Gymnasium from Mengen Visits ZEW

Science is exciting and fun – this was the conclusion drawn by the business course of the 11th grade of the Gymnasium in Mengen after their visit to ZEW on 18 July 2018. The school students seized the opportunity to get first-hand insights into the work of an economic research institute.

Dr. Daniela Heimberger, head of the Service Department “International Cooperation and Public Relations”, welcomed the group of students and gave an overview of the institute and its research work, furthermore introducing ZEW as an employer who also offers various vocational training opportunities. The guests from the Swabian Alb were particularly interested in ZEW’s cooperation with schools as part of the nationwide high school competition YES!, in which ZEW is involved. Dr. Christiane Reif, a researcher from the ZEW Research Department “Environmental and Resource Economics, Environmental Management”, then gave a compact introduction into scientific work and provided insights into the everyday life of a ZEW researcher as well as typical economic research questions they are concerned with. This way, the students gained a good idea of what empirical economic research is and what the everyday work of an economist looks like. Having earned so much insight into the economic competence from ZEW, the school students were well-prepared to continue their study trip to the Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt.