From July 20 to 24, 2026, Saarland University will become a research and experimentation site for 20 female students. At UniCamp, female students in grades 8 to 9 will get to know topics such as space research, intelligent materials, and renewable energies more closely.
In various workshops, they can try out for themselves how scientific work functions 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. Of course, this 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 exactly: It gives female students the opportunity to conduct research themselves, discover their own strengths, and meet people who have already found their way into science and technology. Such experiences build confidence and open up new future prospects. For 23 years, UniCamp has thus made an important contribution to promoting young women and securing skilled workers in Saarland. That is why the Ministry of Education and Culture will again support UniCamp next year with 8,000 euros so that in 2027 many young women can experience science up close and discover their talents.”
The camp is under the motto “Fascination of Science and Technology” and is aimed at female students from Saarland schools who are interested in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, or technology. For a whole week, they can indulge their curiosity, develop their own ideas, and experience that research mainly thrives on questioning, trying things out, and solving problems together.
In the university’s student laboratories, the participants work on tasks from various research fields. During the camp week, they also meet female students, female scientists, scientists, and professors. They report on their daily lives at the university and provide insights into their personal career paths. Especially female role models can show female students that science and technology are not a matter of gender.
UniCamp is therefore intended not only 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 participate in a junior university program during their school years.
In 2026, UniCamp will take place for the 23rd time. In the meantime, it has developed into a regular offering for STEM talent promotion at Saarland University. 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 workers in these areas contribute to finding new solutions for social and economic challenges. Offers like UniCamp help to inspire young people early on and especially provide girls with more opportunities in these future fields.
