Where are you employed and what are your areas of responsibility?

I work in the hydrogeology working group, more specifically in Victoria Burke's junior research group on animal pharmaceuticals. In recent years, it has become increasingly popular in the media that pharmaceuticals can enter the (aquatic) environment in various ways and cause considerable damage (e.g. antibiotic resistance). The main pathway is the application of farm manure. We use field, lysimeter and laboratory tests to investigate the degradation and transport behaviour of various veterinary pharmaceuticals in soil and groundwater in order to assess their environmental relevance. Personally, I am allowed to get a taste of all areas of the project and work with them. Building groundwater measuring points on the test field, taking pore water samples, drawing soil columns or sampling measuring points is just as much a part of it as analysing the samples in the laboratory, carrying out rapid tests, measuring ions or determining grain sizes in accordance with DIN regulations. At the lysimeter near the university, for example, the flow rates of the various soils have to be determined, the soil moisture measured and samples taken so that everything can be analysed later in the laboratory. It is also exciting to be involved in the column experiments and to discover how veterinary medicines change in the soil and in what concentrations they are then present in the groundwater. Thanks to the scientific staff, I get a great insight into the complexity of sample preparation and measurement on large devices. I get to know new programmes during the analysis and receive support in arriving at results myself, and if you are looking for something varied, you can look forward to different, responsible tasks every day here, both outside and inside, and learn a lot in a great team!

Why did you decide to do a Voluntary Scientific Year?

I didn't yet know which direction I wanted to take after leaving school and felt that the Voluntary Scientific Year was a good opportunity to get my bearings. Where else do you get the chance to work on an exciting, multifaceted research project and also exchange ideas with students and doctoral candidates?

What do you think this year will bring you?

This year will definitely give me lots of new impressions, experiences and new knowledge. It's also great that I can take part in the working group seminar and thus have the opportunity to experience presentations by doctoral students and students as well as Master's thesis defences. Taking part in and preparing for research-oriented seminars for students also offers me a great opportunity to get a taste of different areas. Overall, I hope to be able to make a decision at the end of the year as to whether I want to study and, if so, which area suits me best.

What have you learnt so far during your voluntary service?

I've already learnt a lot of new things, such as measuring with different probes and devices, the basics of the Grapher and Excel programmes, producing solutions and linking many test results to create an overall picture. The work in the laboratory in particular always presents new hurdles that need to be overcome and, thanks to our chemist, I am also able to take part in solid phase extractions to obtain veterinary medicines from water, for example. The great thing is that I can ask anyone whenever I need explanations and always get help and support if necessary. At the same time, I feel part of the working group and can, for example, assist the doctoral students by carrying out particle size analyses, mixing a drug cocktail for the column experiments or working in the field, and take away basic knowledge for myself. There is also a lot to do at the lysimeter. For example, I learn how to correlate the sample results and try to explain and research puzzling phenomena when analysing them and discuss them in the working group. One of the most important things I've learned so far is that good organisation is often the be-all and end-all. Different tasks from different areas often have to be worked on in parallel and a good time and schedule is very helpful to keep everything in view.

Why are you doing your voluntary service at the University of Oldenburg of all places?

I first became aware of the Voluntary Academic Year in Oldenburg through the sixth form coordinator at my grammar school. I didn't even know that it was possible to do voluntary service in science and found out that it was still relatively new and was only offered in Oldenburg (from 2015) and Hanover. As Hanover tended to advertise physics and mathematics research groups at that time, but I wanted to try something in the field of biology and geography, I came across the University of Oldenburg's advertisements, applied by 31 December 2016 and received an invitation to an interview shortly afterwards. I didn't know Oldenburg at all beforehand, explored the beautiful city centre a bit after the interview and decided to move to Oldenburg in the summer of 2017 and start my FWJ after the AG accepted me.

What advice would you give to future volunteers?

Use the opportunity of the academic year to gain an insight into research work and try out what is on offer! Even if the technical terms, experiments and working methods seem quite foreign to you at the beginning, you will see that you will understand more and more over time and be able to work independently. One thing should always be clear to you, as my former German teacher used to say: "You are not sheep!". So ask questions about anything that seems illogical and you will soon realise that you are learning a lot or stimulating new ideas in the research group!