Students Visit RPTU as Part of the 56th International Chemistry Olympiad
During Carnival week, 14 students from Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland had the opportunity to gain insight into daily life in the chemistry lab as well as into academic studies and research at the Department of Chemistry at RPTU. Many of the participants are already in the third round of the Chemistry Olympiad and were excited to put the knowledge they’ve acquired into practice. The focus of the experiments was on providing insight into as many laboratory techniques as possible.
On Monday, the students were able to demonstrate their skills through an organic synthesis project. Working in teams of two, they learned a variety of basic laboratory techniques, starting with the first synthesis step, through the purification of the resulting crude product, and on to initial analytical investigations. It is worth noting that this experiment is also part of the chemistry bachelor’s degree program. The day was supervised by the Chemistry Education team led by Professor Dr. Gabriele Hornung.
On the second day, the students spent the morning conducting a biochemistry experiment focused on enzyme kinetics and photometry as a measurement method. After successfully extracting the enzyme from button mushrooms, they analyzed the enzyme’s activity. This experiment is also an integral part of the laboratory courses for biochemistry students.
The students were supervised by the teams from the Department of Chemistry Education and the research group led by Professor Dr. Antonio Pierik. In the afternoon, they conducted the final analysis of the synthesis product from the previous day.
Dr. Uwe Bergsträßer (Organic Chemistry, Prof. Dr. Jens Hartung’s research group) guided the students through analytical spectroscopy methods (IR and NMR), thereby setting the stage for the discussion session with the professors scheduled for late afternoon. With a broad range of academic disciplines represented, the students had the opportunity to ask Professor Dr. Sabine Becker (Inorganic Chemistry), Professor Dr. Georg Manolikakes (Organic Chemistry), Professor Dr. Antonio Pierik (Biochemistry), and Assistant Professor Dr. Johann-Nikolaus Seibert (Chemistry Education) anything they wanted to know, ranging from research and the career paths of professors to studying chemistry. This opportunity was very well received and ultimately led to the feedback: “It’s a shame it was so short.”
The state seminar for the Chemistry Olympiad has been organized and held at RPTU for many years by the Department of Chemistry Education, with support from the relevant academic departments. The competition receives financial support from the German Chemical Industry Association and, this year, staffing support through the Open Digitalization Alliance Palatinate project.
Author: Daniela Becker