Children's wondering eyes, busy little hands, here and there an unbelieving "wow": Science can be so exciting. For the first time, the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering opened its laboratory and workshop doors to young researchers – with overwhelming response.

Several workshops invited young fans of the TV programme “The Mouse” to participate, try out and investigate. Jörg Sahlmen, CEO of the SFB 837, opened the doors to the wind tunnel, where the young visitors had the opportunity to place Playmobil men in a city in the tunnel. Behind which building is the Playmobil man best protected from the storm and stays standing the longest? Under the direction of Christoph Schulte-Schrepping, doctoral student at the Chair of Building Materials, the children could immortalize their favourite heroes in concrete and learn more about concrete as a building material. The program of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering was completed by a workshop in the hydrology laboratory, where the interactive sandbox could be tested and boats could be built for a boat regatta in the tipping trough.

The subsequent treasure hunt was organised by the PR cooperative AllesING! together with the two neighbouring faculties of Electrical Engineering & Information Technology and Mechanical Engineering. The young visitors had the opportunity to build bridges with representatives of the Chair of Statics and Dynamics and to construct skyscrapers with a Jenga game. At the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, they could watch the mouse jumping out of the 3D printer and soldering their own flashing mouse characters. The mechanical engineers offered exciting views under the scanning electron microscope and magic tricks with paper clips, which miraculously lost their shape and then regained it.

“The Mouse” Open Day takes place every year throughout Germany on 3 October. Curious young and old “The Mouse” fans will then have the chance to look behind the doors of institutions that are otherwise closed.