Girls’ Day

Around 60 girls and young women had the opportunity to explore a wide range of career fields and training pathways at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin during this year’s Girls’ Day. During guided tours of scientific laboratories, collections, workshops and exhibitions, the participants met female staff members from the fields of research, collections management and science communication. Through direct interaction, they gained insights into different professional backgrounds and career paths.

The event placed a particular focus on career fields in the areas of digitalisation and artificial intelligence, as well as on roles in which women have so far been under-represented. The aim was to spark interest and highlight opportunities in scientific and technical professions.

A highlight of the day was the visit by Federal Minister Karin Prien. She welcomed the participants in person and then accompanied a group of schoolgirls on a guided tour of the Museum’s CT laboratory. There, modern scanning techniques on specimens and the digitisation of research objects were demonstrated. The CT technology presented served as a prime example of the close link between digitalisation and modern scientific research: it made hidden structures visible, converted physical objects into digital data, and thus formed the basis for further AI analyses, model-based research and international knowledge exchange.

During the event, Johannes Vogel, Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, emphasised:

“It is particularly important to us to strengthen young people’s – and especially young women’s – interest in and commitment to nature, and to support them on their career paths. As a research museum of the Leibniz Association, we see it as our responsibility to provide early insights into scientific practice, to spark enthusiasm for the natural sciences and to highlight diverse perspectives. Particularly in future-oriented fields such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence, we need greater diversity, new ideas and different perspectives to tackle the major challenges of our time together.”

As an internationally renowned research museum, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, with its diverse range of educational and event formats, is one of the key institutions for extracurricular education in Berlin. Its offerings range from the natural sciences through nature and environmental education to lifelong learning. Many of these formats also take place outside the museum, for example in Berlin’s urban natural environment, in nurseries and schools.

In addition to the annual Girls’ Day, the museum offered young people numerous other opportunities for career guidance, including school internships, study groups on science-based vocational training, and participation in a Voluntary Ecological Year within the scientific collections or in the education department.