Why do students, 12 - 17 of age, some of whom do not even have chemistry classes at school yet, spend their free time researching scientific information on the internet and creating biofoils from potato starch at the kitchen table? Because they are taking part in DECHEMAX, a students' chemistry competition organized by the German DECHEMA (Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology). 

DECHEMAX started in 2000 and currently attracts more than 8.000 participants each year. The competition features every year a different motto; in 2008, it ran under the headline "Green chemistry - stay cool and clean". In teams of three to five, the students had to prove their team spirit and stamina over eight rounds of questions on the internet before entering the second, experimental level. Questions included topics like fuel-cell driven laptops, biofuels, water treatment and the impact of rising CO2 concentration on the ocean. In the experimental part, the students made biofoils from milk and from starch and examined how their properties differ. They also explored the composition of detergents: By exposing gelatine to modern detergents, they could show that some of them contain enzymes, while others (used for wool) work without them. 

A special concern of DECHEMAX is to include a broad range of students and not only the scientific elites; therefore, the barriers for participation are kept low. Questions are categorized according to difficulty and asigned to different ages. Special attention is given to the experiments; all of them can be performed at home with substances available in any household and without special equipment. In the end, three teams were invited to the yearly ProcessNet conference organized by DECHEMA and VDI-GVC in October in Karlsruhe, where they received their certificates and a price money of € 250 per person in front of an audience of several hundred chemists and engineers from industry and science. For two days, they also had the opportunity to mingle with professionals, visit scientific research facilities and gather information about studies and career paths.

 Although this may seem still remote for 7th graders, the foundation has been laid: no reservation to get in touch with science, curiosity and the knowledge that scientific discoveries may reside in a pot of potato juice on the kitchen table.