Nobel Laureates gather in Lindau

From June 29 to July 4 around 600 young scientists from all over the world met wit the luminaries of their trade on Lake Constance. Among them were 19 young researchers from the Max Planck Institutes, as many as never before.

For the first time in the history of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, the proportion of women was higher than that of men among the young researchers, with 52 percent (48 percent). A small group of selected young researchers also received the unique opportunity to present and discuss their projects in a master class. This year's focal point was medicine.

"The selected young scientists are among the best in their year," said Stefan Kaufmann, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and a member of the selection committee. "This is the next generation of leading researchers."

"They hoped to gain inspiration from the meetings with Nobel Laureates", added Klas Kärre, Professor of Molecular Immunology at the Stockholm Karolinska Institutet. Since 2006 Kärre, has been a member of the Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Recent findings in cancer and AIDS research

As Trustees and Scientific Directors of the 64th Meeting of Nobel Laureates Kaufmann and Kärre were also responsible for the conference programme. The focus of the numerous lectures, panel discussions and master classes were molecular, genetic and cellular mechanisms, as these are key to the prevention and cure of diseases.

Some Nobel Laureates such as J. Michael Bishop or Harald zur Hausen presented the latest findings in cancer research. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who was also awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize, reported of progress in the fight against HIV / AIDS.  Another important issue, one that Elizabeth H. Blackburn (Nobel Prize 2009) discussed, was the process of cell aging and related diseases.

Establish professional and personal contacts

To be invited to Lindau is seen as a particular honour for young scientists. Joanna Adamczak, post-doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research in Cologne learned of the meeting in Lindau from the doctoral PhDnet representation. "I was looking forward to the meeting," said the scientist who has examined the regenerative capacity of nerve cells and blood vessels after a stroke in her thesis.

Manuela Weitkunat, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, was looking forward to "lively debates, initiatives and ideas." She was especially interested in a panel discussion that took place on July 2 and revolved primarily around the question of how pure hypothesis-driven research can be combined with other approaches ("Large Data and Hypothesis-Driven Science in the Era of Post-Genomic Biology"). In her doctoral work, she investigated, among other things, the molecular bases that govern the interactions between muscles and tendons.

The participation of young researchers at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting was supported by the Max Planck Society financially, with 2500 euros for each student.  All participants are proposed by the Managing Director of the institution and nominated by the President of the Max Planck Society.

At the meeting, they were able to forge a network of professional and personal contacts. At a dinner on July 1, they met, among others, Nobel Prize winner from their own research organization: Erwin Neher (Nobel Prize for Medizin1991), Hartmut Michel (Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1988) and Robert Huber (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1988).

Long tradition of meeting

Since 1951, the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings has offered scientists a globally recognized forum for exchanging and maintaining contacts. In addition to alternating meetings in medicine, physics and chemistry, there are regular interdisciplinary meetings. Every three years in August, Nobel Prize Laureates in economics meet with young students in Lindau.