"Together with regional companies, zdi BeST organises exciting STEM courses outside of the classroom - and thus creates early encounters between motivated young people and their potential employers of tomorrow," reads the Körber Foundation's press release.

The award ceremony for the winning projects and the presentation of the prize money of 5,000 euros each for the development of new ideas and projects took place on 25 September 2025 as a pre-event to the MINT:Barcamp in Hamburg.

"In our courses, we address current topics in order to combine STEM and the everyday lives of students. We monitor trends on social media and also use new channels," says network coordinator Sarah-Lena Debus.

Click here for the full Körber Foundation press release. (pdf document for download)

Sport meets technology

MINT-Kicker is a project that aims to open up precisely these new channels of contact with children and young people. The idea was born during last year's Körber Foundation bar camp. The aim is to reach children and young people who have previously had little access to extracurricular STEM education due to language barriers, social or family disadvantages or a lack of support at school. "Sport offers a unique opportunity to pick up children and young people from different social classes and cultures in their everyday lives," emphasises Debus. Whether football, handball, basketball or other sports - clubs are places of community where young people feel comfortable and where differences are quickly overcome.

This is exactly where the project comes in: BeST comes to sports clubs to get young people excited about STEM. Small scientific and technical projects are realised together. No prior knowledge is required, BeST brings everything with it. "Another important element of the project is that there is no additional extracurricular appointment for the families. With the training times at the sports club, we use existing fixed dates so that children can think outside the box and try out the STEM field directly on site in their familiar environment," says Debus.

Football tournament with robots

The first round of the project took place before the summer holidays with TSV Union Wuppertal. During two regular training sessions provided by the club, the children programmed robots to compete against each other in a football tournament. The aim of the course was to awaken enthusiasm for technology in a playful way and give the children new access to the world of computer science and robotics. A special highlight was the ceremonial presentation of trophies and new jerseys to the participating children after the holidays, sponsored by zdi-BeST.

Sports clubs and sponsors wanted

In order to be able to carry out similar activities with other clubs in the future and give even more children access to technology, the zdi-BeST centre is looking for interested companies or other sponsors who would like to support the project financially. The clubs usually require equipment such as jerseys or balls. Both can be customised with company logos, for example.

"We are also looking for sports clubs that are interested in a STEM unit in exchange for training time so that they can work with us to awaken enthusiasm for STEM topics in their youth teams. All sports are welcome," says Debus.

Interested parties can contact the centre coordinator directly by email: debus[at]zdi-best.de. The BeST can be contacted by telephone on 0202/439-1833 or 0202/439-1935.