Upon arrival, Prof. Michael Zavrel, Head of the Professorship for Bioprocess Engineering at TUMCS, opened the morning with a talk. He explained the work carried out at his department, the fundamentals of bioprocess engineering, its industrial applications, and current research topics. This was followed by three short presentations by members of the department: Estelle van der Walt, Melissa Grundwürmer and Miriam Fischer provided insights into their research topics and student projects. The presentations gave the pupils an idea of how practical experiments and scientific work are carried out at TUM.
Program Manager Viola Probst then provided information on the wide range of study options in Straubing, the structure of a degree program, and support services for prospective students.
A highlight was the laboratory tours, during which the pupils were divided into two groups. Group 1 began in the laboratory of the Professorship of Microbial Biotechnology, led by Maurice Hädrich, and then moved on to the Bioprocess Engineering laboratory to meet Prof. Zavrel. Group 2 toured the laboratories in the reverse order. The students were able to experience the laboratory equipment and experimental setups up close, observe experimental procedures and ask questions about the technical and scientific processes.
The morning concluded with a short campus tour led by Otto Zellmer from TUMCS Public Relations. During the tour, the pupils gained insights into the university’s infrastructure, central facilities and everyday campus life.
Overall, the visit by Veit-Höser-Gymnasium provided a lively and practical overview of biotechnology, research and university life. The combination of lectures, laboratory visits and a campus tour enabled the pupils to link theory with practice and gain an impression of scientific work at the TUM Straubing Campus.