Joel Bicker and Steffen Hermes honored for outstanding performance
The chemical laboratory technician and industrial mechanic rank among the region’s best trainees in 2025
Joel Bicker and Steffen Hermes, top trainees from the MaxPlanckInstitut für Kohlenforschung, excelled in vocational training, earning high honors.
More than 2,000 young people in the Essen region completed their vocational training this year. The Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) has now honored 104 of them as the best of their year including two apprentices from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung: Joel Bicker and Steffen Hermes. Both achieved the top grade “very good,” placing them among the top five percent of their cohort.
“Our apprentices work on real research projects from an early stage. That’s highly motivating and shows that top-level research and excellent vocational training go hand in hand,” explains Laila Sahraoui, head of training at the institute.
Steffen Hermes completed his training in the institute’s workshop in the field of precision and equipment engineering, earning 92 points. He plans to continue his education with further training as a mechanical engineering technician. Joel Bicker finished his training as a chemical laboratory technician with 95 points. He will stay on at the institute, now working in the research group of Director Josep Cornellà on sustainable catalysis, while also pursuing a qualification as a chemical technician at vocational school.
Achievements like these are the result of close cooperation between training institutions and vocational schools. For more than 20 years, the Mülheim Max Planck Institutes have successfully collaborated with the Berufskolleg Stadtmitte in Mülheim an der Ruhr, where future chemistry and physics lab technicians complete the academic part of their training.
The Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung regularly offers apprenticeships in several professions, including chemistry and physics laboratory technicians, precision mechanics, and office management clerks. The quality of training is widely recognized. Many graduates are now in demand in both research and industry, successfully applying the knowledge and skills they gained during their time at the institute.
