Prithviraj Chavan Meets Young Scientists on their Return from Lindau Meeting

Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Hon’ble Minister Science & Technology and Earth Sciences congratulated the team of 20 Young Indian Scientists/Students sent to Germany to represent India at the 60th Meeting of Nobel Laureates & students at Lindau during 28th June -2 July 2010. This was the tenth time that India deputed such young scientists’ team. DST joined this programme in 2001 for participation of young Indian Scientists in the Annual Meetings of Nobel Laureates & Students in Lindau, which is jointly sponsored by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Foundation for the Meeting of Nobel Laureates & Students in Lindau, Germany.

Shri Chavan in his address to the group of young scientists, urged the young scientists to make best use of this opportunity after meeting the best brains in the field and appropriately apply the ideas in their own research. Shri Chavan mentioned that the purpose of the programme is to get inspiration from Nobel laureates who have not only excelled in their areas of research but also have global perspective of various issues. Shri Chavan also mentioned that a Lindau like meeting is planned in India engaging Asian laureates during 17-22 August 2010 in Mumbai at the Asian Science Camp, so that more Indian students get opportunity to interact with these great minds in Science and students from other parts of the world.

Since 1951, such meetings of Nobel Laureates with students and young researchers in science disciplines of Chemistry, Physics, and Physiology and Medicine are being organised in Lindau, Germany at intervals of three years. These meetings usually last for one week, always at the end of June / beginning of July and are aimed at open and informal contact between Laureates and young researchers through round table discussions, lectures and personal small group interactions.

This year’s meeting covered all the three subjects with participation by 60 Nobel Laureates and about 650 young scientists from around the world. Wide ranging topics were discussed in an informal atmosphere including, topics like “The Amazing Ribosome; Learning about the Origin of Life from Efforts to Design an Artificial Cell; The History of the Universe, from the Beginning to the Ultimate End; HIV, a Discovery Highlighting the Global Benefit of Translational Research; When Coal is Gone; The Underground Physics: Neutrino and Dark Matter; Mapping the Universe and Its History; The Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation and its Role in Cosmology; Energy Advances —What’s New; What’s Next; What’s Missing; How can Science Serve Society?; What will CERN teach us About the Dark Energy and Dark Matter of the Universe?; etc

The Indian team comprised of 20 young scientists and students in the age group 20-30 yrs and in their early science careers. The team included 10 women students. The participants in the team were short-listed by a selection committee from a large number of applications received from all over India against an open advertisement released by the DST.

In the week after the Lindau meetings, the Indian team could also visit several premier German institutions viz Institute for Experimental Physics, University of Leipzig; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig; Technical University of Dresden; Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids; Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden; University of Bonn, Life & Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES); Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (HKI) etc.

Source: Press Information Bureau
Date: July 12, 2010