Sparking curiosity, discovering the future: UniCamp for female students launched at the University of Saarland
From July 20 to 24, 2026, the University of Saarland will become a research and experimentation site for 20 female students. At UniCamp, female students in grades 8 to 9 will explore topics such as space research, intelligent materials, and renewable energies. In various workshops, they can try out scientific work themselves and learn about the study and career opportunities available to them in the STEM fields.
Education Minister Christine Streichert-Clivot: “Our future needs people with ideas, curiosity, and the courage to take new paths. This, of course, also includes girls and young women. Still, significantly fewer women choose technical and scientific professions, even though their talents and perspectives are urgently needed there. UniCamp addresses this exact issue: it gives female students the opportunity to conduct research themselves, discover their own strengths, and meet people who have already found their path in science and technology. Such experiences build confidence and open up new future perspectives. For 23 years, UniCamp has thus made an important contribution to promoting young female talent and securing skilled workers in Saarland. That’s why the Ministry of Education and Culture will also support UniCamp with 8,000 euros next year, so that in 2027 many young women can once again experience science up close and discover their talents.”
The camp is held under the motto “Fascination with Science and Technology” and is aimed at female students of Saarland schools who are interested in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, or technology. For a week, they can indulge their curiosity, develop their own ideas, and experience that research is primarily driven by questioning, experimenting, and solving problems together.
In the university’s student laboratories, the participants work on tasks from various research areas. During the camp week, they also meet female students, female scientists, male scientists, and professors. They share insights from their university daily lives and provide glimpses into their personal career paths. Female role models in particular can show the female students that science and technology are not questions of gender.
UniCamp is therefore not only meant to provide a few exciting days during the holidays. It can also be the beginning of longer-term support. Former participants, for example, use the mentoring program MentoMINT or already take part in a junior university program during their school years.
In 2026, UniCamp will be held for the 23rd time. It has now established itself as a permanent offer for STEM talent promotion at the University of Saarland. It deliberately starts early so that female students can get to know their interests and develop their own ideas for their academic and professional future.
Expertise in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and technology is needed in many professions – for example, in energy supply, medicine, digitization, or the development of new materials. Skilled professionals in these fields contribute to finding new solutions for social and economic challenges. Offers like UniCamp help to inspire young people early on and, in particular, provide more opportunities for girls in these future fields.
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