The MINT-Makerspace

The BMBF-funded project "Hands-on! The MINT-Makerspace" is supporting practical relevance, self-efficacy, opportunities and potentials for schoolgirls, female students and doctoral students, to motivate and engage more females in STEM education and jobs.

The MINT Makerspace Team in the Lichtwerkstatt Jena.

Image: Christian Helgert

Motivation and Goal

A student project on a Brain-Computer-Interface developed in the Lichtwerkstatt Makerspace.
Image: Bundesagentur für Arbeit.

In our project "Hands-on! The MINT Makerspace: Practical relevance, self-efficacy, opportunities and potentials for schoolgirls, female students and female doctoral students" (short: MINT Makerspace), we will target group-specific STEM participation formats.

The German term 'MINT' refers to 'Mathematik-Informatik-Naturwissenschaften-Technik'. In English, the closest equivalent is STEM, Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics. Thus, our MINT Makerspace may also be called 'STEM Makerspace'.

The main goal of the MINT Makerspace is to motivate and engage more females in the education and job opportunities in STEM. Particular attention is paid to the diversity of our target groups.

The Pertinent MINT Challenges

Participants of the annual Women in Photonics workshop in Jena.
Image: FSU Jena

How can the potential and talents of women be better used than before for Germany's future innovations in the MINT subjects and professions?
How can schoolgirls interested in MINT be inspired to choose a study and career in the MINT field in a participatory process?
How can female students in the transition from Bachelor's to Master's and prospective university graduates be strengthened in their subject-related self-efficacy so sustainably that they consciously and confidently choose a field of activity in the MINT field as an ambitious, option-rich and promising career and life option?

Our MINT Makerspace Approach

Workshop with schoolchildren at the Lichtwerkstatt Jena.
Image: David Zakoth, FSU Jena.

During the project, starting in March 2025, our Open Photonics Makerspace LichtwerkstattExternal link will carry out creative offers regionally and nationally, taking into account the reach of an active and diverse network of actors. MINT knowledge transfer and awareness-raising are carried out with practical, ambitious tasks in the maker context and addressed to predominantly female scenes and communities from the field of design, creation and creativity in order to inspire schoolgirls for MINT study and work areas and to strengthen their MINT-related self-efficacy.

PhD student Merixell Cabrejo-Ponce in the Quantum Microscopy lab.
Image: FSU Jena

For MINT students and prospective MINT doctoral students, strong motivation and selection impulses are to be set for personal and professional development and ultimately for remaining in this field. Workshops, events, individual and team projects in electrical engineering, IT, process engineering and, last but not least, the well-known Jena optics, photonics and quantum technologies are accompanied by technically experienced role models and experts. The project is accompagnied by elements for outreach and science communication as well as an external evaluation.

Contact

Johannes KRETZSCHMAR

CTO Lichtwerkstatt
Email: johannes.kretzschmar@uni-jena.de
Phone: +49 3641-9-47577

www.instagram.com/jkbeetleExternal link

Canan GALLITSCHKE

Email: canan.gallitschke@uni-jena.de
Phone: +49 3641-9-47549

Dr. Theresia PALENTA

Email: theresia.palenta@uni-jena.de
Phone: +49 3641-9-47577

Juliane LEIPOLD

Currently joining the team.

Strategic Partners

The MINT Makerspace is supported by a broad alliance of partners including schools, industry associations, companies, multiplier organizations, the maker community, universities and non-university research institutions - they will soon be listed here.

Funding

BMBF

Image: BMBF

The MINT Makerspace is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), grant number 01FP24M09, within the funding profile line "Erhöhung des Frauenanteils im MINT-Forschungs- und Innovationsprozess: Selbstwirksamkeit, Eigeninitiative und Kreativität stärken" (MissionMINT- Frauen gestalten Zukunft) from 2025 until 2028. The responsibility for all content supplied lies with the authors.