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

Why did you decide to do a voluntary research year?

After finishing school and taking my Abitur, I wanted to take some time to find my feet and gain some work experience before deciding whether to do an apprenticeship or go to university.

Where are you based and what are your responsibilities?

I’m doing my FWJ in the Department for Research and Technology Transfer at the University of Oldenburg.
I’m based in the diverse field of knowledge transfer. The core tasks here involve knowledge transfer and science communication, start-up support and technology transfer. So it’s about bringing the knowledge and expertise generated at the university into the various sectors of society and engaging in dialogue with these sectors. The Start-up and Innovation Centre (GIZ for short) is also part of the Transfer department and advises students, staff and researchers on matters relating to setting up a business.

Right from the start, attention was paid to my interests and skills, and we defined my areas of responsibility accordingly. My duties now span various fields of activity.
I support colleagues from the team at my workplace, the Innovation Campus. Among other things, this is home to the so-called Digital Lab and the Innovation Workshop. It is a place where innovative ideas are developed and where, for example, it is possible to build analogue and digital prototypes using 3D printers.
At regular stand-up meetings, I find out about current projects and receive updates from the whole team.
Generally speaking, I help with various marketing activities, such as designing promotional items and producing content for social media.

I support the planning teams for events such as the ‘Healthcare Hackathon Oldenburg’ and ‘Hirn vom Hahn – Wissen frisch gezapft’. I’m also involved in putting together the programme for The Smart House Oldenburg.
Alongside this, I regularly work on various smaller ‘projects’ and have numerous administrative tasks, such as updating the website, posting out magazines, editing photos from a workshop, or compiling an overview of funding programmes.

I also contribute to the podcast “Hirn Gehört: Oldenburger Wissensschnack” throughout the year. The podcast is an initiative of the Oldenburg Network for Science Communication, which brings together various regional research institutions. I edit the recorded raw footage into a final podcast episode. This means a new episode can be published every month. I also handle the social media for this – entirely on my own – which involves creating and posting updates and stories on various platforms.
All in all, I’m surrounded by a really lovely, young and open-minded team, whom I can always turn to with questions or concerns and who have made me feel fully part of the team :-)

What do you think this year will bring for you? What have you learnt so far during your voluntary service?

Experiences. Experiences in all sorts of forms.

So far, I’ve learnt a great deal about the work itself and have gained fantastic insights into just how flexible and exciting a typical working day can be. It’s been particularly helpful for me to experience this, especially after leaving school.
I’ve also learnt to organise my daily work and tasks independently, as not every day is the same and there are meetings and events to attend from time to time.

By taking part in a relevant course, I’ve learnt skills in using TYPO3. I’ve also been able to improve my skills in editing and design software, such as Adobe InDesign.
In addition, I have also developed personally, particularly in terms of independence, openness to new ideas, flexibility and communication skills.

Apart from that, I completed the ‘English for University Studies’ language course (which is compulsory as part of the FWJ), where I was able to improve important nuances in English usage – tailored to my language level.
As the FWJ also offers the opportunity to attend various courses and lectures at university, I was able to gain an insight into different subject areas. This helped me, for example, to finalise my study plans.

I also got a taste of student life!

Essentially, as well as having the chance to gain experience and insights, this year also gave me the time, after finishing school and my Abitur, to take stock and think carefully about my next steps. On top of that, I met some brilliant new people, particularly through the training days.