Anna Nalepa, PhD student in Prof. Lubitz' research group at MPI CEC, was one out of 400 lucky young scientists, who had the unique chance to talk to nobel laureates at the <link http: www.lindau-nobel.org _blank external-link-new-window internal link in current>66. Lindau Nobel Laureates Meetings at the end of June.
Once a year, around 40 Nobel Laureates convene at Lindau to meet the next generation of leading scientists from all over the world. The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the exchange among scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. This year’s meeting was dedicated to Physics.
„In the light of recent important experimental results in physics like confirmation of Higgs boson existence and observation of gravitational waves, it felt even more special to attend the Lindau meeting focusing on physics this year. It was amazing to see how creative scientists have become in their development of instruments that could now confirm theoretical predictions made at the beginning of previous century. Interestingly enough, these relate to our understanding of the world at two opposite limits, on the level of atoms and their constituents and on the scale of galaxies,“ says Anna in retrospect.
„What I personally found of no less importance was the discussion on the future of education in science where it was really stressed how important it is to choose teachers well and how it might be beneficial to change the format of high-school physics classes to more interactive format. The expertise of Prof. Carl Wieman on that topic allowed participants to ask for tips and suggestions on how we, PhD’s and Postdoc’s, can become better teachers for undergraduate students.
What made Lindau meeting special was also the honesty with which some of Nobel laureates, notably Prof. Stefan Hell, were discussing the obstacles they faced in their research and how important it was not to give up on your ideas.“
Young scientists under 35 conducting research in the field of physics were allowed to join the event. They had to undergo a multi-stage international selection process. The conference consits of discussions, panels and one-to-one talks, and offers young scientists a great chance to meet worldclass scientists.