Last updated July 4, 2017 at 2:15 pm
We asked a bunch of young scientists who received the Lindau Nobel Laureate Fellowship to be our field reporters at The 67th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in Germany. In this report, Andrew, a chemist from Brisbane, writes about day one at the conference.
After months of planning and preparation, and over 30 hours of travel from Brisbane, it comes with much anticipation as I finally arrive in Lindau, Germany, for the 67th Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting! This meeting is a gathering of 400 young scientists from across the world who congregate at Lindau for five days to meet with approximately 30 Nobel laureates in the field of chemistry.
I arrived in Munich, Germany, a few days before the meeting to expel any jet lag in preparation for this action packed week. Whilst I was in Munich, I took some time to check out some of the local attractions including the Deutsches Museum, which is the world’s largest science and technology museum. The museum was huge, and had extensive interactive exhibitions in physics, nanotechnology, climate science, pharmacology and much more. One of the most exciting attractions was the high voltage demonstration, featuring experiments with voltages up to 300 000 volts! If you ever have the chance to visit Munich, then this is one place that I can highly recommend to visit.
I arrived on the island of Lindau the day before the meeting to check in and set up for the week ahead. Lindau in a very picturesque city that is situated at the foot of the alps on Lake Constance in Bavaria. Before the opening ceremony, a few of the other Australian delegates and I met up to explore the island and its surrounds to fully appreciate the island’s serenity. This included a walk around the harbor wall up into the historic lighthouse standing over the entrance of the Lindau Harbour.
The meeting began with the opening ceremony, featuring a very heart felt speech by Nobel laureate Steven Chu highlighting the importance of taking action on climate change. His speech emphasized the need for action and innovation to combat the irreparable damage that we are currently doing to our planet. Despite Steven Chu’s unexpected absence due to personal reasons, fellow laureate William Moerner delivered the moving speech that brought the crowd to a standing ovation.
Immediately following the opening address was a communal dinner that provided the first formal opportunity to get to know fellow young scientists from across the world. I have so far had the chance to meet scientists from the UK, USA, Germany, South Africa, Russia, and Iran, all of whom have been incredibly passionate and enthusiastic about science. As the week progresses, we will begin to hear from many more of the Nobel laureates, which will further spark the passion and ideas of all the young scientists at this meeting.
#LiNo17 opening dinner function with fellow Australians! #firsttweet @hi_jiang @jesspndh @lindaunobel @Science_Academy @SIMBAatUQ @RACI_HQ pic.twitter.com/hbL30blpUi
— Andrew White (@AndrewWhiteSci) June 25, 2017
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