Passionate high school students dive into chemistry research

This study week is organized each year by Swiss Youth in Science (SYiS; in German: Schweizer Jugend forscht) and allows highly motivated students aged 16 to 20 to gain insight into scientific research beyond what they learn in the classrooms. EPFL is proud to be part of this project thanks to the partnership the School’s Education Outreach Department established with SYiS, that allows EPFL to offer several study weeks in various domains on a yearly base.

This year’s edition, with an equal split between men and women, hosted a majority of participants from the Swiss-german cantons, allowing them to cross the language border. They were not only eager to learn more about chemistry and put theory into practice, they were also keen on learning about a university and region they were not necessarily familiar with before. At the end of the week, all participants presented their work to the entire community as well as to the public.

And what are the impressions of our young scientists?

The students, who had high school backgrounds ranging from science to languages or music as a main subject, had different areas of interests for chemistry. EPFL was able to offer a broad spectrum of projects, ranging from organic synthesis to chemical biology as well as high-end analytical techniques to ensure that the breadth and depth of this discipline is put forward. This allowed the students to get an insight into how chemistry is applied to the medical field as for instance in drug development, or what green chemistry is (new generation of solar cells or separation techniques to remove pollutants from for instance the air).

This week was better than I expected – I like when it’s challenging.

Motivated to meet likeminded people, to get an immersion into chemistry and to experience working in a lab and conduct real research outside their school setting, they embarked in this adventure and shared some insights with us.

I’ve always been interested in chemistry, but I was motived to learn more about research, see how it is to work in a lab.

Whist some of them already knew about EPFL and its study programs, others were stunned by its architectural Campus, the livelihood it offers. For them this study week was an occasion to learn more about studying chemistry and pursuing a PhD.

What they valued most? The open culture, seeing how people worked in the lab and the time the mentors took to explain and share their study and research experience.

This week opened my eyes to student life, research and learning from the PhD students.

This study week also aims to create a bridge between high school and university and spark the students’ curiosity for science. David from Basel summarized: “This week is a step towards my university life.” David worked on building dye sensitized solar cells, which have been invented 1991 by Professor Grätzel at EPFL. Contrary to the commonly used photovoltaic solar cells that have a semi-conducting material to absorb the light, the dye-sensitized solar cells are coated with a light-absorbing dye. Through this special layer, solar energy can be converted into electricity. These dyes can also be extracted from natural sources like berries, spinach and hibiscus, which were the basis for David’s project. This approach decreases manufacturing costs and makes the solar cells more environmentally friendly compared to others.

Sarah from Bern, who was waiting for an experiment to finish, which is part of her study towards the synthesis of a medicinally relevant organic molecule, added on and proudly said: “This week was so exciting and a new experience that increased my curiosity and motivates me to learn more”.

The importance of good mentorship

Seeing a good collaboration between the students and the PhD mentors was a key success factor for this week. The students reported they felt well integrated and could benefit of a full learning experience, despite the rather large knowledge gap between high school studies in chemistry and research conducted at doctoral level. As Dina explained: One is not scared to make mistakes, they are here to help and explain everything, it is a huge learning experience.

The mentors picked us up where we were – they took the time to explain.

This week also offered a great learning opportunity for the PhD students who mentored the participants. Nadia, who participated for the first time as a mentor, mentioned that it surely is an effort to create a project that suits the students, but she enjoyed having that liberty and creativity to find something that is doable in a short amount of time and with the knowledge, they have. She loved the enthusiasm with which the students came to this week, which in return motivated her even more.

Philippe, who is used to mentoring Bachelor’s and Master’s students found this novel experience of working with younger students very exciting and rewarding. This week once again made him aware about the importance of breaking down the information and making sure, you adapt your way of conveying information to the background, level of knowledge of your audience. It has been a real learning experience for him.