“You are all winners today, because you made it to this point,” says Dr. Christine Germer, head of the Lübeck regional competition from Jugend research at the award ceremony on February 12, 2025. The 12 to 18 -year -old young scientists presented themselves and their ideas of a jury, who asked critical questions about their concepts. After an intensive consultation round, the winners of the day were fixed. The complete list of winners can be found here.
Small decomposition, great future
Simon Heinrici and Konstantin Felipe Kudernatsch Ojeda won the first prize in the Department of Junior. The two 12- and 13-year-old students of the high school for the cathedral found with a self-designed structure in three test groups: Earthworms prefer nutrient-rich earth, as food they prefer leaves and is available to them the preferred feed, this can also affect their soil selection . The students wish: “Protect the earthworm. Design your garden more earthworm -friendly, in which you leave, for example, leaves leaves or do not attach the earth unnecessarily. ” The pupils receive 75 euros for their project as prize money, the Prilesschentin is the Helmholtz community of German Research Centers.
Böller with hydrogen
Peter Schiefer and Henrik Moor won the first prize in the chemistry area of youth research junior. In their project, the students from the Sachsenwaldschule Reinbek developed a prototype for an environmentally friendly firecracker. Instead of black powder – and associated large amounts of waste and smoke – rely on hydrogen. The two 12- and 13-year-olds developed a complex, reusable structure in which a copper cable serves as a “lighter”. “When we celebrate New Year’s Eve this year, we will definitely try our firecracker again,” says Peter.
Environmentally friendly cargo
Fabian Fürst wins the first prize in the chemistry of youth research. The 16-year-old from the Louisenlund boarding school asked the question of what an environmentally friendly alternative to commercial battery storage technologies could look like. The problems with conventional technologies: environmentally harmful lithium reduction, the finite resources, paired with increasing demand and inefficient alternatives. Fabian Fürst’s goal: Develop a sodium-ion battery based on more environmentally friendly and resource-saving materials, such as sodium and silicon.
The anti-Spyer
Philipp Grieffenhagen and Christoph Julius von Rodbertus Erlangen with their project “Anti-Spyer” first place in the technology category (youth research). The 16-year-olds from the Louisenlund boarding school set themselves the goal of developing a method to safely get toy drones out of the air from a distance of up to five meters. To do this, they used the principle of a railgun that shoots a network into the air with electromagnet. A small camera in a tower recognizes the drone and automatically aligns the Railgun to aim precisely. The energy of the electromagnet is deliberately kept low to ensure security. You have worked out the AI detection using an Arduino.
With ion winds high
Leon Sülflohn won first place in the field of physics from the regional competition Lübeck Jugend. He took advantage of the phenomenon of the ion drive, which is already used for satellites and spatial probes in space. His goal is to optimize this engine in such a way that it can be used in commercial aviation. “Air traffic would make air traffic much more climate-friendly because it does not use kerosene,” says the 18-year-old student. At the moment the student from Trittau is still in the first tests of his design.
What’s next for the winners?
The winners of the Lübeck regional competition qualified for the state competition on March 27, 2025 in Kiel. The final of the competitive round forms this 60th Federal Final Youth research researchthat takes place from May 29 to June 1, 2025 in Hamburg.
More information
The competition at TH Lübeck at the NDR.