On 27 January the Center for Health & Bioresources presented the AIT at the FIT Study-Information Days 2020 at the FH Technikum Vienna. The AIT has been supporting the study orientation programme especially for female students from the 10th grade upwards from Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland for years. The aim is to inspire female students to study technical or scientific subjects. This year the AIT was represented by the Molecular Diagnostics Expert Manuela Hofner from the Center for Health & Bioresources.
At the kick-off event, the AIT presented itself and provided information on the diverse research topics of the centres. At the SMS-Lounge, expert Manuela Hofner answered questions about her educational background and everyday work. In the afternoon, twelve schoolgirls took part in the AIT workshop "Saliva - a biological gold mine". The schoolgirls learned how saliva can be used to diagnose diseases before they could extract their own DNA from saliva in an experiment. In the laboratory of the Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, the students were able to prepare and visualise their genetic material with everyday tools and a pipette in their own hands and then take it home afterwards. The day ended by a guided tour of the other laboratories, which aroused interest in other technical and scientific topics.
AIT is a long-standing FIT cooperation partner
The FIT programme is carried out in cooperation with regional higher education institutions (universities and universities of applied sciences), companies and social partners and cooperates closely with the Ministry of Education, the City of Vienna and the provinces of Lower Austria and Burgenland. During the three-day FIT info days, participants can choose from a colourful programme of workshops, lectures and laboratory exercises at various universities and research institutions, get a taste of university air, get to know potential employers, exchange ideas with students and ask questions in an uncomplicated way.