Behind the large windows in the laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EI), around ten girls and young women observe the power fluctuations on a measuring device. There are small solar cells in front of them, whose position they constantly change in order to record the different measured values. While one team of junior researchers takes the solar panels completely out of the light to test what happens, another duo is happy about the high measured values in direct sunlight.
Girls Day at the TH Lübeck
Girls Day is a nationwide day of action for career orientation, which also includes the TH Lübeck with offers such as food with an oven and high-tech!, 3D printing: bringing creative designs to life!, why do adults drink coffee and what does caffeine have to do with it?, breaking things is allowed! – From material blocks to laboratory tests, energy – sun, wind and heat used cleverly and Computer Science Unplugged: computer science without computers. The aim is to give girls and young women insights into subjects and professional fields in which women have previously been underrepresented, especially in technical, craft and scientific areas.
This is also evident at the TH. According to the student numbers in the 2025/2026 winter semester, the proportion of female students in the EI department is 23.5 percent – not even a third. Of a total of 4,829 students at the TH Lübeck, 1,550 are female, which corresponds to 32.1 percent.
Girls Day TH Lübeck: Solar energy is so exciting
Prof. Dr.-Ing. wants to follow this trend. Carsten Lüders and Maik Baumann counteract this with their offer on this day. Together with the junior researchers, they take a look at the measurement data, transfer it to a diagram and create a parabolic curve. Solar energy is also on the agenda for the next project. The girls and young women are supposed to assemble small houses or windmills made of wood, which are ultimately powered by solar energy – either light is produced or the wind turbines rotate.
Building is a lot of fun and we can take the things with us afterwards
says an eleven-year-old student happily. I like putting things together. We do that at home sometimes too
she explains as she uses a small screwdriver to tighten an even smaller screw to secure the wind turbines to the motor.
Girls Day: Exciting insights into the topic of yeast
A few buildings away, another laboratory focuses on yeast. As soon as you enter the industrial kitchen it becomes clear: research is made visible here using everyday practical examples. While one group works on a mathematical problem about yeast cell division, the others knead a dough and observe the fermentation behavior.
Laboratory engineer Melanie Brügmann is showing a group of young women what yeast looks like under the microscope when the mathematical problem at the next table stalls. If you make a miscalculation, it’s best to cross everything out and start again from scratch
says graduate engineer Annette Leonards. She remembers this from her studies: the next day, with a little distance from the task, it was usually much easier.
On Girls Day between treats and technology
The Department of Applied Natural Sciences, to which Annette Leonhards also belongs, has one of the largest proportions of women at the TH Lübeck at 42.1 percent. Only in the construction sector is the proportion even higher at 43.1 percent. In the field of mechanical engineering and economics, the proportion of women is 27.3 percent. Numbers that may change in the future if girls and young women gain more insights into professional fields.
On this day in the laboratory, they will definitely learn that the texture of a chocolate roll or pizza dough is directly related to food technology and process engineering. And they also took care of their own lunch with pizza and chocolate rolls, cinnamon rolls and the like.