As part of the Erasmus+ partner project ChemTeach, at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Banja Luka, from August 25 to 29, 2025, a chemistry summer school was held for secondary school students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The summer school was also attended by representatives of the Slovak Technical University from Bratislava, which is also the coordinator of this project.

The topic of the summer school was environmental chemistry, within which the focus was placed on the chemical analysis of water. International teams of students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia and the Czech Republic worked with different water samples, applying the acquired theoretical knowledge to the practical performance of various laboratory analyses.

In particular, the importance of the synergy of this year’s summer school of the ChemTeach project with the “Materials without borders” conference, organized by the Chemistry Department of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Banja Luka, and as part of which a competition of high school teams for the best idea in the field of innovative application of modern materials was held. In addition to the competitors, the conference was attended by representatives of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the University of Banja Luka, as well as the consul of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Patrik Turošík.

During the conference, the students and their professors visited the company Roundliner BH d.o.o., which deals with the production of plastic packaging intended for industrial use.

The last day of the summer school was dedicated to work in the laboratory, after which the teams presented their results and experiences.

Students had the opportunity to communicate with each other in English, which further developed their language and communication skills, teamwork and critical thinking.

The next activity within the ChemTeach project will be the meeting of the Project Steering Committee, which is planned for the end of the year in Pardubice, Czech Republic, where the results so far will be reviewed and a plan for the next activities will be made.