The most innovative young minds from Thuringia

On April 2, 2025, 137 young researchers presented their projects for "Jugend forscht" and "Jugend forscht Junior" at the Thuringia state competition. Many projects and Thuringian schools were also awarded special prizes at the award ceremony, including from the two state sponsors STIFT and Jenoptik.

Under the motto "Turn questions into answers!", this year's state competition was held in the Ad hoc Arena at the Ernst Abbe Sports Field in Jena. The 137 young researchers presented a total of 61 projects (72 last year) in the seven subject areas of work, biology, chemistry, earth and space sciences, mathematics/computer science, physics and technology in the two competition categories "Jugend forscht" and "Jugend forscht Junior". The participants had previously qualified in seven Thuringian regional competitions.

As state sponsors, the Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research Thuringia (STIFT) and JENOPTIK AG once again made the competition possible, which took place for the 34th time in Thuringia in 2025. They were represented by Adrian König, Head of Innovation Management at Jenoptik, and Dr. Sven Günther, member of the STIFT Executive Board.

Award ceremony and special prize-giving

At the award ceremony on the afternoon of April 2, 2025, the first, second and third place winners in the respective subject areas received their awards, as well as the best interdisciplinary project and all other (special) award winners (see attached lists). The projects were evaluated by a jury made up of representatives from Thuringian schools and universities, institutes and companies.

The winners of the "Jugend forscht" state competition qualified for the national final, which will take place in Hamburg from May 29 to June 1, 2025.

In addition to the "Jugend forscht" awards, there were numerous special prizes. The Head of Jenoptik Innovation Management, Adrian König, awarded two Jenoptik special prizes to the following young researchers:

• The Bed Rescuer:
  John Sebastian Wolf-Müller (13) and Ricardo Ader (12) from Philipp-Melanchthon-Gymnasium Schmalkalden
• Development perspectives of student assessment using artificial intelligence
  Oskar Rost (17) and Marius Strauß (17) from Adolf-Reichwein-Gymnasium Jena

Dr. Sven Günther, Chairman of the Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research Thuringia (STIFT), awarded the "STIFT School Prizes" to the most successful Thuringian schools in the state competition:

• Elementary school: Primary School am Steigerwald, Erfurt (750 €)
• Secondary schools: 
  State grammar school 'Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi' Stadtroda, Stadtroda (€ 1,000)
  Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium Ruhla, Ruhla (€ 750)
  Jenaplan School Jena, Jena (€ 500)
• Special grammar school: State grammar school "Albert Schweitzer" Erfurt, Erfurt (€ 1,000)

Long-standing commitment of the state sponsors

The award ceremony was moderated by Daniela Schmidt, MDR Wissen, and the state competition directors Dr. Uta Purgahn (Jugend forscht) and Tom Fleischhauer (Jugend forscht Junior).

Jenoptik is closely associated with the competition. Jenoptik has been a sponsor of the Thuringian state finals of "Jugend forscht" and the state competition "Jugend forscht Junior" (formerly "Schüler experimentieren"), which was integrated in 2012, since 1991. The Thuringia Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research has been supporting "Jugend forscht" at regional competition level since 2005. It also supports children and young people on their path to research by offering coaching across all competition levels. STIFT and Jenoptik have been joint state sponsors for the Thuringia state competition since 2018.

Dr. Sven Günther is impressed by this year's competition: "Jugend forscht shows what happens when young people are taken seriously, encouraged and supported with their ideas, their curiosity and their courage to think things differently. The state competition in Thuringia is more than just a competition: it is a place of support, visibility and trust, with passion, depth and a genuine spirit of research. Jugend forscht in Thuringia is the future that begins today."

Adrian König also drew a positive conclusion: "Jugend forscht is much more than just a competition for young scientists. Rather, it is an ideal opportunity for committed young researchers to dedicate themselves to the small and large challenges of our time with creative ideas and a great deal of enthusiasm. They develop the cutting-edge innovations of tomorrow, which are of great importance for a technology group like Jenoptik. I am therefore all the more pleased that, as a long-standing state sponsor, we have once again been able to contribute to promoting pupils in their STEM skills."