After long hopes and fears, the time had come on July 1st: The Metallurgy Department at the University of Leoben was able to welcome interested pupils to the already traditional MetalDays. The MetalDays 2020 are the 11th edition of an information event during which pupils from all over Austria are introduced to the study and laboratories at the University of Leoben for a few days. The event is financed by the metallurgical industry in Austria and Germany.

In order to comply with all corona protection measures, this year’s MetalDays will be divided into two parts and shortened to three days each. The University of Leoben welcomed eleven students to the first event from July 1st to 3rd. The program included laboratory visits, lectures by the chairs, an afternoon of discussions with graduates and a supplementary leisure program in the city of Leoben.

During the laboratory experiments, the students were allowed to melt and cast metals, and the new world of digital metallurgy was not missed out either. The usual visits to the technologically advanced companies in the Leoben area unfortunately had to be cancelled this year. All the more important was the personal contact with young graduates of metallurgy, who gave an insight into their exciting professional life.

After three days the participants left Leoben with many new impressions of the University of Leoben, the study of metallurgy and the city of Leoben and described the event with the following words: “Cool event”; “Awesome thing, despite Covid-19 very well implemented!”; “Worth experiencing”; “I felt very comfortable in Leoben”.

The second date of the Leoben MetalDays 2020 will take place from August 26th to 28th later this year. (www.metaldays.at).

In order to bring interested pupils closer to the study programme, we also organize the Metallurgy Talks (https://metallurgy.at/metallurgy-talks-2/). Here, interested parties can also obtain additional information about studying metallurgy at the University of Leoben via video conference.