Regional Youth Research Contest Awards Announcement, Pforzheim/Enz
In a celebration of scientific ingenuity, the Jugend forscht Landeswettbewerb (Youth Research State Competition) 2025 took place at Hochschule Heilbronn, hosting around 107 young researchers from across Baden-Württemberg. The event, which took place from April 3 to April 5, showcased the impressive projects of these bright minds in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) categories.
One of the standout projects in the Field of Mathematics/Informatics was Sebastian Steppuhn's "AI-assisted recognition of Varroa mites in beehives", which earned him first place at the regional competition in Pforzheim/Enz. Other notable achievements include Jan Seifert, Georg Dimitric, and Anna Zsófia Csáki from the Lessing-Gymnasium in Karlsruhe, who won second place in the same category with their project "Local company-internal AI assistant".
In the Field of Technology, Jens Streifel from the Karl-Engler-Schule in Karlsruhe took third place with his innovative "Motorcycle airbag for the neck", while Olive Gallagher from the Elisabeth-Selbert-Schule in Karlsruhe won second place with "Identifying temperature optima in climbing shoes". In the same age group and discipline, "DeRA-deni-wave - The backpack that never forgets" won first place in the Working World discipline at the regional competition in Pforzheim/Enz.
In the Field of Chemistry, Malte Willmann from the Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium in Bruchsal won first place with "Medicines from straw - synthesis of cyclopentanedione", while Zhiting Wang and Sarah Wioska from the Helmholtz-Gymnasium in Karlsruhe took second place with "Green Screen - green writing", and Jule Wilhelm from the Friedrich-Abel-Gymnasium in Vaihingen an der Enz earned third place with "Investigation of the usability of Chlorella Vulgaris based on microscopic images".
The regional competition in Pforzheim/Enz was supported by numerous companies, including ADMEDES GmbH, BERG GmbH, CK Holding GmbH, Fritz Stepper GmbH & Co.KG, G.RAU GmbH & Co. KG, Heimerle + Meule GmbH, Industry and Commerce Chamber of the Northern Black Forest, Enzkreis District Administration, SCHROEDER + BAUER Werkzeugbau Stanztechnik GmbH + Co. KG, Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw, STÖBER Antriebstechnik GmbH + Co. KG, WEICK Recycling GmbH, WIELAND Edelmetalle GmbH, Economic Development North Black Forest GmbH, ZECHA Hartmetall-Werkzeugfabrikation GmbH, and Witzenmann GmbH, who joined as a partner company for the first time this year.
Ten projects from Baden-Württemberg earned multiple awards at the 2025 federal Jugend forscht competition held in Hamburg, including five second prizes, one third prize, one fourth prize, one fifth prize, and four special prizes. This indicates strong performances across various categories, although the exact projects and their categories are not detailed in the available data.
At the formal award ceremony, around 200 guests, including representatives of politics and business, were present. Entertainment was provided by Pforzheim singer-Jonas Gavriil and the university's own robot "Spot". The first-place winners in each category have automatically qualified for the state competition in Baden-Württemberg, with further information on the research projects available in the competition book at www.hs-pforzheim.de/jugend-forscht.
The Jugend forscht regional competition in Pforzheim/Enz took place on February 22 and 23, 2024, at Pforzheim University, marking the fifth consecutive year it was jointly organized by the municipal enterprise Wirtschaft und Stadtmarketing Pforzheim (WSP) and Pforzheim University. The young researchers experienced an accompanying program that included tours of university laboratories, workshops, and various activities like a photo booth, virtual reality experience, and paint and canvas sessions.
Unfortunately, the search results do not provide a detailed list of state-level competitors by name nor the exact winning projects for each category in Baden-Württemberg in 2025. For that information, the official Jugend forscht Baden-Württemberg Landeswettbewerb 2025 exhibition catalog or contacting the organizers directly would be the best sources.
Science and education-and-self-development were integral parts of the Jugend forscht Landeswettbewerb (Youth Research State Competition) 2025, as demonstrated by the impressive projects showcased, such as Sebastian Steppuhn's "AI-assisted recognition of Varroa mites in beehives" in the field of education-and-self-development, which earned him first place at the regional competition. Additionally, Jan Seifert, Georg Dimitric, and Anna Zsófia Csáki from the Lessing-Gymnasium in Karlsruhe used AI to create a local company-internal assistant, placing second in the same category, also highlighting the connection between science and education-and-self-development.
