The Children“s Day of Microscopy organized by Carl Zeiss is this year“s winner of the innovation contest titled 365 Places in the Land of Ideas. On invitation from Carl Zeiss this exceptional biolog…
The Children“s Day of Microscopy organized by Carl Zeiss is this year“s winner of the innovation contest titled 365 Places in the Land of Ideas. On invitation from Carl Zeiss this exceptional biology teaching event took place for the sixth time in the company from 9 to 12 November. The event was conducted in close collaboration with the teachers in order to support biology tuition. On 11 November Lutz Schmidt from the Deutsche Bank in Jena honoured the Children“s Day of Microscopy as a Selected Place in 2010. This makes the event for up-and-coming researchers one of five prize-winners that are honoured every year by the Germany – Land of Ideas initiative and by the Deutsche Bank under the auspices of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany. During the award presentation ceremony Lutz Schmidt emphasized the following: The Children“s Day of Microscopy is an excellent example of German creativity, inventiveness and commitment to the future. It takes into account the fact that, right from childhood, people are driven by the desire to discover what makes the world tick, and therefore promotes and challenges young scientists. Dr. Jochen Tham from Carl Zeiss commented on the award: We are very proud to be a Selected Place in the Land of Ideas. Already a tradition at Carl Zeiss, the Children“s Day of Microscopy is an example of our commitment to the promotion of up-and-coming young scientists – something that simply cannot start soon enough. The Children“s Day of Microscopy was created by Carl Zeiss in 2005. The around 125 participants who registered for the first expedition through microscopy in 2005 have now grown into approximately 350 students from five Jena schools. The girls and boys work on high quality stereo and laboratory microscopes and are supported by staff from Carl Zeiss. After a short, expert introduction specially tailored to the needs of the young participants, the students are then able to examine various samples and specimens themselves. With more than 100x magnification, for example, it is possible to exactly observe the living organisms in a droplet of water. The children are invited to bring objects with them from their own environment, which they can then examine under the microscope. The correct use of a microscope is an integral part of biology tuition in schools. From a total in excess of 2,200 submissions, the Children“s Day of Microscopy convinced the jury and, with its future-oriented idea, is representative of Germany as the Land of Ideas. The Selected Places in 2010 underscores Germany“s innovativeness and creativity in many different ways. Every day, we see the enormous potential offered by our region of the country. The network of ideas is growing right across Germany, is how Lutz Schmidt explained the commitment of the Deutsche Bank. The Carl Zeiss Group is a leading group of companies operating worldwide in the optical and optoelectronic industries that generates revenues totalling around EUR 2.1 billion (2008/09). The Group has approximately 13,000 employees worldwide, including more than 8,000 in Germany.