In the two-year long research project 'Enerkids – students research energetic solutions', students and teachers from the primary to secondary level out of five Vienna schools cooperated with the scientists and their assistants from the University of Leoben along with the University of Education Vienna in a cross-departmental, cross-gender mentoring model. In a three-stage process students researched the central aspects of the current and future subject area, 'Energy from the earth' (crude oil, natural gas, geothermal energy), in reality and in literature. From the outcome of this research, age appropriate pictorial pedagogic and pictorial statistic material had been created and ultimately evaluated, modified, and produced as a catalogue as well as experimental material was presented.

The findings have been disseminated in initial teacher training and in-service teacher training events and ultimately used in the classroom. The project design took into consideration gender as well as migration aspects and enabled the students to concentrate on their focus of interest in mentoring teams and workshops. This stimulated the children and youth to think, question, communicate, investigate, and develop, test, modify and present materials. Through this, the joy in the study of natural science and technology, as well as in research in general and the interest in relevant highly qualified occupations should have been woken and encouraged. In a 'meta analysis', a SWOT Matrix of the cooperation model has been developed for similar school-university co-operations. Additionally and accompanying the external evaluation of the university Kassel provided feedback regarding the progress, goal-fulfilment, the communication process as well as the economical use of resources, which have been integrated ultimately in the end report.

This project has been completed.