(Frankfurt a. M./Hamburg, 06.06.2025) Across Germany, 10,350 children and young people registered for Jugend forscht (Young people do research) in 2025 - meaning that interest in STEM subjects remains at a high level following a sharp increase in participation in 2024. To mark the 60th anniversary of the national competition, which was organized by Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg as the federal sponsoring institution and the Jugend forscht e. V. foundation. Once again, there was a lot of exciting work under the motto "Turning questions into answers".
Around 170 young scientists were finally able to travel to the final in Hamburg at the end of May, where over 100 projects from the fields of work, biology, chemistry, earth and space sciences, mathematics/computer science, physics and technology were presented. Since the 1996/97 round of the competition, the VDE has supported Jugend forscht with a special prize of EUR 1,000 for a project in the field of electronics, energy or information technology.
Bojenergy: Self-sufficient research buoy records environmental data on waterways
In 2025, the prize went to Louis Schwarzlose (17) from Heilwig Gymnasium in Hamburg. He was also awarded the Federal Chancellor's prize for the most original work for his Bojenergy project, the development of a research buoy. Bojenergy is intended to ensure that sensors can be placed in hard-to-reach places on the water in future to record environmental data. "On the one hand, I wanted to expand my skills by taking part in Jugend forscht," says Louis Schwarzlose, explaining the motivation behind his project. "On the other hand, it was important to me that Bojenergy could make a real contribution to environmental protection in the future."
GPS, compass and renewable energies: Everything on board
Thanks to GPS and a compass, the buoy can steer autonomously and retract or extend its anchor at its destination. It also has an Arduino single-board computer, which can be accessed via WLAN on a website to control the system. As Bojenergy is equipped with a power bank, it stores energy from wind and wave power as well as solar energy and can supply itself with electricity autonomously. On the evening of the award ceremony, Louis Schwarzlose confirmed that a lot of heart and soul went into the project: "It took months of hard work, including sacrificing vacations. Being here now is the reward for that - I'm very happy about that."
