Regional meetings, mentoring programmes, lecture series: what young members of the GDNÄ are planning and how they want to achieve their goals.

Ms Anders, Ms Karle, Mr Paschen, the Young GDNÄ was officially founded six months ago at the meeting in Potsdam. How is it doing today?
Sebastian Paschen: Very well. We have had a lot of new members in recent weeks. Our WhatsApp group alone now has well over a hundred members. They are schoolchildren, students and young scientists from different fields of study, aged between 16 and 35. We receive excellent support from the large GDNÄ: we are listened to and given space – we feel very valued.
Marlene Anders: The group has already had four online meetings since the Potsdam meeting. A few weeks ago, we renamed ourselves the Young Network of the GDNÄ, or jGDNÄ for short. With the new name, we are aligning ourselves with other professional associations – a majority voted in favour of this change.

Who organises such meetings and who moderates them?
Celine Karle: We are currently the representatives of the jGDNÄ and therefore take on part of the organisation. But many other committed young people work with and behind us.

The spark has obviously been ignited. Was there an initial spark?
Sebastian Paschen: Celine initiated a café for doctoral students in Potsdam, which attracted around twenty young people. It was the first get-together of its kind at a GDNÄ assembly.
Celine Karle: I myself was once a GDNÄ scholar and later a guest at a few assemblies. My impression was that something was missing between the scholar programme and the big GDNÄ, so I came up with the idea of the doctoral café. The idea was to present dissertations there.
Marlene Anders: But we didn’t actually discuss dissertations at all, and most of us weren’t doctoral students, but undergraduates. We talked about courses of study and scientific topics, about the GDNÄ and its future – and realised that there should be more opportunities for networking like this. That’s when we formed the GDNÄ Young Network.
Sebastian Paschen: Since that meeting, an active core of around twenty members has emerged, who do a lot of work. A regular board election is scheduled to take place at the 2026 assembly in Bremen. Before then, we will certainly be meeting up often as the jGDNÄ – online, but also in person, as at our meeting from 27 to 29 June in Heidelberg. Almost 40 people have already registered for that.

 © Dima-Juschkow

At the 2024 conference in Potsdam: members of the jGDNÄ and the school programme together with Nobel Prize winner Professor Ben Feringa (front row, centre).

What are you planning for the meeting in Heidelberg?
Celine Karle: We have organised several tours, for example to the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Centre or to INSEAM, a centre for new materials, methods and technologies. We will be adding more interesting items to the programme over the next few weeks. Besides the scientific aspects, the meeting is also about getting to know each other and exchanging ideas among the members of the jGDNÄ – we want to create the framework and atmosphere for this. The plan is to organise such meetings of the jGDNÄ every two years, always between the major meetings of the GDNÄ.

At the Potsdam meeting, there was also talk of regional meetings. Is that still on the agenda?
Sebastian Paschen: Yes, we are in the middle of preparations and will definitely be able to organise the first meetings this year. Not only students, but also high school students from the respective region are invited. At the meetings, we want to network with each other and develop and implement new ideas.

Are there any examples of this already?
Marlene Anders: At our next online meeting on 14 April, we want to discuss a mentoring programme that brings together experienced GDNÄ scientists and jGDNÄ members. We are also talking about lecture series on scientific topics and a network of GDNÄ ambassadors at German universities. I’m a student teacher and I’m currently thinking about special offers for prospective teachers. There is a need for this, as I know from my own experience, and as a jGDNÄ we can certainly achieve a lot – especially with regard to good science communication.

Your commitment is impressive. What motivates you?
Marlene Anders: For me, it is the desire to communicate scientific knowledge to a wider audience. It is truly a matter close to my heart. The student scholarship is a great dive into research and I want to help ensure that it remains a unique experience for others as well.
Sebastian Paschen: I come from the medical bubble and enjoy the interdisciplinary nature of the GDNÄ. There are so many enriching conversations and my horizons are constantly expanding.
Celine Karle: I want to pass on my enthusiasm for science and help younger people on their way. They often have the same problems that I had at one time. For example: What do I do when an exam is coming up and I start to feel anxious about it? With our network in the jGDNÄ, we can certainly do a lot of good there.

 © Privat

How do you see the GDNÄ and its importance? 
Sebastian Paschen: It connects science and society, which is an extremely important role. And it doesn’t rest on its laurels, but moves with the times and dares to do new things, as it is doing now with the jGDNÄ. At my first GDNÄ annual conference, a Nobel Prize winner approached me and shook my hand – that made a big impression on me. What also impresses me is that I am allowed to be a full member as a student.
Celine Karle: I love high-level yet understandable lectures – from my own discipline, physics, but especially from other fields. I think the interdisciplinary nature of the GDNÄ and the chance to get to know the current state of research in other disciplines better are great.
Marlene Anders: I am impressed by the humanity in our interactions. And the great appreciation that we young people experience.

Does the GDNÄ already have plans for the 2026 assembly in Bremen?
Sebastian Paschen: We certainly have ideas and we will discuss them with the GDNÄ board of directors soon. It is already certain that we will be able to organise our own programme parts in Bremen.
Celine Karle: We will definitely have a programme for school students again in 2026, as well as the popular formats “Science in 5 Minutes” and “Meet the Prof”. We want to expand the doctoral café. And if everything goes to plan, we will be able to present a mentoring programme in Bremen.
Marlene Anders: It is important now to maintain the momentum of the beginning. In five years, the jGDNÄ should be at least as vibrant as it is today.