Felix Zinn: Education meets Training

Dual study programmes are popular. Felix Zinn is also a firm believer in this type of training: in September 2016, he began a dual study programme in engineering physics at Aachen University of Applied Sciences, whilst working as a physics laboratory assistant at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. He has since successfully completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and is now pursuing a PhD at RWTH Aachen University. However, he has by no means lost sight of the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Mr Zinn, what attracted you to the work-study programme?

In the dual study programme, you study at Aachen University of Applied Sciences on the Jülich campus whilst undertaking Training – in my case, as a physics laboratory assistant – at Forschnungszentrum Jülich. At the end, you have two qualifications: firstly, the full vocational training qualification, and secondly, the Bachelor’s degree. The programme begins with a year of training, including vocational school, during which the curriculum combines content from the first, second and third years of the apprenticeship. After a year, the degree programme begins – lasting seven semesters. I think it’s particularly worth mentioning that you can gain practical experience straight away and earn the money for your studies whilst working in the professional field of your degree.

There are now many different work-study programmes. What made you decide to study engineering physics at Forschungszentrum Jülich and Aachen University of Applied Sciences

I liked physics – and wanted to do a work-study programme. Although I searched extensively, I could only ever find mechanical engineering and the other standard engineering subjects. An interview at Daimler, along with two tests there, proved decisive: I was turned down – on the grounds that mechanical engineering wasn’t the right fit for me, but that I would be better off studying physics, as a subsequent conversation revealed. I can recommend such a conversation to anyone who is currently applying and receives a rejection, even though they have already got quite far in the application process. I subsequently found the dual degree programme in Physics Engineering here at the Research Centre: it was a perfect fit! Looking back, I’m really happy with it.

What did you find particularly special about the training at Forschungszentrum Jülich?

The research centre has its own training centre: whilst standard apprentices spend their first two years there, the dual study programme covers all areas of the training in the first year – physics, Electrical Engineering, chemistry, biology and Mechanics in the Workshop. Trainees who completed their training at a company only learnt the content relevant to that particular company and also came to the research centre for the remaining content. The programme then continues at an institute on the main campus: there, you work for three and a half years and also write your bachelor’s thesis. In the first few months, I worked on my own project; later, I was able to contribute to ‘proper’ research projects. During lecture periods, you’re naturally exempt from work, so you just dash over to the lecture theatres for the lectures. Overall, it was relatively relaxed – I spent about 16 hours a week at work, with the rest taken up by lectures. You complete the same degree programme as other students, although some placements, such as the basic physics placement, are omitted as the training content is credited.

You weren’t yet of age when you started your Training and moved to Jülich on your own. Did that cause any difficulties?

As for finding a place to live: my parents came with me to Jülich for every viewing. They covered both the rent and the guarantee – so from a housing perspective, it was relatively straightforward. It was also a relaxed 20-minute cycle ride to the university campus; what was a bit more of a hassle, however, was that I always needed a lift to get to vocational college. But everything worked out in the end: I had a great training group!

The dual study programme included training and a bachelor’s degree; you went on to complete a master’s degree at RWTH Aachen. How easy was the transition from studying at Aachen University of Applied Sciences to RWTH Aachen?

It was very simple: I only had three subjects I needed to retake for my Master’s degree – that is, subjects I had to make up from my Bachelor’s degree. However, these can also be taken during the Master’s programme; they just need to be completed before submitting the final thesis. So that was quite easy to manage. A major advantage was that I was able to continue working at the research centre during my Master’s programme, for around 16 hours a week: after completing your Training, you can stay at the institute for three to six months, funded by a Training fund. As I had reduced my working hours, I was able to stretch this out to around two years and thus finance my further studies.

You have been working on your PhD at RWTH Aachen University since November 2023. What are you working on, in a nutshell?

I am an experimental physicist specialising in particle physics and work with data from the CMS experiment at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research – an experiment involving several thousand scientists from all over the world. In short, the aim is to test the Standard Model of particle physics, which explains how the fundamental building blocks of matter interact with one another.

Are you still in touch with the research centre? Are you still in touch with the research centre?

I usually go to the careers day once a year to visit the trainers and see how the Training programme is progressing. I also pop in to see my old colleagues at the institute on a regular basis. And, of course, I always make sure to attend the Open Day.