Four Days.
Three Countries.
One Team.
TriLab 2026 — the trinational science camp in the tri-border region. A look back at four days of researching, building and discovering.
We were researchers.
June 28 – July 1, 2026 · Stiftung IBZ St. Marienthal, Ostritz
For four days, St. Marienthal Monastery turned into a trinational research lab. Teenagers from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic built robots, sent probes into the stratosphere and made cosmic radiation visible with their own hands.
In mixed teams, across three languages, with no borders in their minds. What remains are real projects, new friendships — and proof that when curiosity meets togetherness, something big happens.
„It was amazing and I had never done this before. I think it also helped me to decide for a job later.“
Five workshops, one goal: research it yourself.
Led by experts from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic — four days of building, measuring and discovering.
Build Your Own Robot
Where tech meets creativity.
From CAD model to a rolling robot: you design the parts, 3D-print them, and program every move. Vehicles, animals or fantasy creatures — built side by side with teens from other countries.
Send Your Probe to Space
The stratosphere project.
Build a research probe and fly it to 40,000 m on a weather balloon — high enough to see the black of space and the blue of Earth at once. Cameras, GPS and your own experiments on board, tracked live.
Space Detectives
Decode the messages of the universe.
Become a space detective: build a radio telescope, make invisible particles visible in a homemade cloud chamber and hunt muons — real multi-messenger astronomy with young researchers.
Become a Digital Artist
3D art meets science.
Turn a 3D scan or a scientific dataset into an extraordinary visual experience with Unity’s Visual Effect Graph — stepping into virtual reality where art and science meet. Supported by CASUS Görlitz.
Does AI Think Like a Scientist?
AI on the test bench.
Put AI systems to the test with questions around simple physics experiments — see when they’re precise and when they hallucinate. Learn to question AI critically, not just use it. Held in English.
Design a Poster
Ninety minutes to tell the world what you found.
Imagine someone your age finds your poster ten years from now — what would it tell them? In just 90 minutes, every team distilled their workshop’s discovery into one poster: explaining the idea without jargon, connecting it to the future, and sparking curiosity instead of just stating facts.
„Thanks to the team, it was a complete new experience! It was great.“
Four days, three chapters.
Connect · Explore · Create — from arrival to the big showcase.
Arrival & Getting to Know Each Other
- Welcome & introduction of the instructors
- Team building: „Building Bridges“
- Culture Connect: the TriLab Mocktail evening
Into the Workshops
- Kick-off of the five research formats
- Open Space & expert talk
Digging Deeper
- Work phases in the workshops
- Monastery tour & creative workshops
- Open-air: makerspace & movie night
Showing Results
- Final sprint in the workshops
- Showcase for politics & funders
- Certificate ceremony & wrap-up
What participants say.
Participants look back on TriLab 2026 overwhelmingly positively. What stood out most: the sense of community, the international exchange and new friendships across borders.
Overall rating · TriLab 2026
The Mocktail evening, movie night and meeting new people from three countries were among the most-mentioned highlights. Many explicitly praised the hands-on side — building, testing and experimenting yourself. Accommodation and staff also received very strong feedback.
Most take home not just new expertise but greater self-confidence and international perspectives. Several reported that the stratosphere project even helped them with their career orientation. The majority would take part again in a heartbeat.
„I’ve enjoyed being able to build and test something myself.“
Selected moments.
Hundreds of photos.
A whole camp to revisit.
The complete photo collection from TriLab 2026 — captured by our photographer Tim Schneider on site.
To the full albumFeel free to share on the web and social media — and tag us on Instagram:
Until next time, researchers.
Thanks to all participants from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, to our workshop leaders and partners, to the team at Stiftung IBZ St. Marienthal — and to all the funders who made TriLab 2026 possible. See you next year.
Connect. Explore. Create.