I am particularly passionate about supporting young talent in computing. I advocate for creative and gender-sensitive approaches to inspire children and young people—regardless of gender or social background—to engage with computer science.
Codeversum – Explore the Universe with Code
2023: Codeversum, Initiator, BMBF, 10,000 €, Accepted
We won the science communication competition, aiming to bring research out of the ivory tower and make it accessible and understandable to a broader audience. This project is incredibly important to me—showing kids that the world is theirs, and even the universe!
Codeversum teaches basic programming concepts to children and teens through the theme of space exploration. By offering creative programming challenges, the project makes programming fun, engaging, and accessible.
We held several courses in schools, and during the summer holidays of 2023, we hosted an outreach week at the University of Passau. Over 200 kids from the surrounding area participated, creating coding projects, learning about university life, and enjoying lunch at the university’s mensa.
🎥 Watch the introduction to Codeversum on YouTube
We had several courses at schools where kids learned this, but also an outreach wewek in the summer holidays 2023 at unveristy of passau. during this week over 200 kids from the surronding areay visited us and coded projects, but also learned about unvierstiy and had lunch at the mensa :)
Reports:
- Winner of BMBF Hochschulwettbewerb 2023
- Codeversum: Das Universum mit Code entdecken
- Video: Passau TV Report
Computer Science Summer Camp
2022–2024: Computer Science Summer Camp, Co-Initiator, Denert Foundation, 30,000 € (10,000 € annually), Accepted
The Computer Science Summer Camp gives high school students a chance to experience university life and explore computer science through lectures, group activities, and interactions with university students.
For me, it is particularly important to foster initial interest and creativity in programming. That is why I created two new projects to break stereotypes and better align with the students’ worldviews, especially for those who might not typically be interested in traditional ‘nerdy’ programming themes. The projects were:
- #programmable: Implementation of a Social Media App
- AppSpark: Design and Implement Your Own App
These projects, along with an AI-themed project, were the most popular among the students.
By introducing new, trendy projects like creative programming, AI, and Minecraft, we increased participation to 100 students from across Germany. We also redesigned our marketing materials and received additional funding to support female participants. This allowed us to increase female participation from 15-20\% in 2019 to 33-46\% between 2022 and 2024!
🎥 Video to Computer Science Summer Camp:
Creative Programming: Teaching Programming to Kids
Block-based Programming with Scratch
Our goal is to show children from a very young age that programming is interesting and accessible to them, counteracting stereotypes in the process. Scratch is a fantastic tool for this—easy to use, child-friendly, and based on a drag-and-drop interface where kids learn fundamental programming concepts through building animations, games, and stories.
Additionally, we introduced pair programming—where one child is the ‘driver’ writing the code, and the other is the ‘navigator’ assisting with problem-solving. This method encourages collaboration and enhances their teamwork skills.
Music and Art Programming
For older children who have outgrown Scratch and are looking for a more challenging and expressive way to explore programming, we offer Sonic Pi and p5.js. These tools allow students to express themselves creatively through music composition and artistic design, bringing programming into art and creativity.