For Pupils
Photos: Alexander Grünsel
Living science
Scientific support at the transition from school to university cannot start early enough. Within the project HIGH SCHOOL THESIS the SFB 874 supports the first steps of interested pupils in the field of neuroscience.
Several pupils of an advanced course in Biology can experience living science while dissecting pigs’ brains during an orientation day organized by the SFB 874 last year. They for example separate the dura mater from the cerebrum in order to understand the brain’s structure in a very practical manner.
“We choose the bovire brain for the dissection, because it is structured in a very similar manner to our own brain”, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Nora Prochnow explains. She works within the Department of Neuroanatomy of the Medical Faculty and runs the orientation day under the motto “Brain anatomy”. The aim is to introduce high school pupils into the intriguing world of neuroscience. In the morning, Dr. Prochnow holds a theoretical lecture concerning the brain’s structure and functions, and in the afternoon the pupils gain practical experience. For most of them it is the first time in their lives that they see and dissect a mammalia brain and some might be interested in writing their high school thesis over a neuroscientific topic.
“Our course has proven very attractive.” Dr. Sabine Dannenberg, coordinator of the SFB 874 and responsible for the high school project, is satisfied with the pupils’ resonance. “We already placed several high-school pupils in contact with our neuroscientists who now supervise their high school project.” That means the scientist help to find relevant topics, provide necessary laboratory space and offer specialist exchange. Prof. Dr. Denise Manahan-Vaughan, speaker of the SFB 874 adds: “We offer a wide range of opportunities to high-school pupils, not least because neuroscience is highly multidisciplinary, but also because we have a long and established tradition at the Ruhr-University of interacting with pupils to foster their interest in this area.”
