Celebrating Science Day 2025: Students from Essen, Münster, and Munich Explore Laboratory Research

To mark this year's Science Day on November 10th, researchers from the DFG-funded consortium TRR332 “Neutrophils: Origin, Fate & Function” at the Universities of Münster, Duisburg-Essen, and LMU Munich invited school students into their laboratories to experience what scientific work looks like in everyday research. In Essen and Münster, the program was organized as a hybrid event. Students from the Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium (Heiligenhausen) and the Marienschule (Münster) connected in the morning for a joint online seminar on neutrophils led by Prof. Oliver Soehnlein. After the seminar, each group continued with its own full-day laboratory program. At the end of the afternoon, they reconvened online to show each other what they had worked on and to exchange their results.

At the University of Münster, students spent the day in the lab using technologies such as flow cytometry to examine immune cells in different tissues and learn how these cells behave and explored their role in the body’s defense system. In Essen, students were introduced to tissue staining and microscopy and used these techniques to identify neutrophils in stained tissue samples. With fluorescently labeled antibodies, they were able to visualize the cells and discuss their role in the body’s defense system.

Meanwhile, in Munich, students from the Gymnasium Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn took part in a full-day program at the Biomedical Center (BMC) of LMU. Their activities included blood typing, microscopy, and identifying immune cells in blood samples. In the afternoon, they observed immune cell migration in Petri dishes, looked at heart cells under the microscope, and explored how immune cells move in zebrafish. The day ended with a seminar and an open discussion about the role of animal studies in research, which led to many thoughtful questions and conversations.

We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in the organization, especially Nina, Anja, Eva, Noelia, Ingrid and Verena. We would like to thank the collaborator, MExLab ExperiMINTe (University of Münster), for supporting this outreach event and giving students the chance to explore the world of science and develop their interest in STEM fields.