Welcome: 16 young people start their apprenticeship
A warm welcome to our new trainees and students! © HZB
On 1 September, 16 young people began their apprenticeship, dual study programme or voluntary year at HZB. A welcome event, initial insights into the world of research and a communication seminar marked the start of this new phase in their lives.
As an experienced apprenticeship company, we are delighted to be able to accompany young people on their way into working life again this year. On 1 September – the official start of apprenticeship – we welcomed ten apprentices, four dual students in computer science and two participants in a voluntary year at a small welcome event.
‘You have chosen a job that is not only exciting for yourselves, but also important for our society,’ emphasised Silvia Zerbe from the communications department, providing insights into research at HZB. ‘Good science needs many minds in the background. It only succeeds when everything works together – for example, when the IT runs reliably, the workshop works precisely, the purchasing department procures equipment, and the human resources department takes care of our salaries. Starting today, you are part of this large team.’
Training coordinator Christina Herold encouraged the new colleagues to be open to new ideas and to ask questions: ‘Our experienced apprenticeship coordinators are happy to assist you. And the youth and apprenticeship representatives are also there for you at any time.’
Immediately after the welcome, the first joint programme began: a one-and-a-half-day communication seminar conducted by Christina Herold. Because sometimes the most difficult thing is also the most important – talking to each other respectfully, especially when things aren't going smoothly.
What professions are our new colleagues learning?
- 2 office management trainees
- 1 chef
- 2 precision engineers
- 3 IT specialists/system integration
- 2 IT specialists/user development
- 4 dual students in computer science
- 1 participant in the Voluntary Ecological Year
- 1 participant in the Voluntary Natural Science Year
We wish you a good start and lots of fun at HZB. We are glad you are here!
Links
- A Story of Baking a CrystalOnce upon a time, I was a kid who loved doing home experiments and unravel the explanation behind everyday phenomena. This passion and curiosity helped me to land up here in Berlin to work on the growth of crystalline materials at the wonderful campus of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. But unlike many other stories, mine starts with an introductory question: What makes growing crystals fun and also challenging?
- The Art of the UnknownThe first major challenge was facing my own initial lack of knowledge. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by entirely new protocols: what can be touched with gloves, what is strictly glove-free, and how to safely move items through the space. As I did not fully know how new equipment operates, getting startled when something goes off-routine is inevitable.
- Special prize by Jugend Forscht awarded to former school internShaoxuan Wang has won a special prize in the Jugend Forscht competition for her project ‘Smart Capsules – intelligent microcapsules for glucose-dependent insulin release’. She designed the project as a “special achievement” for her A-levels. To carry out the experimental work, Shaoxuan was able to spend a further two weeks in the laboratory at the HZB Institute for Electrochemical Energy Storage, where she had completed a school internship two years earlier.