As part of the regional “Jugend forscht junior” competition, two female students and one male student from the Philanthropinum Gymnasium in Dessau took the opportunity to work at the IOM in the cross-sectional unit “Material Characterization and Analysis” with various measurement techniques (light microscopy, SEM, TGA, DSC) for a project in the field of biology. The eighth-grade pupils researched the topic of “heat protection for hair” and investigated how hair is damaged and what can be done about it. To this end, they exposed their own hair samples with and without heat protection products to high temperatures and examined the hair structure using various microscopes. The result: unlike natural hair care products such as aloe vera, professional heat protection sprays do not have the desired effect. The young people impressed the judges at this year's regional competition in Greppin with their findings, taking first place in their age group in the “Biology” category and qualifying for the state competition in Halle. The young researchers were also successful there: they not only took first place, but also received the special prize for sustainable progress – the Professor Wolfgang Lukas Memorial Prize – and the special prize from the Minister of Education of Saxony-Anhalt.

A big shout-out goes to the scientific advisors Jan Griebel, Jens Bauer, and Lena Stieler. They actively supported the students and guided them along the way. We're proud of these impressive achievements and are thrilled about this success!