist, Thomas Zurbuchen. We asked him about nuclear propulsion systems for spacecraft and about water reserves on Jupiter’s moons, and he explained everything to us very clearly. We simply want to learn as much as possible.

And is that working out so far?
The conference is exceeding our expectations. As soon as we arrived, we were taken straight to Paul Mühlenhoff. He introduced us to everyone. All the people we’ve spoken to have been very friendly and willing to share information. We’ve also just received an invitation to the ‘Overseas Night’ on Saturday evening – we’re really looking forward to that. We’re taking part in the careers advice session at lunchtime today. Career-wise, we’d both like to go into medicine. Perhaps we’ll also pick up a few ideas for our planned entry in the ‘Jugend forscht’ competition. We’ve already got some ideas for Alzheimer’s research and new treatment approaches for diabetes patients.