MIT and Constructor University inspire the next generation of STEM leaders at MINTernational 2025
From January 20 through January 24, Constructor University once again welcomed students from the world-renown Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for another week of MINTernational workshops. In its eighth year, the joint program, sponsored this year by JetBrains and the Schütting Stiftung foundation, gave 40 Bremen-area high school students a chance to go deep on STEM subjects in workshops created and led by students from MIT and CU.
The eighth-annual MINTernational workshop week held by MIT and CU students came to a close recently – and was nothing short of a complete success. 40 local high-school students took full advantage of this invaluable opportunity to explore and kindle their interest in STEM subjects in workshops entirely developed and held by students from MIT and CU.
Held on the Constructor University campus each January, MINTernational is a part of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Global Teaching Labs and comprises chemistry, physics and robotics workshops. For three weeks, students from MIT come to CU campus in Bremen, spend the first two weeks devising lesson plans together with Constructor students, before conducting these workshops for high-school students from the Lower Saxony region. Professors Dr. Ulrich Kortz, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Fritz and PhD student Tatiana Berlenko provided invaluable guidance and instruction to students.
The workshops provided students with first-hand insights into what goes in to being a teacher compared to being a student. “In my view, the best approach to creating the curriculum was to do as much work as possible beforehand, but then remain adaptable after the workshops began," says Samatha Rencher, a nuclear engineering student at MIT who helped teach the physics workshop together with CU student Vera Sprenger. “Teaching is a very underappreciated job,” Rencher continued. “Successful teachers have a deep understanding of their students, of how to engage, motivate and help them achieve their learning goals.”
A total of 40 high school students took part in the 2025 MINTernational workshops, which covered STEM subjects and were held in English." MIT student Sammi Blocher, who, along with Constructor University chemistry student Helen Stübbe, was in charge of the chemistry workshop, said that while preparation was key, so too was keeping in mind the needs of the students. “The biggest thing was starting early. Once we decided on a topic and then subtopics, it was mainly just putting together information we are passionate about – while making sure it was interactive and fun, not just lectures.”
Made possible by the generous contributions and support from the Schütting Stiftung foundation and Jetbrains, the program affords undergraduate bachelor students from MIT the opportunity to visit Bremen for three weeks to prepare for and deliver the workshops with a partner student from Constructor University. During the three weeks in January, the MIT students stayed with a local host family and engaged in immersive activities that gave these ambitious young persons a chance to engage and experience global perspectives at Europe’s most-international university, while imparting their passion for STEM subjects to the next generation of students.
“MINTernational would not be what it is without the generous support of the Schütting Foundation and Jetbrains. From covering travel expenses from Boston to Bremen for MIT and materials for the workshops to paying for meals for the participating students, their contributions are invaluable,” says Dr. Freia Hardt, Director of Student Affairs at Constructor University. During the three weeks in January, the MIT students stayed with a local host family and engaged in immersive activities that gave these ambitious young persons a chance to engage and experience global perspectives at Europe’s most-international university, while imparting their passion for STEM subjects to the next generation of students. “The feedback we regularly receive is proof that the students see the exceptional value in not only imparting the subject matter to others, but also in the international exchange and experience in teaching and learning in a university context,” said Dr. Hardt.
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D. Scott Peterson | Corporate Communications
dpeterson@constructor.university | Tel.: 0172 367 7317