A recent example is Wolfgang Holnthoner, who visited the Erich Fried Gymnasium (BRG9) in Vienna. The final year of school is a special time for many students, as they start considering which passions they want to pursue and which path they might take after graduation. In his talk, Holnthoner gave the graduating students an insight into the world of biomedical research. Using examples from tissue engineering and extracellular vesicle research, he explained how scientists aim to understand how tissues regenerate and how new medical therapies can be developed. Conversations like these are often the starting point for scientific curiosity – and perhaps some future researchers were already sitting in that classroom.

Other members of the institute also regularly engage in science communication with schools. Conny Schneider, for example, organizes school workshops as part of the BEATsepsis project. For her, these encounters are among the most rewarding moments of her work:

“Of all my science communication activities, school workshops are especially close to my heart. Children and young people bring an energy that you rarely experience in lectures for adults. They are used to working together as a group in class and have their own unique dynamic. Questions are picked up like a ball and passed around, sometimes coming back to me from an angle that even surprises me and makes me think. Children and young people are curious and courageous in their thinking. That makes science come alive. For me, every workshop is a reminder of why I originally chose a career in research.”

These visits show that science thrives not only on experiments and publications, but also on sharing knowledge and inspiring others. And perhaps the path to the next great discovery begins in a classroom just like this one.