Successful summer camp for young researchers at IST Austria

“Sommercampus – Kinder entdecken Forschung” was the title and theme of the science week for children that turned the IST Austria campus in Klosterneuburg into a summer camp on August 17-21. 32 gifted children at primary school age had the opportunity to do science in one of three research groups. The young scientists presented the results of their discoveries at an exhibition by the end of the week. Highlight was the graduation ceremony last Friday.

„Am I related to my rabbit at home,“ asked Ananya the evolutionary biologist Murat Tugrul at last week’s Sommercampus. Before that, the participants of the research group “Plants, animals and humans” had been encouraged to sketch their family trees. Ananya had given the slot of a brother to her favorite pet animal. Murat answered the question by showing her and 10 other young researchers the tree of life, a evolutionary model that traces the origin of rabbits and humans back to the occurrence of the first mammals.

The IST Austria Sommercampus was organized in cooperation with the College of Teacher Education in Lower Austria. The research week was supported by the Lower Austrian Department for Science and Research and by the European Society for Evolutionary Biology. Due to the enthusiasm shown by all participants, the Sommercampus is scheduled to be continued next year.