The discussion round, which was open to all DGM members, was opened on Friday at noon by the DGM dual leadership, President Prof. Dr. Martina Zimmerman and President Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider. Both moved directly from the DGM board meeting in Siegburg, which was attended by the managing director Dr. Stefan Klein as well as the vice president Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Heilmaier and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Skrotzki, to this time's hybrid lunch talk. The question to the community: "What are important topics for the DGM for the next 5 years?"

Above all, the focus on young talent dominated the agenda of the talk in terms of content and time. Prof. Dr. Alexander Hartmaier, Chair of Mechanics of Materials at the Ruhr University in Bochum, confirmed from everyday university life: "The main problem at the moment is the decline in the number of students in the STEM sector, with a large number of graduates being English-speaking". What role should be played by the next generation of international students? What does this mean for the DGM in the long term if the association increasingly offers courses in English?

To address the shortage of skilled workers, the young DGM, the MatWerk community, and representatives from industry need to develop ideas to lower barriers to entry for foreign-language young professionals. "German industry is still THE flagship abroad," said Prof. Dr. Dierk Raabe, Max Planck Institute for Iron Research GmbH. The participants plead for an overarching, high-profile strategy. Dr. Jens Eichler, 3M Deutschland GmbH, commented: "To get young people interested in materials science, we should not focus on the material, but on materials innovation with its sociopolitical and social added value". From the auditorium, Prof. Dr. Horst Biermann, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, pointed out: "Become part of the future or become part of the solution" - Our slogan to inspire young people for materials science and materials engineering?

The industry representatives join in the discussion at this point. The DGM could support the image enhancement of the material with its very own topics in the context of sustainability, recycling, simulation, hydrogen embrittlement, etc., suggests Prof. Dr. Raabe. Above all, the networking work carried out by the DGM must be given even more importance in the next five years.

Due to the lively exchange in the auditorium, only a few minutes remained to discuss another concern in more detail. Can the DGM also get involved in social projects beyond the technical content' - an interesting change of perspective, which in this form does not represent an ostensible goal of the association. The reference could be considered in the future, for example, at DGM events, keyword "Foodsharing" as part of the event catering.

The DGM would like to thank all participants for the overwhelming interactive exchange at the last Lunch Talk 2022. Do you have any suggestions, ideas and ideas - we look forward to hearing from you: dgmdgm.de