For a few days, the physics camp was crackling as the ten participants drilled into the subject, which goes well beyond what they learn in school: to study physical systems, they applied simulations and gained insight into how the professional software used works. "I didn't think it would be such a hard math camp," said Arthur (17 years old). The highly interested student, who is taking advanced physics courses points out: "Deriving the Hemholtz equation from Maxwell's 2nd equation was tough, I didn't understand anything for almost two hours. When an elegant solution emerged in the end, that was a highlight of the camp." He didn't have any difficulty persevering, because "We're all doing this voluntarily." Jannis (18 years old) was particularly taken with being able to bring his own ideas to the camp, such as simulating the creation of tree-shaped patterns using high voltage. These so-called Lichtenberg figures had been brought to the group's attention by the Göttingen city guide.
The participants learned about physics studies at the University of Göttingen through their tutor, who accompanied the group outside of the course time and is otherwise involved in the physics faculty. The participants, who see their professional future in the field of technology – physics – mathematics, really appreciate the study orientation at the camp: "You realize how complex everything is and whether you want to work like that." Once again, Professor Christoph Lehrenfeld from the Institute for Numerical and Applied Mathematics, who developed the mathematics part of the camp and taught it himself, provided a realistic insight into mathematics as it is practiced at the university.
The Science Camp was sponsored by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation.