„I have made the experience that there also are other paths after the studies"

Dr. Annika Spathmann, the authorized signatory of the Junior University Wuppertal for the Bergisches Land, studied physics at the Bergische University.

A book from her grandfather about famous physicists, their history and discoveries was the initial spark for the then 13-year-old Annika Spathmann to put her enthusiasm for physics into practice professionally. "That fascinated me so much back then and I said: I want to do that too." At the age of 18 she decided to study physics with the aim of becoming a researcher. Although the native of Wuppertal is initially considering a more distant place for her studies, she ultimately decides on her home town. “From all sides I heard that the university is good and especially the physics is good. There are really great, top-class scientists working in very exciting fields. Besides that there is a good supervision. And I had little desire to go to a university where you sit on the stairs of the lecture halls" says the dedicated scientist. She enjoys the 1:1 support in the course and the close contact to the teachers throughout her studies. Then it is also the abstract physical questions in particle physics that interest her most. “To look, what the matter actually is made of” she explains, or more specifically, "what does the table here, for example, consist of, if you look very closely?” With equally enthusiastic fellow students, she forms working groups, experiments, calculates, and yet in her master's thesis she comes to the conclusion "that I don't want to do that in the long run.”