It has become clear for some years now that the focus in the education of young people is moving away from the natural science subjects. Moreover, young people do not perceive the natural sciences as interesting subjects with potential for future development.

For this reason, the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) decided to focus in a more targeted way on the promotion of the future generation in the natural sciences. A commission created specifically for this purpose developed concrete projects:

• Secondary level / high school (15 – 18 years): «Patenschaft für Maturaarbeiten» (in German) is a SCNAT project whereby over 250 groups of researchers open their doors to young people and make their skills, infrastructure and instruments available for projects for their school-leaving university-entrance examination.

• educa.MINT (in German): a new Webplatform of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences with initiatives for mathematics, IT, natural science and technique.

Furthermore the Academy proposes useful links for pupils and teachers on projects for young people in primary and secondary levels and supports corresponding activities undertaken by the member organisations and partners of SCNAT.

Contact: 031/310 40 26

If you have any questions about the Focus on Youth and the projects presented on these pages for the promotion of the next generation of scientists, please contact Anne Jacob (-Streiff) who will be happy to assist you.