At GirlsLAB@TUM, school students discover their STEM talents

Girls get a taste of university life

The first GirlsLAB@TUM was designed with exactly this in mind: to give female school students a space where they could engage creatively with STEM, exchange ideas freely with other girls, and perhaps even discover new visions for their future. Building on ExploreTUM’s “STEM Impulses at School” project days, more than 30 students and accompanying teachers from seven Bavarian partner schools from Abensberg to Zwiesel made use of this opportunity.

The program kicked off with an evening meet-and-greet at the Vorhoelzer Forum, where participants soaked up the big-city atmosphere and enjoyed the unique view over Munich. The next morning, the group headed to the Garching campus. There, TUM students guided the girls across the grounds – from the legendary parabolic slide in the Mathematics and Informatics building to a quick visit to a Higher Mathematics lecture and lunch in the cafeteria, where they experienced authentic university life among the TUM students.

While the accompanying teachers attended a workshop designed by the Munich Center for Machine Learning and the association “KI macht Schule” (“AI goes to school”) on how to integrate AI tools effectively into classroom teaching, the afternoon for the school students was all about hands-on teamwork. Guided by professional designers, the girls worked in eight teams to build a Rube Goldberg machine using craft materials and everyday objects with the goal of triggering an original mechanical chain reaction. Success depended less on textbook knowledge and more on creativity, close coordination between teams, and, of course, a bit of frustration tolerance.

After all, the GirlsLAB focuses not primarily on specific subjects or applications, but rather on personal skills and competencies: working in teams, thinking critically, developing creative problem-solving strategies – all while enjoying a good time with their peers.

“As a priority, we want to help the girls recognize the strengths they already have – strengths they may not even be aware of; show them the wide range of topics they can explore in STEM fields; and let them experience the unique spirit of university life. That way, they can truly imagine what it would be like to study in Munich and at TUM. And some of them will take that path – one they might never have considered without opportunities like this,” explains Claudia Sohnius from ExploreTUM, outlining the idea behind GirlsLAB.

And it works, as one participating teacher reports: “I feel a shift starting. The girls begin to think differently. They are now much more aware of the many possibilities out there – and they’re ready to explore them for themselves.”