Here, participants in the Voluntary Scientific Year (FWJ) report on their experiences in the Department of Prevention and Rehabilitation Research at the University of Oldenburg.

Why did you decide to do a voluntary research year in the Prevention and Rehabilitation Research group?

After finishing my Abitur, I already knew that I wanted to go to university, but I was interested in a range of subjects, including medicine, sociology, philosophy and psychology. In that respect, this healthcare research group – situated at the intersection of all these disciplines – was a perfect fit for me. It allows me to explore the content of all these subjects, and I’ve now been able to make a decision.

What’s more, the FWJ is a great opportunity to get to know a university in the year after my Abitur without having to start a degree straight away. The insights into academia and research that I’m gaining here are experiences that even students don’t usually have, yet I can still easily attend lectures across various degree programmes. What’s more, FWJ participants can make use of and try out all the other leisure activities on offer – such as sport, music or theatre – just like students. It’s also a great way to establish contact with students.

What are your responsibilities and activities as part of the FWJ?

First and foremost, I attend all events organised by the section and the department: these can include regular meetings, workshops and conferences both in and outside Oldenburg, meetings of the departmental council, symposia and academic presentations, lectures and seminars given by colleagues, as well as public research presentations.

My responsibilities cover all areas of the department’s quantitative (e.g. questionnaire-based studies) and qualitative (e.g. interviews with experts and stakeholders, photographic and observational data) research. I am therefore involved in the preparation of studies – drafting ethics applications and study protocols, designing study leaflets – followed by data collection, the subsequent processing and interpretation of the data, and finally the presentation of the study results in lectures and publications.

In addition, I help with the preparation of lectures and seminars, the organisation of events, and sometimes lend a hand in other departments.

Which studies are you involved in?

I am heavily involved in a study on the age-friendliness of the city of Oldenburg. In this study, we are investigating how older people assess the city’s age-friendliness in various areas, which personal factors this depends on, what further wishes they have, and what potential for improvement exists in the city.

I am also involved in the TriaDe study, which examines care arrangements involving people with dementia, their relatives and 24-hour live-in carers from Eastern Europe, focusing on issues of ethics, communication and care provision, in collaboration with the Department of Medical Ethics and the University of Essen.

Further information on these two studies and others in which I am occasionally involved can be found on the department’s website.

What advice would you give to future volunteers?

You’ll be joining a department with really friendly and cool colleagues! So you don’t need to worry at all about not understanding anything – you can always ask questions. The field of research is incredibly varied and exciting; it never gets boring, as great care is taken to ensure that volunteers are given a wide range of tasks.

The great thing about the FWJ is the chance to try out and get involved in all sorts of different things. So it’s also important to have a bit of courage – or, if in doubt, to learn :) – to ask questions, to always say ‘yes’ to interesting opportunities, to look out for possibilities and tasks yourself, and to find joy in the different things you experience.