Overview
- The 61st Jugend forscht federal final concluded on May 31, 2026, at Schaeffler’s Herzogenaurach headquarters where 159 finalists with 116 projects were judged and national prizes were handed out.
- Viyona and Aarav Singh, both 14, won the President’s Prize for showing that physics-based models predict certain rare, mirror-image protein variants more reliably than current AI methods.
- Tim Kammel, 18, received the Chancellor’s Prize after experiments and computer simulations demonstrated that tiny geometric changes in sandglass openings strongly alter sand flow and timing.
- Julian Scharnowski, 20, won the Education Minister’s award for a low-cost vacuum tweezer that uses suction to place tiny electronic parts on circuit boards, and Vincent Nack, 19, earned the Research Minister’s prize for a real-time AI system that scans converted call text to detect phone-scam deception patterns.
- Organizers and ministers framed the event as a showcase for the national STEM pipeline: Jugend forscht drew over 11,300 applicants this year, and winners gain cash, internships and a tradition of political visibility that can accelerate careers and industry ties.