At the Associate Professorship of Sports Equipment and Sport Materials, we are actively working on promoting girls in MINT subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) in order to attract young female talent in this MINT area.
With this in mind, Anne Weinfurtner visited the environmental research station Schneefernerhaus on the Zugspitze together with thirteen pupils from Bavarian high schools and secondary schools during the last autumn holidays (October 29 to November 31, 2023).
The girls were able to take on the role of climate researchers for two days and conducted geoelectrical measurements inside the mountain Zugspitze. Equipped with headlamps, the young participants marched into the tunnel of the Zugspitze and examined the permanently frozen rocks (permafrost) with professional measuring devices from the Technical University of Munich.
The technical program was initiated by our colleagues from the Chair of Landslide Research. The team around Prof. Dr. Michael Krautblatter with mit Riccardo Scandroglio and Katharina Boie showed the young “TUM explorers” how the melting of permafrost in the mountain can be measured. These measurements are of great significance because the permafrost holds rocks and soil in the mountain together like glue.
The excursion, funded by the Hg Foundation (London), offers 9th and 10th grade students the opportunity to discover MINT subjects, which are currently still dominated by men, and free from social stereotypes to be to experiment. The aim is to actively and sustainably promote girls' curiosity and interest in these subjects.
Further information about the offerings for girls and young women at TUM can be found here:
https://www.tum.de/studium/von-der-schule-zur-universitaet/fuer-maedchen-und-junge-frauen
Fotocredit: Gert Krautbauer for TUM