29 October 2025

At the Staatliches Studienkolleg at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, foreign applicants prepare specifically for studying at a German university. On 20 and 23 October 2025, students on the so-called M-course, who are aiming to study medicine at a later stage, were given the opportunity to gain practical laboratory experience in the Applied Microbiology Laboratory at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences. They were accompanied by their specialist teacher Thomas Kloß.

After an obligatory safety briefing, Anja Wagner introduced the students to the planned experiments. The aim of the practical was to determine the number of cells in commercially available baker's yeast by direct counting using a Thoma counting chamber. To begin with, the students first estimated how many yeast cells are contained in one gram of yeast. This was followed by microscopic examination. After initial support in adjusting the microscopes, the participants were able to determine the cell counts independently - with some surprising deviations between the estimates and the values actually determined.

In a second experiment, the students stained yeast cells with methylene blue in order to distinguish between living (colourless) and dead (blue-stained) cells. Here too, the preparations were analysed under the microscope.

The work placement offered students an exciting opportunity to deepen their theoretical knowledge from biochemistry lessons in a practical way. For many, the visit to the laboratory was a welcome change from everyday teaching and a motivating insight into scientific work at a university.