What Do Parents Actually Do at Work?

On National Future Day, the university not only welcomes its usual students, but also opens its doors to school children who are eager to find out what their parents actually do when they’re at work.

In addition to individual visits to their parents’ workplaces, this year around 500 pupils from fifth to seventh grade took part in one of more than 30 activities offered at various UZH locations. These included demonstrations and experiments as well as workshops in which the participants got to solve tasks on their own, such as making atoms visible, producing their own videos or trying their hand at surgical stitching.

“We want to give children the opportunity to gain insights into a wide range of professions at UZH and to discover the diversity of the working world,” says Silvia Schärer from Human Resources. “Above all, our aim is to spark their curiosity and motivate them to find and pursue their own paths.” In addition to its many research disciplines, UZH also offers a broad range of apprenticeships in a total of 14 areas, for example as IT specialists, information and documentation specialists, dental assistants or veterinary assistants.