The joint project "Oldenburg Nano Lab for Pupils" by the University of Oldenburg and the Altes Gymnasium has been nominated for the Robert Bosch Foundation's "School Meets Science" award. An independent jury chaired by Nobel Prize winner Professor Erwin Neher selected eight co-operation projects from 61 applications. The foundation uses the award to promote co-operation projects that introduce pupils to science and technology in an exemplary and innovative way. "I am delighted about this interim success and am enthusiastic about the project's approach: making complex scientific techniques tangible for pupils through cooperation between schools and specialised science," says Professor Dr Mathias Wickleder, Vice President for Studies and Teaching at the University of Oldenburg.

The idea for the "Oldenburg Nano Lab for Schoolchildren" originated from an already successful joint project - the construction of a scanning tunnelling microscope, which was awarded the Oldenburg Think Tank last year. The aim of the initiators - Prof Dr Christoph Lienau and Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, University of Oldenburg, as well as Oldenburg teacher Silvia Backhaus and Ilka Parchmann from the Leibniz Institute of Educational Sciences and Mathematics in Kiel - is to set up a laboratory in which pupils are introduced to modern issues and methods of nanotechnology in close cooperation with students and trainee teachers.
"Pupils should have the opportunity to experience modern nanotechnologies practically, directly and in close cooperation with students and prospective teachers," says Prof Dr Christoph Lienau. The aim is to demonstrate that pupils and students receive an outstanding education and find excellent research conditions in Oldenburg in particular, adds Silvia Backhaus.

The eight nominated project teams will travel to Berlin on 22 September for the award ceremony, where they will present themselves to the public. The main prize is endowed with 50,000 euros and two further prizes of 20,000 euros each will be awarded. The prize is under the patronage of Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan.