Department of Natural Sciences

UniStem Day 2025: Pupils learn about stem cell research

UniStem Day 2025 Campus Rheinbach Biologie Angewandte Naturwissenschaften Fotos Pascal Schröder

Friday 14 March 2025

Microscoping, pipetting, analysing: Around 50 pupils were able to gain an insight into stem cell research at the UniStem Day at H-BRS. For the high school students from the region, it was the first time they had been able to carry out experiments in a laboratory themselves.

The pupils observe samples under the microscope. Photo: Pascal Schröder

In concrete terms, the young people studied malignant haematopoietic cells, i.e. blood cells that are responsible for the development of cancer in the body. They used a microscope to analyse two samples of cell material. One of the samples had previously undergone therapy, the other had not. Under the microscope, it can be seen that the therapy has worked, the treated cells do not form colonies. The spread of the disease was halted. The young researchers were guided in their experiments by Bachelor's and Master's students from the university.

"Who will be a gummy bear millionaire?" was the name of the quiz, in which students were asked what they had learnt at the end. Photo: Pascal Schröder

UniStem Day is a global education day organised in NRW by Stammzellnetzwerk.NRW. H-BRS has been a regular participant in UniStem Day for over ten years. For Professor Mirle Schemionek, one of the organisers at H-BRS, the day of action is an excellent opportunity to arouse interest in biological research: "For the first time, the students have the chance to get to know research up close and conduct their own experiments. This works because H-BRS has the appropriate laboratory capacity and expertise in this very specific field of research."

At the end, there was also something to win. The tutors held a quiz to test what they had learnt. The big prize: lots of jelly babies. At the end, all participants received a diploma for successfully completing their first morning in the lab.